1.   

Agricultural shipments take a larger bite of exports pie

Thanks to a relatively stable export policy and a flourishing food processing/packaging industry, India’s agricultural exports have surged since 2010-11, enabling it to acquire a larger share of the country’s overall exports. From less than a 7% share in overall exports in 2010-11, the share of exports of “agricultural and processed food products” rose to 10.6% in 2012-13. That figure has more or less been maintained for the current year.

2.   

Food subsidies need protection from coercive WTO rules: Sharma

Unless India’s minimum support prices for farmers and food subsidies are safeguarded against the rules of the World Trade Organisation, the Ninth WTO Ministerial scheduled for next month in Bali could fail, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has warned. Mr. Sharma told WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo on the phone on Tuesday that an outcome in Bali that addressed only the proposals of the developed countries would not be acceptable to India, according to sources in the government.

3.   

Vietnam, India issue joint statement

Party General Secretary Trong and Indian President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday agreed Viet Nam and India had made important progress in recent years since the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2007. The two State leaders met at the Indian Presidential Palace in New Delhi, as part of Trong's State visit to India, agreeing that despite the huge potential for mutual benefits, further efforts were needed to ramp up co-operation.

4.   

PM to inaugurate BRICS conference on competition on Thursday

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Thursday inaugurate the third 'BRICS International Competition Conference', a platform for exchanging ideas on issues relating to fair trade practices. The two-day conference is being organised by Competition Commission of India (CCI) on behalf of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in the national capital. "The objective of the 3rd BRICS ICC is to discuss various issues and challenges in competition enforcement in BRICS countries and take the agenda of cooperation among the BRICS competition authorities forward from the earlier two conferences," Ministry of Corporate Affairs said in a statement today.