According Maharashtra agriculture department estimates, soyabean is no longer the prime favourite in India's second largest producer as farmers shift to cotton. That could be a setback for India's attempts to become more self-sufficient in cooking oil, which is the second largest import item after crude oil. "Due to good price realisation for cotton this year, area conversion from soya to cotton is most likely to happen. It is too...
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Seven stillborn babies per 1,000 births in National Capital by Kounteya Sinha
Bihar did not record a single stillbirth in 2008 — death of an unborn child in mother's womb during the last trimester of pregnancy (after 28 weeks' gestation). Even before you could sigh in disbelief, truth to be told that India tremendously under reports stillbirth figures. According to the sample registration survey in 2008, conducted by the registrar general's office, the country recorded eight stillbirths per 1,000 births — a highly improbable...
More »Anna optimistic, but lokayuktas fail in states by Sumit Pande
The people's hero Anna Hazare caught in further political cross fire over his praise for Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumars style of governance specifically because states like Gujarat have had no Lokayukta for the last nine years. "Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar are two chief ministers who have performed well," said Anna Hazare. Ironically though, Gujarat, unlike many other states in the Union, does not have a Lokayokta. The state enacted a...
More »Delhi among leaders in cheap farm loans by Pradeep Thakur
Delhi and Chandigarh may hardly have any land left for agriculture but when it comes to availing cheap farm loans, they beat top agricultural states of the country. Residents of the two cities took agricultural loans worth over Rs 32,400 crore in 2009-10 – more than UP, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand put together. The four agrarian states collectively got less than Rs 31,000 crore in 2009-10. Delhi alone has, since 2007-08,...
More »Need to bring farm work under modified NREGS: Gulati
Rising farm wages, which have a major impact on food prices, may force the government to devise a blueprint in which agricultural work is included under a widened ambit of a government's flagship job surety scheme, a key government official said. "We may need to come up with some sort of a special agreement for wage payment to beneficiaries working on farms since they are privately owned," Ashok Gulati, noted farm...
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