India achieved record foodgrains production this year but the withdrawal of three agri-reform laws and spike in cooking oil prices cast a shadow on the country's resilient agriculture sector that is on course for better harvest in 2022 despite pandemic blues. While soaring production of foodgrains that also helped the government provide free additional rations for COVID-hit poor families for many months together came as a relief, the passing year will be remembered for the long drawn farmers' protest at Delhi borders against the three laws and subsequent repeal of the legislations. The Indian agriculture sector, which was among the few segments that remained robust amid the pandemic gales, is expected to register a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the current financial year ending March 2022.
There was a delay in sowing of kharif onion because of late arrival of monsoon and later floods in many states damaged the crop.
India is expected to cut imports by a fifth in the fiscal year.
Though the summer is expected to be hotter, global and domestic forecasts point to good rains.
On Tuesday, Bajaj Electricals extended its brand licence agreement with UK-based kitchen appliances major Morphy Richards, launching a new range of products. Chairman & managing director Shekhar Bajaj, cousin of industrialist Rahul Bajaj, tells Viveat Susan Pinto the company will increasingly focus its attention on its consumer products business.
India's gold import bill, estimated at $3 billion in May, is seen falling further this month
The downward trend in prices might continue as demand is unlikely to recover in May. Moreover, increased production has also put pressure on prices of commodities.
The new-age traveler is no longer into ticking a checklist of must-see spots on his holiday. He is ready to pay a premium to experience culture, crafts and culinary delights of the local populace
Although the crop devours water, it remains important for India, reports Surinder Sud.
What Rajya Sabha can do for the states, no other House can do, the Prime Minister said.
Gold demand in India dropped by 30 per cent during the July-September quarter to 86.6 tonnes, compared to the same period last year due to Covid-19 related disruptions and ruling high prices, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report.
Completed projects saw an improvement of 29.2 per cent over the June quarter, which is valued at Rs 0.31 trillion.
With car penetration of around 22 per 1,000 population, India continues to be a big opportunity to sell cars, especially in rural areas.
Large stocks were ruined in transit due to thunderstorm and rainfalls in the north and the north-east states, resulting in fewer kilos of potatoes at mandis.
'We are going to have plane crashes left, right and centre.'
'When there is a change in the wind speed or the stress exerted on the surface, it will change the ocean currents.'
Spiralling prices pinched the pocket of consumer as edible oil, fuel and many other commodities turned dearer this year amid pandemic-induced disruptions but the inflationary pressure is anticipated to ease, though marginally, in the coming months. As consumers, at retail as well as wholesale levels, are willy-nilly learning to live with the new normal of curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus infections, experts are of the view that elevated inflation is likely to stay longer. After dealing with the devastating blows from the second COVID wave, especially during the April-June period, the economy is well on the revival path but the emergence of Omicron might unsettle the recovery trajectory in the short term.
Mangoes from India are popular in the Middle East, the Far East, the United States and European countries.
Data from the Nashik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation showed that onion was trading at at Rs 24 a kg on Tuesday in the benchmark Lasalgaon mandi in Nashik district of Maharashtra. That's a fall of four per cent since Monday and 40 per cent from Rs 40 a kg on January 20, a level not seen since November 6, 2019. It continues to sell at Rs 40-44 a kg in retail markets across the country.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a statewide curfew for 15 days from 8 am on April 14 to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus in its second wave. With Section 144 being imposed across the state, Thackeray essential services have been exempted from the restrictions. The curfew will be in place till 7 am on May 1.
After consumer price index jumped the 6.3-per cent mark in May and wholesale inflation set a record of 12.94 per cent, house economists at Swiss brokerage UBS Securities have warned that the country is facing more upside risks on the inflation front that is set to averaging at 5 per cent for the year. Rising prices of edible oils and protein rich items pushed retail inflation to a six-month high of 6.3 per cent in May, breaching the comfort level of the Reserve Bank and thus rendering reduction in interest rates a difficult proposition in the near term. Led by petrol price, that has crossed the Rs 100-mark in many states, wholesale inflation too accelerated to a record 12.94 per cent in May. While crude oil has crossed $70 a barrel on account of rising prices of crude oil and manufactured goods due to spike in commodities, and the low base of last year due to the lockdown.
'Rain-fed farms in the drier parts of the country are feeling the pinch of lack of water, and this pinch is only going to increase. Some of the biggest companies have shut down because of non-availability of water.'
The crop is currently trading at Rs 22 a kg compared to Rs 12.50 one month ago.
'Rezang La was a unique battle.' 'It was not a large scale battle like the Battle of Kohima which involved a large number of troops.' 'Here there was just a company that fought it out till the last man.'
The India Pulses and Grains Association estimates production of kharif pulses at seven mt this year.
We need to invest in the science of monsoons and weather forecasting.
Analysts say markets to be impacted by monsoon, inflation trajectory.
'...that it takes fantasy seriously as a part of real life'... A fascinating excerpt from Jonathan Gil Harris's book, Masala Shakespeare: How A Firangi Writer Became Indian.
Poor rain threatens recovery in production this season, sugar prices at three-month high
In 2012, Q4, the country's demand for the yellow metal during stood at 260.3 tonnes and for the entire year it was 863 tonnes.
Any saving on the car loan EMI can translate into major savings.
Acreage of these crops is likely to fall as prices drop below MSP in mandis; area under cotton, maize may increase on better realisation
B K Tyagi, director of the Madurai-based Centre for Research in Medical Entomology, talks with Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier about how dengue fever can be controlled.
Meanwhile, retail jewellery sales in India have declined by 50 per cent since gold price started its uptrend nearly two weeks. Buyers deferred their fresh purchase amid expectations of a correction in gold prices from the current high level.
A Rs 195 crore-package was announced by the government on Friday for reconstruction of the 'Char Dham' pilgrimage circuit, which was badly affected by the Uttarakhand rain disaster.
'Water is not an economic resource, but we treat water as an economic resource meant for the benefit of human beings.' 'Water is more of a life source than an economic resource.'
Low rain coupled with the fact that maize prices in the open market have surged from around Rs 15-16 a kg to almost Rs 25 this year have forced farmers to turn to this crop.
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Fear factors weights on markets, Sensex, Nifty struggle to keep pace.
The road ahead for the markets in the short term will depend on external factors rather than domestic developments.
