Egypt is to review its food subsidy system as it seeks ways to tackle rising inflation, which reached 14.2 per cent in March. Youssef Boutros-Ghali, finance minister, told the Financial Times that the government would look to raise additional revenues through new taxes or increasing existing taxes. However, he said corporate taxes, which were reduced in recent years as part of wider economic reforms, would not be altered, adding that no tariffs that impacted "on profit and production" would be increased.

No need for alarm; but some Chinese ring bells anyway

Urgent action to help the world's poorest farmers help themselves would make a significant contribution to tackling the global food crisis in a single growing season, according to Jeffrey Sachs, United Nations development adviser. "In much of the poorest parts of the world, the potential for significant increases in food production is very real," said Mr Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and adviser to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

Asserting that Assam was at the centre of the Government of India's policy of industrial promotion, Union Minister of State for Industry Dr Ashwani Kumar today said that a slew of initiatives including clearance of transport subsidy, increasing capital subsidy component, etc., were being initiated for boosting the industrial growth in the State as well as the North-east. "Accumulated transport subsidy worth Rs 770 crore has been released for the North-east in 2007-08 alone.

Under attack over rising prices, the government on Wednesday announced a slew of measures, including Rs 15-a litre subsidy on edible oil. The Prime Minister is also contemplating calling a meeting of Chief Ministers to discuss steps to tackle the rising prices.

The Rs 90-crore food subsidy scheme, designed to provide five essential items to the state's 14 lakh-plus ration card-holders at almost half the market price, seems to have run into rough weather. With prices of pulses taking an unprecedented jump in the past few days, the BJP government has pruned down the list of subsided items supplied through PDS outlets. "Things are not in our hands. If the Centre brings the prices down, we will have no problem in implementing the scheme,' said Minister for Food and Supplies Ramesh Dhawala.

The Doha round of global trade negotiations has been stalled since 2001 because developing nations have refused to lower import tariffs that protect their farmers and rich countries won't give up farm-price supports. Now, import duties are being slashed from Brazil to Burkina Faso in response to prices that the World Bank says have risen 83 per cent the past three years; subsidies in the US and Europe are falling.

Hopes Rise Global Trade Deal Can Avert Fish Crisis SWITZERLAND: April 11, 2008 GENEVA - Negotiations on fisheries rules within a global trade deal have reached broad agreement that certain subsidies promoting overfishing should be banned, the chairman of the talks said on Thursday. And progress in the talks, part of the long-running Doha round, suggest the World Trade Organisation (WTO) could play a key role in averting an environmental crisis, Uruguay's WTO ambassador Guillermo Valles Galmes told Reuters.

DCs asked to monitor rural job schemes Warned against harassment of farmers in procuring boro rice, disbursing fuel subsidy Mustafizur Rahman The government has ordered the deputy commissioners to make sure that farmers are not harassed or deprived of in the upcoming boro rice procurement drive and disbursement of diesel subsidies for irrigation.