Arup Roychoudhury, Jyoti Mukul, Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Virendra Singh Rawat Report

Stories by Arup Roychoudhury, Jyoti Mukul, Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Virendra Singh Rawat Report

As Yaas rolls in, fishermen rue absence of insurance scheme

As Yaas rolls in, fishermen rue absence of insurance scheme

Rediff.com   25 May 2021

The cover provided under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, which is a vital safety net for them, ended almost a year back on May 31, 2020. Ever since, there hasn't been much progress on the higher insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh promised under the newly launched Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

Questions remain over why ONGC personnel ignored Tauktae warning

Questions remain over why ONGC personnel ignored Tauktae warning

Rediff.com   20 May 2021

It looks unlikely that a proper plan was in place or else the deaths could have been averted, reports Jyoti Mukul.

Tech driven farming still remains a pipedream

Tech driven farming still remains a pipedream

Rediff.com   19 May 2021

As India looks to scale up use of technology in agriculture, a recent study has found that with just 2 per cent of the cultivators in India using mobile applications for farm-related activities and real-time alerts, adoption of tech solutions such as Internet of Things (IoT) remains at a nascent stage. It also found almost 90 per cent of the existing start-ups and tech-based companies have solutions that are focused only on pre-harvest operations and not on post-harvest which has a higher investment potential due to the presence of big companies. In post-harvest operations, the study, Titled, IoT Adoption in Indian agriculture, that was conducted by industry body Nasscom along with Cisco India among more than 180 enterprises and 40 agritech start-ups found that unclear Return on Investments (RoI) is a big stumbling block for adoption of tech solutions like IoT.

Arabian Sea is now hotbed for cyclones

Arabian Sea is now hotbed for cyclones

Rediff.com   17 May 2021

Surface temperatures have increased rapidly during the past century, leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms in the Arabian Sea, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

Tauktae, season's first cyclone, forms over Arabian Sea

Tauktae, season's first cyclone, forms over Arabian Sea

Rediff.com   13 May 2021

The intensity of rainfall is likely to increase with the likelihood of very heavy falls at a few places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places on May 15, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

Scrapping vehicles in volumes to curb pollution will be a tough task

Scrapping vehicles in volumes to curb pollution will be a tough task

Rediff.com   6 May 2021

For deciding which vehicles are to be scrapped, the setting up of fitness centres and regulating them would be a humongous task.

Despite grim outlook, fiscal stimulus unlikely for India Inc this year

Despite grim outlook, fiscal stimulus unlikely for India Inc this year

Rediff.com   29 Apr 2021

They say that a stimulus package may not be necessary because, unlike last year's total lockdown, public transport, including the railways and airlines, is running and the restrictions on movement are localised and, in some cases, are partial rather than total.

How India Inc is going all out to help tackle oxygen shortage

How India Inc is going all out to help tackle oxygen shortage

Rediff.com   26 Apr 2021

The Tatas, L&T and Bharat Forge expressed interest in building pressure swing adsorption oxygen plants at hospital sites, while IOC and RIL are pitching in with both oxygen and cryogenic tankers needed for its transportation.

Despite slew of records, problems still plague MGNREGA

Despite slew of records, problems still plague MGNREGA

Rediff.com   25 Apr 2021

MGNREGA scheme: A significant Rs 17,370.58 crore has been carried forward over to the next financial year as unpaid dues as demand for work continued unabated for the scheme in rural areas.

Covid-hit India needs 5000 tonnes of medical oxygen a day

Covid-hit India needs 5000 tonnes of medical oxygen a day

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2021

According to industry figures, the pre-Covid demand for liquid medical oxygen (LMO) before the pandemic was 700 tonnes per day across the country. Now, with the second wave, the demand has gone up more than seven times, reports Jyoti Mukul.

'Scrapping centres will be an industry'

'Scrapping centres will be an industry'

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2021

'Our automakers export 50 per cent of what they manufacture and once the policy comes into play, which is in the next 2-3 years, we would become a Rs 10 trillion industry.'

'In 3 years, India's infrastructure will be on par with the US'

'In 3 years, India's infrastructure will be on par with the US'

Rediff.com   17 Apr 2021

'We completed Rs 17 trillion worth of projects in the first term and currently Rs 9 trillion worth of contracts are under construction.'

How these 5 states look to pacify disgruntled farmers

How these 5 states look to pacify disgruntled farmers

Rediff.com   18 Mar 2021

With the farmers' protest against the three new laws and in support of legalising the minimum support price (MSP) going strong, state governments have announced a slew of measures in their annual Budgets to placate farmers. The Centre kicked things off in the Union Budget by assuring farmers that the MSP would continue and coming out with a report card to demonstrate its commitment. However, these efforts don't seem to have yielded tangible results. In their respective Budgets, states chose to go a step further by announcing a variety of measures.

Jobs for locals have remained on paper

Jobs for locals have remained on paper

Rediff.com   17 Mar 2021

While the Constitution makes everyone in India eligible to work anywhere in the country, states have used legal loopholes to frame laws.

Cairn, govt discuss LTCG tax and Vivad se Vishwas scheme

Cairn, govt discuss LTCG tax and Vivad se Vishwas scheme

Rediff.com   22 Feb 2021

During a series of hectic talks between Cairn Energy and the Indian government over the $1.2-billion arbitration award in favour of the former last week, a slew of options was proposed by the two sides, including computation of capital gains and participation in the Vivad se Vishwas (VsV) dispute resolution scheme. The government is likely to go ahead and appeal against the arbitration award by a Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague before March 21, indicated finance ministry officials. Cairn Energy Plc on Sunday said it was hopeful that an acceptable solution to its tax dispute with the Indian government could be found to avoid prolonging and exacerbating the 'negative issue' for all parties.

Modi: 'We need wealth creators to even distribute wealth'

Modi: 'We need wealth creators to even distribute wealth'

Rediff.com   11 Feb 2021

Demoralising the private companies and disregarding their contribution won't do any good to the country or its youth as our experience has shown that private enterprises in mobile manufacturing has lead to every poor family owning a mobile phone now, while the country's private sector in the pharmaceutical space has been serving humanity through vaccines and medicines during Covid times, Modi said.

Cairn Energy CEO Thomson to meet FM next week over arbitration award

Cairn Energy CEO Thomson to meet FM next week over arbitration award

Rediff.com   10 Feb 2021

A senior company executive said the company waited for seven years for the verdict and its shareholders needed to know when it would be concluded.

20% remained without work six months after losing jobs to lockdown: study

20% remained without work six months after losing jobs to lockdown: study

Rediff.com   28 Jan 2021

The survey showed that women workers fared worse than men when it came to employment recovery (53 per cent versus 57 per cent) and urban areas have been much worse hit despite a quicker bounce back.

Cracks in Sangh Parivar, BKS wants farm laws tweaked

Cracks in Sangh Parivar, BKS wants farm laws tweaked

Rediff.com   3 Dec 2020

'We were among the first organisations to voice our opposition to the three Acts long before anyone else and had sent memorandums collected from 3,000 tehsils across the country to the agriculture ministry to amend the Bills, but nothing was accepted,' says BKS general secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary.

Despite road blocks, there's no shortage of potato, onion in Delhi

Despite road blocks, there's no shortage of potato, onion in Delhi

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2020

During this time of the year, potatoes and vegetables come from Punjab and Haryana.