This is a statement sent in by V.R. Krishna Iyer, a former Judge of the Supreme Court, who is based in Kochi: Some of the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that India recently signed with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will weaken India’s, and specifically Kerala’s, rubber sector because Malaysia and a few other countries that are a part of the ASEAN will flood the...
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Skyrocketing prices may be bad news but the worst is yet to come!
Between 2005 and 2007, the world saw doubling of the prices of wheat, coarse grains, rice and oilseed crops and they continued rising in early 2008. It has been predicted by an OECD study (2008) that on average over the coming ten-year-period, prices in real terms of cereals, rice and oilseeds are projected to be 10% to 35% higher than in the past decade. This means more trouble for the...
More »Fishermen, farmers to protest free-trade agreement
TNN/ MANGALORE: Many fishermen and farmers’ organizations in Mangalore have taken umbrage at a move by the Union government to sign a free-trade agreement with Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The organizations - Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), National Fish Workers Forum, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Karnataka Karavali Sampradayika Nadadoni Meenugarara Okkoota - will register their protest on October 2. K Yadav Shetty, general secretary, KPRS, said on...
More »Kerala fights clock in ASEAN free-trade deal by Ranjit Devraj
Southern Kerala state is known for the lush expanses of cardamom, pepper, tea and rubber that grow on its misty hills, and the bountiful catches of fish on a coastline punctuated by lagoons and backwaters. But a cloud in the form of a a free trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc hovers over this picture of plenty. With the Indo-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) now...
More »Drought management for rural livelihood security
Agriculture is not just a food producing machine but the backbone of the livelihood of 60 per cent of Indians. The extensive drought spotlights a situation of mass rural deprivation and a mindset that is insensitive to it. But there are some encouraging signs. What should be done to meet the challenge? There are reports in financial newspapers that the ongoing drought affecting nearly 200 districts in the country may...
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