'The BJP leadership and its agriculture minister must make up their mind on what kind of corrective measures will be needed for Indian agriculture at this point in time.' 'The sooner Mr Singh provides policy clarity on this vital issue, the better are the chances of India's agriculture and farmers emerging out of their current mess,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Vegetable arrivals at mandis, especially in Maharashtra, have declined by more than 50 per cent since the beginning of the month.
The Centre is looking to convene a meeting of the all-powerful Goods and Service Tax Council in early January. The meeting is likely to focus on rectifying the inverted duty structure for a few more items and will also serve as a platform for pre-Budget discussions between Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and state finance ministers, Business Standard has learnt. "The current Winter Session of Parliament ends on December 23, followed by the Christmas-New Year period. "After that we would like to have a meeting of the GST Council, depending on whether there can be a quorum," a top government official said.
Nitin Tyagi is a young farmer in Budhagaon village of Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. A few years ago, Tyagi left his fairly lucrative job in the medical industry and shifted base to his ancestral village to look after his land and property. He opened a small shop selling farm inputs in the village and also started taking a greater interest in agricultural matters which had so far been looked after by his father and uncles. Tyagi and his brothers primarily grow sugarcane, potato and wheat on nearly 10 acres of land with sugarcane taking up most of his time and effort. Being one of the most important and lucrative cash crops of the region, sugarcane is directly linked to the fate of millions of farmers in west UP and with it, the electoral fortunes of political parties seeking their votes in the coming assembly polls.
With this allocation of portfolios, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has got most of the 'plum' ministries.
Pawar was the deputy CM twice in the 15-year regime of Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra during 1999-2014.
Thousands of farmers from across Maharashtra reached Mumbai on Sunday evening to participate in a rally at the state capital on Monday against the Centre's three new farm laws.
The scheme, which would give Rs 6,000 to small farmers in a year or Rs 500 a month, will add more money to the account of these cultivators than the money he/she saves every month on an average.
With time on his side, that Hardik Patel will one day occupy the top spot in Gujarat is a no-brainer. But the BJP doesn't like rabble-rousers.
The Taliban have been known for using violence to force the people to accept their agenda and views, he added.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had sent in a request to the President for visiting Baramati in Maharashtra to see the all round development made in the areas of agriculture, irrigation and town planning.
"We will keep an eye on the situation in Maharashtra. Congress and NCP leaders will hold further talks on the future course of action," he added.
Six people have lost their lives so far in the Cyclone Tauktae-hit coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, officials said.
Rediff Labs analyses 2015 NCRB data on farmer suicides for each state in India.
In the retail markets, fresh onion is sold between Rs 10 and Rs 12 a kg. Now, farmers have to sell onion at a loss of Rs 2-3 per kg if transport cost is included.
The Maharashtra Kisan Sabha announced that the strike will be intensified in the coming days.
'They attack standing crops and vegetables.' 'They don't attack people.' 'People are just panicking.'
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
A newspaper vendor from Neknoor in Maharashtra tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar what he would like to see in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget.
The consumer buying patterns and preferences have changed significantly with categories like health and pharma, FMCG and agriculture seeing a surge and exponential growth along with the rising number of first-time online shoppers.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which is spearheading the protest against the Centre's three new agri-marketing laws, told the MPs the 'Voters' Whip' overrides their party whips.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
Among the key demands of agitating farmers has been a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP). The protest reached a crescendo when thousands of farmers from Punjab and elsewhere marched towards Delhi late last year and decided to block the main entry points once they were denied entry. The Centre, on its part, held 11 rounds of discussions with the protesters and even offered to amend some of the provisions without much success. With now one of their chief demands met, farmers have now moved on to force the government to concede on MSP.
'While dairy farmers are suffering from low prices, consumers are paying a high price for milk.'
Former RBI governors Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan have also expressed worry about the Mudra scheme, particularly government's target-setting practice and the rising bad loans.
The Sena leader said the protesters are India's own farmers and the government should have a dialogue with them.
It has decided not to levy the 2 per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on cash payments above Rs 1 crore made through Agricultural Produce Market Committees.
Rediff reader D N Basavaraj, 40 from Davangere tells us about his first job and salary.
Ahead of the assembly elections, the saffron allies may be ecstatic over the swelling, but it's a double-edged sword with many older leaders wondering what they have got after putting in years of hard work, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
Pawar asked Modi why he was daring Opposition leaders to bring back Article 370 of the Constitution after it was nullified by Parliament in August.
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.
The big cat walked across two states for five months.
'Sharad Pawar has taught us how to raise farm productivity and also how to form a government with less member of MLAs in the legislative assembly'
He said though there was a "ray of hope", certain issues he had flagged remained unresolved.
India needs to spread irrigation and do so against a backdrop of rising water scarcity and depleting groundwater resources
The government's negotiations with protesting farm unions hit a roadblock on Friday as the farmer leaders stuck to their demands for a complete repeal of three farm laws they find pro-corporate and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), even as the Centre asked them to reconsider its proposal for putting the Acts on hold for 12-18 months.
Prices have continued to move up in Delhi's markets, wholesale and retail, on supply worries and spoilage due to record cold weather.
The fear of price rise gained momentum after reports surfaced that the NAFED procured 50,000 tonnes of onion this season.
A clear message was that the ongoing seven-decade-old model of agriculture, based on extensive reliance on subsidy by the government at every stage, was not going to work, said NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar.
By June 14, the monsoon should have reached central India. But this year it hasn't even covered Karnataka properly or entered the Northeast.
