The NITI Aayog, in a concept note floated a few months back, had suggested three models of procurement but the Centre, at least for the time being, has decided to rely on existing PSS schemes along with giving states the option of choosing Bhawantar Bhugtan for oilseeds.
'There is a difference between a politician and leader.' 'A politician will have his pound of flesh first and do everything else later.' 'A leader will sacrifice everything to help people.'
Bhujbal stridently opposed Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange's demand for Maratha quota from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) share.
He said the onion farmers need to get a good price for the crop and the affected farmers get compensation.
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.
'During times of adversity, a brick becomes better than a stone. That is how I look at the election season.'
The Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal that offers an option of availing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the state government employees who joined the service after November 2005.
Though the Bills of Punjab and Rajasthan have a lot of similarities, the one approved by the Chhattisgarh Assembly is structurally different. None of the three has tried to address a key demand of the agitating farmers in full, which is to make all payments below the MSP, within and outside mandis, illegal.
'We will be hoisting the tiranga, but this kind of celebration is uncalled for when the farmers in this country are dying by suicides, their families are ravaged by poverty and farmers are not enjoying any freedom.'
The government's predicament is a result of its own doing: That of not ensuring adequate buy-in by the stakeholders before passage of the laws, notes Vivek Gumaste.
'Focus will be on smaller loan amounts to meet the needs of affordable homebuyers.'
The suicide note also stated about "foul language" used by people associated with a cooperative society and threat by lenders (finance firms), a police officer said on Monday.
The government has the upper hand in the ongoing negotiations, and it is unclear if a real debate will happen, observes Tulika Narayan.
After climbing to the highest level in more than five years to 4.7 million tonnes in FY24, India might import fewer quantities of pulses this financial year at 4-4.5 mt on the back of good monsoon and higher domestic production, Bimal Kothari, chairman of India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), said in New Delhi on Friday. Kothari was addressing reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on pulses titled "Bharat Dalhan-2024".
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel also sustained injuries during the heavy exchange of fire that happened at Jakurador Karong in the Borobekra sub-division, they said.
'It is a fiercely fought battle, like our fiery chillies in Guntur.'
Most key rabi-producing states of north India, such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have staggered their procurement to enable farmers to come in batches, so that there is no overcrowding. The Centre has also set up a call centre to coordinate the inter-state movement of farm commodities.
'The farm bills will not bring in corporate zamindari'
Extended rounds of negotiations having failed, farm leaders now reckon that their best chance to pressure the government lay in defeating the BJP in the coming assembly poll, particularly in UP, observes Virendra Kapoor.
A protester was killed in firing during a clash between security forces and a mob vandalising properties in Manipur's Jiribam district. The incident occurred late on Sunday night when agitators were protesting the killing of women and children abducted by militants. The deceased has been identified as K Athouba, who was in his twenties. The offices of the Congress and BJP, and a house belonging to Jiribam's Independent MLA were ransacked by a group of agitators. Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Imphal Valley, where curfew remained enforced and internet services suspended after agitators vandalised and set ablaze properties belonging to several ministers and legislators.
'Why did government not include a provision in the bills which categorically stated that no crop will be sold below the MSP in the open market?'
For the first time in the state's history, over 10,000 thousand farmers have gone on strike.
"There is a clear hand of the Punjab government in it. Here in Haryana, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders besides some Left leaders are instigating farmers to take law in their hands," Haryana chief minister M L Khattar said
The "black ink and the deadly attack" cannot suppress the voices of farmers and labourers, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said after ink was thrown on him in Bengaluru.
The dilemma is that if farming is to be efficient, farmers will be worse off -- and if farmers are to be better off farming will be worse off, reveals T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
However, the farmers are still protesting, demanding a law on MSP. Besides MSP, the farmers are also demanding a resolution for the livelihood of the families of the 700 farmers who died while protesting against the three farm laws.
'This confrontation could have been avoided by a less arrogant administration that initially listened, used whatever negotiating skills they had and tried to be more credible,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday met families of four deceased farmers, who had allegedly faced shortage of fertilisers in Lalitpur, and charged that the fertiliser distribution system of Uttar Pradesh has failed due to collusion among black marketers, officials and leaders.
Data shows that the current system of decentralised marketing and centralised procurement helps Punjab and Haryana farmers the most, while its efficacy in other states has been poor. Experts and farm leaders say success of the laws rests heavily on implementation.
'Only then will we withdraw the agitation.'
Withdrawing a blanket ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, the government on Saturday imposed a floor price of $490 per tonne and exempted the commodity from export duty. Exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply. "The export policy for non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or gazed) ...is amended from prohibited to free, subject to MEP (minimum export price) of $490 per tonne with immediate effect and until further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
'Are we to believe that coordinated moves by the Canadian and US authorities are no longer taking place?', asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The UPA was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. The NDA is the gang that can't stop shooting. They (the Modi government) are shooting at anybody, everybody, all directions, shooting themselves in the foot.'
Milk supplies could improve with the monsoon, provided the rains are not excessive.
Farmer organisations also called for boycott of mandis or wholesale markets in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mahrashtra, leading to fears of shortage and price rise.
'Farmers have been sent notices in which the government is threatening that if you will join the movement, then we will impound your ancestral properties.' 'We will seal your bank accounts.' 'We will revoke the passports of your kids.'
Home-grown FMCG major Dabur India on Thursday said it will set up a Rs 400-crore manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district, marking the company's maiden foray into the South. State Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said, Dabur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government to this effect on Thursday. The MoU outlines an approved Phase 1 investment of Rs 135 crore, scaling up to Rs 400 crore over five years, Dabur India said in a statement.
'Interestingly in spite of slightly more than half (52%) the respondent farmers opposing the three new agri laws, almost 44% respondent farmers said the Modi government was 'pro-farmer'
Food and beverages major PepsiCo India on Thursday announced a partnership with N-Drip, a manufacturer of gravity-powered micro-irrigation system, to help farmers in India increase water efficiency. This is part of a global partnership between PepsiCo and N-Drip, aimed at increasing water efficiency across 10,000 hectares around the world by 2025, the company said in a statement. N-Drip's technology has already been introduced in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan to improve water efficiency levels across thousands of hectares in the country by 2025, PepsiCo India added.
The United Kingdom extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over.
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