The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
'As far as contract farming is concerned, we already have a model Act and states will be encouraged to adopt them.'
In most cases, however, retail consumers are paying higher prices in the absence of direct procurement from aggregator or farmers.
Rajasthan Police has denied the allegation of a woman who said her full-term pregnant daughter-in-law lost her child after she was assaulted by it during a raid at her house.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait exhorted farmers to be ready for a massive nationwide agitation over their demands as a 75-hour sit-in by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha in Lakhimpur Kheri seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and a law on minimum support price (MSP) entered the second day on Tuesday.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
'On one side you have the farmers of India and on the other side are few corporate families.' 'Unfortunately, those holding the levers of power today are more sympathetic towards these corporate families and helping them benefit at the cost of poor farmers.'
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which contested the assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh for the first time, drew a blank securing just 1.10 per cent of the total votes cast.
According to the state government, 60,000 tourists have so far been evacuated from the hill state.
'However, this time it looks like that is not working.'
Modi said whenever Congress came back, all development works came to a standstill.
If the BJP doesn't do something quickly, Anurag Thakur and P K Dhumal will be the ones having a quiet last laugh.
The rain ebbed in some places in north India and pelted down in others on Tuesday, with at least seven more people dead and hundreds stranded as raging waters gushed through villages, towns and fields -- from the desert state of Rajasthan to the hills of Himachal Pradesh.
With the Congress emerging victorious in Himachal Pradesh, state party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri.
There have been several instances of traders dumping fruits and vegetables outside mandis. Or of farmers dumping produce outside their villages or feeding them to their animals.
The busy Lal Chowk city centre on Saturday reverberated with slogans like 'We want justice' and 'Administration haye haye' (down with administration) as scores of Kashmiri Pandits took out a protest march against the killing of Rahul Bhat, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should for once express grief in Parliament over the death of around 750 farmers during the months-long anti-farm law protests at Delhi's borders, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Saturday.
'This government will end after five years, but farmers will not end after five years.' 'This is the source of our confidence.'
As India's 75th Independence Day draws near, the government is going all out to raise awareness about the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
Assistant professors hired for the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme staged a series of protests against the government in New Delhi over their jobs that will be terminated on September 30, 2021.
The Kerala Story is among a long list of films that invited bans and censorship.
Singh's comment comes close on the heels of a large stockpile of drugs, cash and weapons being recovered near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch.
It is "absolutely clear" that the new laws will finish government mandis (wholesale markets) and private mandis where big corporates will sell and buy will have monopoly, he claimed.
Artworks and traditional items representing the rich heritage of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of presents to world leaders during the G-20 summit in Bali.
Deciding on the chief ministerial face who can bind the party going forward is the immediate challenge for the Congress.
Mandira Bedi celebrated her birthday with family and friends.
In total, the Centre plans to purchase around 40.7 million tonnes of wheat from farmers this year, which is almost 19 per cent more than last year.
Farmers in Nashik district, Maharashtra - a major producer of onion - have started harvesting the premature crop to cash in on the high prices in mandis. Good-quality onion was quoted at Rs 93.50 a kg on the higher side. However, the poorest-quality onion was selling at Rs 25.50 a kg on Wednesday as against Rs 20 a kg on Tuesday. Thus, the model price of onion works out to Rs 70-75 a kg in Lasalgaon, translating into Rs 100-125 a kg in the retail markets of the country.
While prospective investors in new retail chains are up against the odds in several states, those wanting to invest in primary level agricultural marketing may find the going easier.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government is committed towards procurement of agri crops at minimum support price (MSP) and termed it as an important part of the country's food security. He further said that efforts are being made to improve mandi infrastructure so that MSP buying continues in a scientific way.
In Punjab, more than 9,000 people were evacuated in Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, officials said on Tuesday.
Nath's resignation was accepted by party president Sonia Gandhi keeping in view the party's 'one person-one post' policy.
'Here's looking at you, my loving and lovely friend.. beautiful inside and out. Love you Mon!'
Tomar said the next meeting will take place on Saturday at 2 pm which he hoped would take the matter to a decisive stage and towards a final resolution.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
A senior police officer was on Wednesday transferred and attached with police headquarters, a step that followed an outcry over halting of fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir valley to outside markets.
'They will not get more than two seats in Haryana if elections are held now.'
The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday.
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.
Rizwan Ashraf, 22, a resident of Mandi Bahauddin district in Pakistan's Punjab province, was nabbed from near the India-Pakistan International Border fence in the Sriganganagar sector, they said.
