Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is the nation's domestic security chief, overseeing a broad portfolio that includes battling a homegrown Maoist insurgency and routing out terrorists. The 65-year-old, a veteran of the ruling Congress Party who previously held senior economic posts and played a key role in the country's post-1991 liberalization, is considered a future contender for the post of prime minister. Recently, he spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Here...

EU is pushing India and Canada to sign free trade agreements that will hurt their generic drugs—and the outrage is global After months of prevarication, the European Union has stated publicly that the free trade agreement (FTA) it signs with India will include provisions for data exclusivity because “it is extremely important for research and innovation’’. That’s what European Union ambassador Daniele Smadja told journalists in Delhi on January 21. Smadja’s...

THE WORLD BANK IN INDIA - Undermining Sovereignty, Distorting Development: Edited by Michele Kelley, Deepika D'Souza; Orient Blackswan, 3-6-752, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad-500029. Rs. 895. This book is a collection of essays covering an array of economic issues ranging from agriculture, poverty, food security, power, water, to governance, environment impact and sustainability of growth, and the impact of the World Bank on them. Even a cursory reading would show that it is a...

Inflation in vegetables to come down to 7% by March Modernisation of agricultural marketing is important when dealing with inflation in the long run, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission, said here today. “The present system of intermediation is high costs and an efficient supply chain. Stress has to be laid on ensuring that farmers are able to realize higher margins, while consumers are able to get cheaper commodities”,...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked states to waive local taxes, including octroi, as well as reform the outdated Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act, or Mandi Act, to help control a runaway food inflation. The Prime Minister also called for dovetailing organised retail chains with farm supply chains. “Supply chains need to be strengthened and these need to be dovetailed with organised retail chains for quicker and more efficient distribution of farm...