Geographical Indication tag continues to be handed out without examining the scientific basis or the integrity of such claims Old timers may recall a popular 1970s film song that a rambunctious Amitabh Bachchan belts out in praise of the Banarasi paan. His mouth oozing with the bright red juice of the chewed paan (betel quid), the hero praises its brain-stimulating qualities as he jives before an admiring audience. The Banarasi paan that the song extols is one of the more popular varieties that paan vendors dispense at most
Simply Put: Farm laws & victories
Simply Put: Farm laws & victories Source link
Simply Put: Farm laws & apologies
Simply Put: Farm laws & apologies Source link
Food Miles: Here is how we can reduce them
Food Miles: Here is how we can reduce them Small efforts like reducing personal vehicular use for buying groceries, eating at farm-to-fork restaurants or growing one’s own vegetable garden can go a long way in controlling carbon emissions Source link
One year on, the farmers’ protest holds its ground
On November 26, the farmers’ protest against three farm laws—Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020—will complete one full year. For the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the broad front leading the protest from the borders of Delhi, it marks a major milestone. The SKM itself comprises around 500 peasant and farmer organisations across the country.There has been no other peaceful movement of a pan-India nature with a strong secular and democratic character in recent times that managed to hold its ground for a year. Farmer leaders said that there is no evidence of a similar movement either in
Cabinet approves steps to support sugar, cotton, jute farmers
In the run-up to the first anniversary of protests against three farm reform laws, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)has approved a slew of measures that will support farmers growing sugar, cotton and jute.At a meeting on Wednesday, the CCEA increased the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane juice for blending in petrol to ₹63.45 a litre in the coming sugar marketing season starting December. This is an 80 paise hike from the previous year. The rate for ethanol extracted from C-heavy molasses has been increased by 97 paise a litre, while that of ethanol extracted from B-heavy molasses is up ₹1.47 as well.Ethanol blending with petrol is expected to reach 10% next year and 20% by 2025.
Cabinet approves price support to Cotton Corporation of India
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two cotton seasons, the CCI procured around one third of the cotton production in the country The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday gave approval for committed price support of ₹17,408.85 crore to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) for the cotton seasons (October to September) from 2014-2015 to 2020-2021.Since the cotton prices touched Minimum Support Price (MSP) levels, the CCI had procured cotton at MSP prices during these years.During the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two cotton seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021), the CCI procured around one third of the cotton production in the country, i.e. about 200 lakh bales, and disbursed more than ₹55,000 crore directly in the bank
Crowd swells as ‘maha padayatra’ of farmers resumes
Tens of thousands of people thronged the otherwise sleepy Inkollu village as the ‘maha padayatra’ launched by the farmers from Amaravati to Tirupati against the government’s move of setting up three capitals resumed after a day’s break on Tuesday. People from different walks of life including farmers and agricultural labourers took a break from their busy Rabi crop cultivation and accorded a warm welcome to the Amaravati farmers on the dusty lanes of villages en route up to Duddukuru, covering a distance of 15 km. Women came out of their homes to expressed solidarity with the farmers. The long march was more orderly when compared to the first day’s proceedings in Prakasam district on Saturday, thanks to elaborate security
Too little, too late for Prakasam ryots
Gummala Venkateswarlu (45), a tobacco farmer from the remote Peridepi village in Prakasam district, had bought his dream motorcycle — a Royal Enfield — in 2018 on which he would ride to nearby towns to buy farm input and sell his produce.Now, however, he has sold off his cherished possession with a heavy heart as he can no longer afford it thanks to the exorbitant fuel costs. He now goes around on a modest 100-cc motorcycle as he struggles to meet household expenses which too have gone up thanks to the cascading effect of rising fuel prices.Over 600 families in his village share a similar fate, he says, as there is not a single house without a motorcycle. Now
Aavin clears dues of farmers
₹340 cr. disbursed by utilising reserve fund, taking loans Ahead of the Deepavali festival, Aavin has settled milk dues of farmers, who are members of the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation. Around ₹340 crore has been disbursed using reserve funds and by availing top-up loan from a bank on the skimmed milk and butter stocks of the unions. Both these sources contributed equally for the settlement. M. G. Rajendran of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association expressed happiness over this development. “Farmers had managed to tide over the pandemic due to income from the milk. A kind of permanent system should be put in place to ensure that the dues do not pile up,” he said. However, a section