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It is time for Government to stop harping on the unachievable 9 per cent growth in the near term - the irretrievably lost target of the 11th plan - and focus more on managing the drought-hit economy and rising inflationary expectations, as rural distress is widespread while the country as a whole has been in the grip of high food price inflation. Citing past experience in handling droughts and “adequate foodgrain stocks” in the godowns would smack of complacency in the absence of a credible action programme to ensure food security for the poor, rural and urban, and lower inflationary expectations.

The ghost of terrorism has again started haunting Punjab. But whether terrorism actually revisits the state depends on a number of factors which were mainly responsible for its birth in the eighties.

New York: A group of United Nations independent experts have highlighted the growing number of enforced disappearances worldwide, a terrible practice that it says remains underreported and has a particular impact on women and children.

Biscuits and other processed foods from Bangladesh are stated to enter India without any hasle on non-tariff bariers. The 6th joint working group (JWG) meeting on trade between the two countries which concluded after three days of deliberations on Saturday in Delhi agreed that India should take the onus of upgrading Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution following which these products will gain easy entry into Indian market.

'NETi' is an Upanishadic-expression to describe the wholeness of Brahman. King Ajaatashatru instructed saint Driptavalaki that Brahman is the aggregate of all the divine forces the latter worshiped. The BJP's present predicament is a reversed form of this exposition. Too much is said about the illiberal action against Jaswant Singh or Arun Shourie's self-righteous critique of the party's functioning and its 'Humpty-Dumptys'. But such exaggerated projection of the rebels will only give a highly distorted picture of the BJP's contemporary crisis.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has chosen to propose a new direct tax code in the current year of recession in profitable economic activity and fall in the incomes of the working people and business interests. When it comes into force next year, the code is not likely to yield for the government more revenue to promote economic growth, let alone mass welfare.

New York: The United Nations refugee agency today voiced its concern about reports that between 10,000 and 30,000 refugees have fled violence in Myanmar's north-eastern Shan state in recent weeks and headed to China's Yunnan province.

New Delhi: Naxalites have got to know about centre's plan to launch a major offensive against them and are preparing to take on the security forces.

The global standard setting body in food, Codex Alimentarius Commission is of the view that the quality norms should be formulated taking into considerations the needs of the developed nations and concerns of the developing countries, more particularly the small and marginal farmers.

It has taken over half a century since the visit of Professor Caldor in the mid-1950s for the government to seriously engage itself in reforming the country's direct tax structure. However, the discussion paper on the subject, tabled in Parliament earlier this month, seems to be incomplete as it seeks to focus only on a new set of direct tax rates to be effective from 2011-12, leaving out a very vital issue of the disclosure of concealed income and recovery of unpaid taxes over the years by both individuals and business firms.