-Outlook   Ahead of WTO meet in Bali, India today decided to insist on permanent immunity from actions for breach of subsidy level on rolling out food security plan-- a stand that can potentially derail talks next week. The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to insist on solution to the subsidy breach issue prior to finalisation of Trade Facilitation Agreement even if it means that New Delhi will be blamed...

-PTI   NEW DELHI: Backing the government's stance on Food Subsidy at the WTO, India Inc today said it is important to ensure legal entitlement of low-cost ration to the poor in order to achieve all-round development. "For us in India, we have to ring-fence the interest of subsistence farmers and poor by procuring grains at minimum support price (MSP) and ensuring legal entitlement of low-cost ration to the poor," Assocham President Rana...

-The Indian Express Barely days ahead of WTO's ministerial meeting at Bali next week, the BJP on Wednesday red flagged government's likely move to agree to a 'peace clause' to shield food guarantee law from the restrictions under the WTO at least for a period of four years. "The peace clause in its current form is not in our interest," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma sought to push an interim solution or a "peace clause" that will prevent WTO members from seeking penalties from countries such as India for breach of subsidy cap, the Opposition parties and farmer groups have asked the government to reject the solution, arguing that it is not in the country's interests. At next week's Bali ministerial meeting,...

-The Business Standard Expenses such as employment guarantees and loan waivers are, in effect, subsidies that are classified differently in government accounts Over the last few years, the government announced many policy initiatives that purportedly help the weaker sections of our society. Schemes initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) or the distribution of free and affordable food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are examples...