Government worried about Delayed monsoon
The Central Government is keeping a close watch on the crop and weather situation in view of the delayed monsoon which has hit kharif sowing in parts of central and north India. The Union Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a contingency plan and advised the States to be ready with alternative cropping strategies to mitigate the consequences arising out of a delay in the onset of the monsoon rain in oilseeds and rice-growing States of Central and North India.

There has already been a loss of acreage under bajra and soyabean due to the monsoon delay in monsoon in parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The loss cannot be recouped even if it rains. Likewise, the delay has hit rice transplantation in irrigated States such as Punjab and Haryana.
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FM forsticks to 9% EPF rate
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has advised the labour ministry to scale down the interest rate on the Employees Provident Fund to 9 per cent from the existing 9.5 per cent.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Singh also said he planned to improve the tax regime to reverse the falling savings rate.
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Govt to review FIPB functioning
The Government will review the functioning of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in a bid to boost annual foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to $10 billion.

"As far as the FIPB is concerned, we are reconsidering this issue," the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, while admitting that the current FDI inflow of close to $4 billion per year was not satisfactory.
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