Nagpur orange’s survival hinges precariously on its return to sustainable cultivation. Farmers have woken up to this, but will the government? A beaming Uday Wath hugs the trunk of his sturdy, disease-free Nagpur orange tree. All around him are trees drooping with the fruit, large and healthy. The tree trunks are singularly free of both telltale gummosis wounds and bluish white bordeaux paste, the chemical meant to prevent them. Not more than...
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EGoM to discuss issues raised by Pawar
-The Hindu The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food will meet soon following a letter by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on curbs over milk, cotton and sugar exports. The EgoM is headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Mr. Pawar shot off the letter to the Prime Minister after the EGoM disallowed export of cotton beyond 13 million bales for the current marketing year the...
More »The Raja Who Stole From The Poor-Ashish Khetan
As food and civil supplies minister in the previous SP regime, Raja Bhaiya swindled Rs 100 crore from the PDS. As he presides over the food ministry once again, Ashish Khetan exposes the shocking loot A LITTLE MORE than a month ago, Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, earned a landslide victory on the idea of hope: Ummeed ki cycle. He had promised clean governance and a corruption-free government. When...
More »Starving in India: It Isn’t All About Food-Ashwin Parulkar
HETA, India – At the entrance to this village in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, a large pond glistened under the bright autumn sun. Yellow and blue lilies surrounded it. A tailor was stitching clothes outside his shop while a few boys nearby were playing carrom on the lid of a rusted Oil barrel. It was a tranquil, rustic setting – a candidate for a landscape painting, it seemed. But it...
More »Petrol, diesel, LPG likely to be costlier by May-Anupama Airy
An across-the-board increase in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices is likely by mid-May, immediately after the Budget is passed in Parliament. "There is a lot of pressure on the government from Oil companies to increase fuel prices but they been informally told to hold on till the Budget is passed in Parliament," a senior government official told HT. "There may be one small increase in petrol price that is likely to...
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