-PTI Soaring inflation, high fuel cost, rising cost of education and health insurance premiums have eroded the real incomes of middle-class Indian families, with household savings rates dropping by a staggering 40 per cent in the last three years, says an Assocham survey. "Poor households are unable to maintain the consumption levels at current prices while middle income families find their purchasing power erode fast, thus having far less surplus money," Assocham...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: The humble potato comes a poor second to pricey onion in State matters. But that was before Mamata Banerjee wielded the knife. Over the past couple of days, the West Bengal Police, directed by the Chief Minister, has seized thousands of trucks carrying potatoes to neighbouring states such as Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. Mamata's provocation was the rise in the price of the vegetable back home. However, while...

-The Business Standard Changing aspirations and strong rural demand could explain why core inflation may not decline fast enough Recently, the Reserve Bank of India governor exuded confidence that the Indian economy will do fairly better in the current fiscal. While it is difficult to envisage a significant turnaround, we believe interpreting the recent inflation uptick may be the key to such optimism. We also think that inflation (both wholesale and retail)...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Onion prices soared to the year's high of Rs 90 per kg in many parts of the capital on Monday, amid indications that the staple many touch Rs 100 before coming down to more normal levels around Diwali. Market watchers said the quantity of fresh arrivals were not as much as expected and this was likely to further raise prices over the next one week. Onions...

-The Business Standard Contrary to earlier claims, farm growth may be robust The projection by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) of robust agricultural growth of above five per cent and a consequential handsome rise in rural incomes comes as a silver lining to India's otherwise gloomy economic scene. The CACP's reckoning, based on a rigorous mathematical model, virtually discounts the agriculture ministry's kharif crop output estimates (called first advance...