Prime Minister Modi last week called for optimal grain storage, fire audits and mock drills in hospitals as preparations for the harsh summer forecast by the meteorological department.
Implementing the Food Ordinance is the bigger challenge and there are many provisions of the National Food Security Bill which need to be expanded and strengthened.
Pawar convened a meeting of senior officials and took stock of the situation in the agriculture, which would require a fresh impetus in the face of increasing debt burden on farmers despite loan waivers. He takes over the reigns of the agriculture affairs when the country has harvested a bumper foodgrain production and the central pool are overflowing with wheat and rice.
Minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said it is a major step to place the right talent for the right role.
Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, former Congress ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday indicated its support to the UPA's 'game-changer' Food Security Bill even though it has wanted a few changes in it.
India is celebrating its 72nd Republic Day, the day its Constitution came into force in 1950.
Saha has kept the home, health and family welfare and public works department with him while Ratan Lal Nath has been given the charge of power, agriculture and farmers' welfare, according to an official notification issued by Chief Secretary J K Sinha.
There are about 500,000 fair price shops in states and UTs combined.
Only three percent of Indians pay income tax; our tax-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the world. This must change. Our elites must realise that India's poverty has damaging consequences for them, and that they can help decrease it. The food security bill, with all its limitations, will hopefully contribute to generating such awareness, says Praful Bidwai.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan has come out with a communiqu announcing distribution of portfolios of the ministers sworn-in on Monday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers:
The decision will come into effect on September 19. In the notification issued by the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, three weeks was given for so reducing the stock.
The BCG project, which is supported by the United Nations' World Food Programme, the government of India and the government of Orissa, involves scanning finger prints and the iris for preparing biometric cards for a population of around 1 million. Srijan Pal Singh, an IIM-A student, who is part of the project, says the biometric cards will be filtered through a super computer to avoid duplications.
Both prime ministers believed in crafting schemes to help the common man. Modi used quite effectively the instruments Dr Singh introduced. In assessing Modi's success with many schemes, Dr Singh's fundamental work should not be ignored, points out A K Bhattacharya.
'It may take two years for the economy to return to normal.' 'We should ensure that the vulnerable do not dig into their savings or give up their assets because that will set them back by several years.'
With production hitting a three-year low of 14.7 million tonnes in this sugar season (October to September), the government is also expected to double the levy quota for the PDS from 10 to 20 per cent to tide over shortages. The levy price and quota act as a notional benchmark for open market sugar prices, which have doubled to Rs 34 to Rs 35 a kg since last September, owing to a global shortage. The price of levy sugar is half that of the open market price.
The government on Friday admitted that market prices of pulses are higher than the import rates and said it would soon launch a scheme of supplying them at subsidised rates to people through ration shops.
Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the basis of the information provided by them in their online application, the statement said.
Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Kantilal Bhuria told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there was no immediate impact of the hike in petrol and diesel prices on essential commodities. Impact of some of the factors, including hike in prices of petrol and diesel could be felt only with a time-lag. While price of rice went up, prices of wheat, atta, chana dal, tur dal, sugar, mustard oil, vanaspati, milk & onion did not rise during the period under review.
.jpg)
Can the leaky public distribution system, or PDS, deliver the subsidised grain to two-thirds of the population?
The food and public distribution minister also said that the government did not agree with the Abhijit Sen Committee's recommendation that the universal Public Distribution System be re-introduced.
These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from Air Force.
The cricketer-turned-BJP MP from East Delhi told reporters on the sidelines of an event that Manipur-like incidents are not a common occurrence and it is the duty of the state's chief minister to not let these happen.
To ensure enough food to the poor during the lockdown, the government last week started distributing free 5 kg of rice or wheat per person and 1 kg pulse per household under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to over 81 crore PDS beneficiaries.
The technology-driven futures trading in gold and silver would fulfill its objectives only if poor farmers and small goldsmiths benefit from it, Sharad Yadav, minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, said in New Delhi on Friday.
The online gold futures trade on the National Multi Commodity Exchange of India will be launched by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sharad Yadav in New Delhi on Friday.
Officials said several witnesses were heard on the impact of the pandemic. They added that this was the longest meeting of the panel without a break so far.
India might be heading towards a "serious livelihood crisis" as the situation seems to be worse this time for the working class amid the COVID crisis and local restrictions by states already add up to something close to a nationwide lockdown, according to noted economist Jean Dreze. In an interview to PTI, he also said the government's target to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 was never a "feasible target" and was just to pander to the "super-power ambitions" of the Indian elite. About the impact of the second wave of COVID on the Indian economy, the eminent economist said the situation today is not very different from what it was around this time last year as far as working people are concerned.
The action came a day after party vice president Rahul Gandhi condemned the public slaughter of the animal.
For all its claims to economic glory, the majority of India's population lives vulnerable lives, a situation that has only worsened over the past 15 years, to the extent that the government now fears to release economic data or even conduct a proper Census, notes Rathin Roy.
Das said that global economic activity has remained fragile and the surge in COVID-19 cases has subdued early signs of revival.
All eyes are set on the Karnataka cabinet meeting on Friday where a decision will be taken on implementing the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress during the assembly elections in May.
Nearly five months after its soft launch, the government's e-portal, the National Single Window System (NSWS), is seeing a significant increase in the number of investors using it to get a bunch of approvals for their ventures. The first clearance was granted on 18 January. Since then, the progress has been good. Out of the 1,258 registered users on the portal, 378 were registered in the last one week.
In a communication to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, Union home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the ministry of home affairs, under the Disaster Management Act, has allowed manufacture or production, transport and other related supply-chain activities in respect of essential goods like foodstuff, medicines and medical equipment during the 21-day lockdown.
In a bid to further cool down edible oil prices and curb hoarding, the Centre on Friday extended stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds till June 30. Besides, the government has specified the stock limits that have to be imposed by states that have not implemented the earlier order on the limits. In October 2021, the ministry of consumer affairs had imposed stock limits till March 2022 and left the decision to states to decide on the stock limits based on available stock and consumption pattern.
Besides his strategic and tactical acumen, it was his amazing personality, quick wit and ability to remain unflustered under any circumstances that stood him apart from almost any leader one has read about or known, recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Regulator's nod assumed more importance after the Maggi issue.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances