With fresh arrivals of onions from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, Central agencies on Monday announced their decision to sell them through their outlets at Rs. 35 a kg, setting it as a benchmark price. The variety, however, was poor in quality and low in quantity. In the retail open market and retail chains, onion prices remained around Rs. 50 a kg, garlic price was unchanged between Rs. 250 and Rs. 280...

India's Public Distribution System (PDS) has been in a bad shape for decades, often thought to be beyond repair. Recent experience, however, suggests otherwise. Political will, increased transparency and community participation have led to an amazing revival of the PDS in Chhattisgarh though the state has only shown contempt for people's rights in other contexts… Somehow, the PDS became a political priority in Chhattisgarh and a decision was made to turn...

Every afternoon at about four, a slight woman named Runi slips out of the cramped, airless room that she shares with her husband and their sixteen children. She skirts the drainage ditch in front of the building, then walks toward the pile of hardened dung cakes that people in this slum on the edge of the northeastern Indian city of Patna use for fuel. Dressed in a bright-yellow sari shot...

The city has come to be known as the Detroit of India for its large concentration of automakers, but a series of labour disputes have rocked it, putting a question mark over industrial peace. Car markers such as Hyundai Motor India, German luxury car maker BMW and Ford Motor India besides Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia India have set up their plants on the city outskirts employing more than 23,000 people. As...

Technological interventions, innovative and fool-proof delivery mechanisms, constant reviews and fixing responsibility at each level ensure that an effective delivery system is in place. The Public Distribution System in Tamil Nadu is a success story, in its coverage as well as its pricing. Each family, whether below the poverty line or not, is entitled to 20 kg of rice at Re. 1 a kg. The State Government opted for universal coverage...