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The recommendation of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) that the minimum support price (MSP) should be C-2 (that is, total cost of production) plus 50 per cent is yet to be implemented. The MSP announced for rice and pulses is reasonably attractive and, consequently, the production of pulses, rice, jowar, bajra, maize and oilseeds is likely to be good. Over 20 million tonnes of rice will have to be procured during the next three months. Hence, no further time should be lost in making arrangements for the safe storage of the purchased grains. Also, the procurement by the Central and State agencies should extend to pulses and crops like jowar, bajra, ragi and maize, so that there is a diversification of the food basket. Procurement at remunerative price is the key to keeping up farmers' interest in farming. Unlike the Right to Information Act which can be implemented with the help of files, the Right to Food can be implemented only with the help of farmers. The Hindu, 140910, Distribute, procure, store and sow |
RBI takes another baby step to tame the inflation Godzilla
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Food inflation reached 15.1 per cent for the week ended September 4 as cereals, select vegetables and milk became costlier.
And the Reserve Bank of India today took another baby step by raising its key short-term lending rate by 25 basis points and borrowing rate by 50 basis points.
Fat chance that this half hearted neasure will tame the inflation Godzilla! |
Govt foodgrain stocks at 50 million tonnes
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FCI, the nodal agency for foodgrains procurement and distribution, had 20.4 million tonnes of rice and 29.8 million tonnes of wheat in its storage facilities as of September 1, a senior official said.
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As per government norms, the FCI should have 26.2 million tonnes of wheat and rice available in its buffer stock as of October 1. This includes 5 million tonnes of strategic reserves.
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The government is sitting on a huge foodgrains stocks and is grappling with a storage problem. It is also not allowing exports of wheat and non-basmati rice due to high food inflation and to meet the requirement of foodgrains for the proposed National Food Security Act.
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| India produced a record 80.71 million tonnes of wheat in the 2009-10 crop year (July-June), beating the previous year's record of 80.68 million tonnes. |
On the back of record output, FCI has so far procured 22.5 million tonnes of wheat in the 2010-11 marketing year (April-March), compared to a record 25.1 million tonnes last year.
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| In the case of rice, the country's production declined to 89.13 million tonnes in the 2009-10 crop year from a record 99.18 million tonnes in the previous year on account of a drought that hit over half the country. |
Rice procurement in the 2009-10 marketing year (October- September) will continue till the end of this month and so far, the FCI has procured 30.9 million tonnes of rice against 33.08 million tonnes in the year-ago period. PTI 130910 |
| Attractio in PSB executive posts |
The debate over public and private sector pay parity is an age-old one Take, for example, the comparison between the Rs 26.51 lakh salary of the State Bank of India chairman in 2009-10 with the Rs 1.81 crore compensation of the CEO of ICICI Bank. True money is what makes the mare go round. But no one who has seen Dunedin, the residence of the SBI Chairman in South Mumbai (or the clout that goes with being the head of the largest bank in the country) would seriously argue he is much worse off! The correct comparison , therefore, would be to monetise the value of all perks in the public sector to arrive at what in private sector jargon is known as ‘costto-company’ (CTC), not to look at the cash component alone.
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There are different drivers that drive different people. SBI’s balance sheet is almost three times that of its closest rival, ICICI Bank. That gives its middle and senior level officers the excitement of a much wider canvas, apart from the sense of doing more socially-relevant work. Job security also means much greater freedom, which means there’s none (or much less) of the boss-is-always-right culture that pervades the private sector. And for many, no amount of money can compensate for that!
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(Speaking as someone who has spent her working life almost equally divided between the public and the private sectors, let me add comparisons in terms of salary alone are completely misplaced) .Not by bread alone! Mythili Bhusnurmath Sunday September 12, 2010
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| NREGS Progress Report |
While 21 million households were provided employment under NREGA in 2006-07, it was 33.9 million in 2007-08, and 45.1 million in 2008-09. For 2009-10, 44.9 million households were covered up to January 2010. The average wage paid per person-day progressively increased from Rs. 65 in 2006-07 to Rs. 88.56 in 2009-10. The central budget allocation of funds for the scheme has also increased over the years, with the current year's budget allocation being Rs. 40,100 crore. The Hindu 130910
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Declning Agri Growth
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In 2004, when the first UPA Government took power, the rural sector grew 4 per cent; by the time its term ended, it had fallen to half that rate and subsequently turned negative. That is why large fertile tracts are being “lost”. BY MOHIT SATYANAND Yahoo News 130910
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CMs’ agri group wants farm loan rate to be lowered to 4%
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The Chief Ministers’ Working Group on agriculture has decided to recommend to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that interest rates on farm loans be reduced by a percent, to 4 per cent, for those making timely repayments. PTI 100910-
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Flow of Credit to Agriculture Sector
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The farm credit target for banks fiscal I 2010 was Rs 3,25,000 crore, of which Rs 1,85,000 crore will be short-term credit. In 2009-10, around 482 lakh farmers have been financed with a total disbursement of Rs 3,66,919 crore.
The disbursement by public sector banks to agriculture under the Special Agricultural Credit Plan (SACP) was `90,023 crore between April- September 2009, against the target of `2,01,710
crore for the year, while disbursement by private sector banks was `30,092 crore, against the target of `62,352 crore. The recovery rate of direct agriculture advances improved marginally from 75.4 t% to 76% during the year ended June 2009 . |
| Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme |
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Since inception of the scheme, the government has released `40,000 crore to the Reserve Bank for reimbursement under the
Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008. Of this, `28,000 crore was passed on to NABARD for reimbursement to RRBs and cooperative banks and Rs 12,000 crore was
utilised for reimbursing SCBs, local area banks and urban co-operative banks (UCBs).
RBI A R Jun 10
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| ‘Sugar decontrol must be gradual to protect farmers’ interest’ |
India should emulate the Brazilian process of decontrolling the sugar sector by moving gradually, as sudden freeing of the sector could hurt farmers’ interest,, Brazi lian Sugarcane Industry Association President, Mr Marcus Jank, told. BL010910 |
| Bank gross NPAs to touch 3.5% by March 2011: CARE |
The overall gross NPAs of all scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) stood at Rs 81,813 crore (2.5 per cent of Gross Advances) as on March 31, 2010. Reflecting the trend of sizable chunk of restructured assets turning into bad loans, rating agency CARE has pegged Indian banking sector’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) at 3.5 per cent of gross advances by March 2011.It expects 15 per cent restructured assets to be converted into NPAs in FY11. This was in addition to the normal system NPAs, CARE said. BS 270810 |
| Basu pitches for changes in labour laws |
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The rule that requires industries employing more than 100 workers to seek government’s nod before downsizing.
has encouraged companies to employ capital intensive method of production to keep labour requirement low, which goes against the country’s pressing need to create more employment. It has also encouraged contract labour where terms of employment are loaded heavily against the workers. |
Over 90% of India’s total work force of about 433 million is employed in the unorganised sector with poor pay and no security of any type. Yet, any debate on labour reforms has evoked strong reactions from the Left parties and trade unions that see liberal labour laws as anti workers. ET 060910 |
Voltaire said " It is better to believe and pray to God, for if you are right, then you are covered, if wrong little is lost ! "
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| Krsr/and 142/170910 |
