Ban futures trading in essential commodities, says Modi report As chairman of the working group on consumer affairs, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has recommended that futures trading in essential commodities be banned and that organised retail in agri-produce be encouraged to make a dent in food inflation. The working group, comprising the Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, was set up in April last. Mr. Modi...
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Windfall for farmers continues, loan disbursal target raised to Rs 4,75,000 crore
Farmers can continue to reap a financial harvest that first came as a windfall loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore in 2008. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee raised the target for loan disbursal to the farmers from the present Rs 3,75,000 crore to Rs 4,75,000 crore in 2011-12, nearly a 27% jump.Mukherjee has raised the target consistently in 2010-11, the loan target was raised by over 15% at Rs 3.75 lakh...
More »Mixed response to hike in wages under MGNREGS
The workers covered under the purview of the scheme now will be drawing wages at Rs. 119 a day A section of society feels that the works assigned will be of no use The increase in the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that came into effect in the district a few days ago has evoked varied response n the district. The workers covered under the purview of...
More »For India’s Farmers, a Bare-Bones Drip System by Vikas Bajaj
During a recent trip to a rural part of western India to report on rising food prices, I met two kinds of farmers — those with access to irrigation and those without. The differences between the two were stark. Those with drip irrigation or sprinklers invariably were reaping rich harvests and profits. But the vast majority of India’s farmers fall in the second camp: they water their crops by flooding their...
More »Pranab takes an agro stand
Rattled by soaring food prices and falling farm productivity, the FM has announced a slew of measures to boost the farm sector and vowed to deepen the process of attracting more private investment in agriculture and agro-processing. He announced an increase in bank lending for farm sector as well as interest subsidy to farmers who pay short-term crop loans on time. "I propose to enhance additional subvention to 3% in 2011-12....
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