Ramnath Goenka Award for Journalist of the Year goes to Siddharth Varadarajan of The Hindu “Today issues are trivialised and trivial issues become headlines” “Audiences, readers still welcome well-researched stories” President Pratibha Patil on Thursday said the recent phenomenon of ‘paid news' could distort news and this interfered with the concept of a free, fair and objective press. Speaking after presenting the 4 {+t} {+h} Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards at the Taj...

India expects a strong rebound in farm output, which will substantially reduce food price inflation that has soared since last year when the country’s worst drought in 37 years hit crops, the agriculture minister said. This year’s June-September monsoon was 16% below normal last month, but rainfall has revived significantly, calming fears of shortages and higher prices. India also needs to ease tight controls on the sugar sector, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar...

Sugar millers are cancelling import contracts due to a drop in domestic prices and are unlikely to sign new deals on expectations of a surge in local output, a top industry official told Reuters. The contracts had been signed late last year and early this year when domestic sugar prices rose to a record and the production outlook was lower. Since then the price has fallen by a third and the...

Wheat to be sold to traders at Rs.12.50 a kg; decision on sugar deferred  The Centre will release five million tonnes of wheat from its pool in the open market to enhance availability and maintain a check on prices. The wheat, to be released in July, would be available directly from depots for traders and retail buyers at a reserved price of approximately Rs.12.54 a kg. Wheat is selling in Delhi...

The government today decided to release five million tonnes of wheat in the open market and retain zero duty on sugar and wheat imports in the wake of soaring food prices. The empowered group of ministers (EGOM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, decided to offload wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) at prices lower than the market price. Wheat will be sold from the government godowns between July...