Wheat will be now be sold to the schemes at Rs 2 per kg, while rice would be given at Rs 3 per kg.
By far the most attractive thing in the Budget 2010 for individuals is the increase in the income tax slab limits. Though the entry level slab for income tax has not been changed from Rs 1.6 lakh (Rs 160,000), there is a considerable jump in the other slabs.
The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have decided to enhance cooperation in the economic, commercial, investment, educational, cultural and media fields.
The United Progressive Alliance government is working towards re-introducing the Land Acquisition Bill in Parliament in the Winter Session to ensure the protection of farmers' interests who play an important positive role in food security, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Moody's currently assigns 'Baa3' rating on India, with a stable outlook. 'Baa3' means medium grade with moderate credit risk.
While the progress of the monsoon has brightened the prospects of foodgrain production, the fall in sown area is a matter of concern, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar tells Sanjay Jog.
The Prime Minister's expert committee on National Food Security Bill on Thursday recommended that the assured delivery of wheat at Rs 2/kg and rice at Rs 3/kg could be given only to poor and expressed difficulty in accommodating general category in view of projected food availability.
The food security Bill is likely to adopt a three-pronged strategy to ensure food for all, particularly for the most vulnerable sections of the society. The National Advisory Council (NAC) in its initial discussions on the Bill had talked about a universalised scheme.
The Congress president was on August 26 admitted to AIIMS hospital after she was taken ill in the Lok Sabha where her dream welfare legislation and UPA's ambitious Food Security Bill was in the final stages of adoption.
Jayalalithaa termed the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu as a corrupt party, pointing out that the CBI was carrying out raids on the residences and offices of people close to the party's leadership. "The 2G spectrum scam, which has caused a loss of one lakh eighty thousand crores, has been the largest scam in the history of the world .The DMK has always been a corrupt party and this scam has revealed the heights which the DMK leadership can reach in corruption," she said.
According to a senior commerce department official, though India is ready to sign the TFA and take necessary actions towards that, it is imperative that a discussion on public stockholding gets its due importance.
PM Narendra Modi hopes the successful "rains" of GST will fill the Monsoon session with pleasant smell like that emanating from dry soil after showers.
Will help in reviving the economy and push investment.
Addressing participants at the Tenth Editors' Conference on Social Sector Issues-2010 in New Delhi on Tuesday, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan said his ministries have been focussing on six priority sectors to ensure a better quality of life for Indian citizens.
'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
Addressing the Brazil-Russia-India-China Summit in Brasilia, he said the four countries can benefit by sharing their experiences in the field of inclusive growth.
The economists who signed the letter included Jean Drze , Abhijit Banerjee, Ajit Ranade, Jayati Ghosh, Kirit Parikh, Mihir Shah, Rohini Pande, and Vijay Joshi
The Congress will only be able to gain from the bill if its benefits percolate down to the people within the next eight months, says Anita Katyal
The National Advisory Council, chaired by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, met for the second time on Thursday after its recent revival and unanimously endorsed the idea of universal access to the public distribution system (PDS) in rural areas.
The National Advisory Council, chaired by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, met for the second time on Thursday after its recent revival and unanimously endorsed the idea of universal access to the public distribution system in rural areas. It was agreed that a universalised PDS should be implemented initially in 150 districts, a member said.
Dismissing the contention that the decline in inflation was on account of the steps taken by the NDA government, Chidambaram said he wanted to know, 'what measures were taken by the government that contributed to decline in inflation rates.'
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Murli Deora has welcomed the General Budget for 2010-11 presented by the finance minister on Friday in the Lok Sabha.
The UPA thinks that food security can be addressed by importing food. Land must be acquired for the industry to be a vehicle for higher growth. There can be nothing more dangerous than this flawed approach, says Devinder Sharma.
The focus is likely to be on consolidation and improvement of existing rural-centric programmes to ensure their completion ahead of the next general elections in 2019, rather than announcement of new schemes. Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Arup Roychoudhury report.
The Budget is likely to implement the Congress's poll promise of a Food Security Bill, apart from increasing funds for schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as NREGA.
'We can't lower wheat price beyond a point'
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
Lush agricultural lands have turned parch as groundwater levels deplete to new lows, and wells and water reservoirs go dry. While the administration points to deficient rainfall as a reason, experts and activists say the drought is mostly man-made.
India's foodgrain requirement is expected to rise to around 61.2 million tonnes against the average procurement of last five years at 51.4 million tonnes.
"There have been discussions on implementing UBI in J&K -- not just as a pilot in some districts, but in the entire state, according to Drabu's proposal in the state's Budget," said an official. "Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is also supportive of the idea. A presentation will now be made at the PMO."
Grain stocks in the current procurement season will be enough to feed all those who go hungry, and the FCI only needs to invest in proper storage facilities.
During the meeting with President Barack Obama, Singh said, there was a need to "rewrite" the architecture of global economic system in which the G-20 could play an important role.
Among the social sector schemes introduced in the Eleventh Plan were the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Though the government is also planning to introduce a scheme for food security, it may be the only addition during the current plan.
The horrifying state of hunger in India adds urgency to the need to implement a new food security law, writes Praful Bidwai.
After the exit of Aruna Roy, government has reconstituted the National Advisory Council by inducting renowned sociologist Virginius Xaxa into the 12-member panel chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Now the PMO needs to take the food sector reforms forward.
With the green cover gone, the bald roads to Puri are now reigned by lorries laden with electric poles, ambulances, fire service vehicles and cranes, signalling the rebuilding effort is in the works.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon on Monday said the presence of one billion hungry people in the world was unacceptable and noted that farmers are the 'heart and soul' of food security and poverty reduction.Speaking at the World Food Summit that kicked off today at Rome, Ban said, "They (farmers) need seeds and extension services. They need secure water supplies, they need better market access and fairer trade. We must resist protectionism."
In the past month, wheat prices have increased 6.3% as production is expected to be 1.5% lower, in terms of crop acreage, than the earlier estimate
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government would follow an inclusive policy wherein both APL and below poverty line families will get foodgrains at cheaper rates. He added that the annual subsidy burden on the government would come around to Rs 50,000 crore.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances