The BJP's West Bengal unit chief, Samik Bhattacharya, has alleged that at least five farmers have died by suicide in the state since February due to a potato price crisis, accusing the TMC government of negligence.
Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
India's retail inflation marginally increased to 3.4 per cent in March, up from 3.21 per cent in February, primarily due to an uptick in certain food items and the initial impact of the West Asia crisis on fuel prices, according to government data.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, accusing it of facilitating cultural changes through infiltration, presiding over a 'Maha jungleraj' in tribal areas, and betraying women, farmers, and youths.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee accuses the central government of withholding funds from West Bengal to punish voters for supporting the TMC, while highlighting state-led initiatives to support the population.
What lessons opposition parties need to learn post defeat of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal elections? The election saw spectacular victor of BJP which rose from 3 seats in 2016 to 206 seats in 2026 assembly elections.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Lessons of Bengal's ill-advised restriction on potato trade.
In a recent call to Filipinos, president Arroyo said they should boil rice with sweet potatoes or they should go for cheaper cereals to avoid going hungry as rice prices soared to record levels. "This is a once-a-millennium global crisis. We have an action plan," Arroyo said, noting that residents of the central island of Cebu are already using cheap sweet potatoes to beat the crisis.
'China reduced its exports of urea to India gradually.' 'In 2020-2021 we imported 28 lakh tonnes of urea which reduced to 16 lakh tonnes in 2022-2023 and that has now reduced to 1 lakh tonnes in 2024-2025.'
From output surge to lack of cold storage, not much attention has been given to the potato farmers. The export market, too, is bleak, due to unsuitable domestic varieties and an underdeveloped food processing value chain.
This time, the price of potato had shot up to Rs 50 per kg.
8 out of 10 households are planning to cut their tomato consumption if prices stay in the Rs 75-150 kg range over the next three months.
The Aayog recently met the ministries on the issue.
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.
Onion prices have been ruling at Rs 70-90 per kg in most parts of the country and even touched Rs 100 per kg in some cities like Patna and Jammu.
Retail prices across the country continued to be at Rs 80 a kg.
'We are not talking pennies. The milk business is as large as the automobile industry (about Rs 4 trillion in sales),' points out T N Ninan.
'These three commodities have been chosen very well.' 'It is up to the state governments and central government to see how it is implemented.' 'The government has to do some hand-holding.'
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party government for spurt in prices of essential commodities during its 45-day rule, Opposition Congress on Monday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for riding to power on promise of controlling inflation yet doing nothing on it.
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India eats 1.2 million tonnes of onions a month and the current stock will last till the end of August.
However, two districts -- Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab -- which did not record a fresh case in the last 28 days, reported new COVID-19 cases on Monday, it added.
Just one year after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a challenge that could come to haunt him.
'I hope the anger that Gujarat farmers have demonstrated is also reflected in other parts of the country in ensuing elections.' 'Only then will the ruling parties accept that something is terribly going wrong in the hinterland.'
'India is still hierarchical, but not as much as Japan and people appreciate a flat working culture,' Charles Frump, managing director, Volvo Cars India, tells Pavan Lall.
The agrarian crisis must be met with similarly speedy responses.
'If the money we spend on importing pulses reach our farmers, there won't be any suicides'
The bonhomie between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was once again in evidence on Tuesday, but the question remains if it will translate into supporting the BJP in the Rajya Sabha. Senior journalist R Rajagopalan reports.
Is the Budget sufficiently prudent? It probably is but at the cost of substantial under-provisioning for the many grand sounding schemes announced in it, says Nitin Desai.
'The corporate sector says by 2022 they will create 300 million jobs.' 'In the last 70 years we didn't do it, how will we do it in 5 years?' 'Only agriculture can bail out the economy. Unfortunately, it is not being looked into.'
Suresh Narayanan, chairman & managing director, Nestl India, shares tips on crisis management.
His father is a former finance minister. His brother is a minister in the Modi government. But Sumant Sinha wants nothing to do with politics and tells Shreya Jai why he is bullish on the renewable energy sector.
ugar mills in UP owe thousands of crores to cane farmers.
'LIC's proposed investment will come out of what is technically called the 'policyholders funds'.' 'As the name implies, these monies belong to policyholders; that is, you, me and 25 crore others who have taken a total of 30 crore policies from LIC.' 'It is not the government's or LIC's money to play poker with,' says S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
