The government today said it has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for copra by Rs 75 per quintal for the 2011 season, a measure aimed at increasing coconut production in the country. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on the recommendations of on recommendations Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP). While the MSP for fair average quality of milling copra has...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today appeared to back the environmental evangelism blessed by Rahul Gandhi and pursued by Jairam Ramesh, saying “the business practices of some corporate houses have come under intense public scrutiny for their perceived ethical deficit”.Although the Prime Minister’s statement, made at India Corporate Week, carries echoes of the corruption charges now swirling around the country, the preceding sentences suggest environment issues were on his mind.Immediately after...

The team took part in side events, held ralliesAlso highlighted the significance of small-holderA delegation of non-government organisations assembled under the banner “Beyond Copenhagen” has returned here from Cancun, Mexico, after making interventions for bringing agricultural and food security issues to the mainstream climate negotiations at the 16 {+t} {+h} U.N. Climate Summit. The team took part in the side events, held rallies and lobbied with negotiators during the much...

With the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka going to get a tiger reserve status, the Soligas living there face imminent eviction.NEVER before have the tigers of the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary burned so bright, either in popular imagination or in administrative priority. With the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests approving “in principle” the status of a tiger reserve for the BRT sanctuary, the endangered cat has taken...

Differences between the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and the government over the food security Bill have begun to narrow, but a suggestion by the agriculture ministry to offer cash to poor consumers in case sufficient foodgrain isn’t available remains a contentious issue.“We do not have any serious objections to the recommendations of the NAC. But the ministry wants to have the provision for...