-The Business Standard A proposed move by the Centre to slash natural gas supplies to phosphorous and potash-based (P&K) fertiliser manufacturing units has seen a number of farmer bodies, agro-experts and scientists raise a howl of protest. The move could seriously impact soil fertility, which in turn could hit food production in the country, they warned. Nutrients in soil are necessary to increase overall productivity of agri-commodities to help meet the country’s...
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Silent Report by Prabhat Patnaik
In a report released on January 30, and covered by the world’s press the next day, the United Nations has warned of a severe resource crisis that would overtake the world if current trends persist. A growing population and a rise in the number of middle-class consumers will increase the demand for resources so rapidly that even by 2030 the world will need at least 50 per cent more food,...
More »Last straw on the fisc back by Soumya Kanti Ghosh & Rajiv Kumar
The huge expenditure on the food bill, with the attendant leakages, could well make fiscal recovery impossible In the first part of this article, we have estimated the actual cost of implementing the food security bill in its current form. In this part, we now examine the fiscal sustainability of the same. The current state of the revenue and expenditure trends of the Central government (refer table) show that while revenue...
More »French court orders Monsanto to compensate poisoned farmer
-AFP A French court on Monday found US agro giant Monsanto legally responsible for the poisoning of a farmer with one of its herbicides in 2004, in a verdict that could have global implications. "Monsanto is responsible for Paul Francois's suffering after he inhaled the Lasso product ... and must entirely compensate him," said the judgement from the court in the southeastern city of Lyon. "This concerns farmers around the world," said the...
More »Pontius Undistilled by Lola Nayar
Liquor baron Ponty Chadha’s mercurial rise is all ‘Maya’ A reclusive liquor baron may seem like an anomaly in these never-ending good times. But Gurdeep Singh Chadha—better known by the moniker Ponty Chadha—fits the bill. Often called “Mayawati’s financier”, the 57-year-old Ponty has been making large (if silent) waves for the political patronage he enjoys in Uttar Pradesh. Any bottle of liquor sold in India’s most populous state goes through his...
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