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Price rise was very high weekly basis with urad and poultry chicken rising by 15 per cent each, eggs by 8 per cent, moong by 6 per cent, arhar by 5 per cent and fruits & vegetables by 3 per cent.
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Food inflation rose to 15.58 per cent for the second week of November from 14.55 per cent in the previous week as potatoes and pulses turned costlier.
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On an annual basis, potato prices more than doubled, pulses became expensive by over 35 per cent, while onions rose by 27 per cent. Staple items like wheat and rice rose by 12 per cent each during the period. Vegetable too continued to stalk consumers registering a 12 per cent rise. The annual rate of inflation in the Primary Articles group has risen to 11.04 per cent.
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K.R.S.Reddy November 26, 2009, 15:27 IST Food inflation is continuously raging and the Government appears to have no clue as to the causes and is practically immobilsed bereft of any action. As food expenses constitute more than 50% of the budget of the poor people, steps should be taken to import pulses and stringent action to be taken against traders and middle men who take advantage of the situation hoard and sell at very high prices. It is a wonder that the even opposition is keeping mum.
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NREGS-Poor get lesser days of employment-Study :
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Analysis of participation in NREGP in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, based on a large household survey conducted in 2007-08, reveals that the duration of employment is systematically lower for poor households. At the same time, the non-poor are disproportionately represented, indicating some capture. Third, whereas few participants admit to paying bribes, several reported that personal acquaintance was necessary to secure employment under NREGP. Raghbendra Jha-ET241109
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IIPR to develop heat resistant gram : |
| The Kanpur-based Indian Institute of Pulse Research (IIPR) has begun its battle against the unbridled pulse price rise. The institute has proposed a project to develop heat-resistant species of gram, which is commonly used as pulses after processing. The production of pulses in the country had been on a decline for quite some time now and one of the prime reasons for the descent had been the recent phenomena of global warming. “The conventional species of plant are not able to withstand the rising temperatures, resulting in lower harvests and reduced acreage,” .B S 191109 |
Drought-resistant and salinity-resistant cotton seeds-Vibha :
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Vibha Seeds has opened a Rs 200-crore seed processing and warehousing facility near Mahaboobnagar, AP, with a capacity of 4.38 lakh tonnes a year. The 1.2-million square feet facility handles seeds of 12 field crops and 18 vegetable crops.“The facility has a 15,000-tonne corn crop drying unit and 1,200-tonne cottonseed processing and de-linting unit,” |
Vibha Seeds developed drought-resistant and salinity-resistant cotton seeds. They have launched these seed in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Last year, have sold 1.8 lakh packets of these seeds in the two States and are targeting to sell six lakh packets this year.
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| Reduced wastage with modern methods of handling grain storage : |
Result: The wastage at the silo is less than one per cent. This is only due to “unhygenic dust”, says Mr Munishwar Vasudeva of the Adani Group firm. Wastage at the FCI godowns could be about 20 per cent.
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Adani Agri Logistics Ltd, near Chennai, store 25,000 tonnes of wheat for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for sale to private flour mills and distribution through ration shops.
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The entire operation — right from the time the grain is discharged from the wagon to loading them onto trucks for dispatch — is driven by information technology. They monitor the temperature inside the bins; run the entire supply chain, including the conveyor system and movement of foodgrain. They can even monitor the quality parameters such as moisture, insect presence, restricting overflow of grain and aeration/fumigation. BL 29109
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| Increase in economic cost of wheat and rice of FCI : |
Net economic cost (procurement price plus incidentals and overheads) of wheat rose to Rs 1,504 per quintal in 2009-10, up Rs 111 from Rs 1,393 in 2008-09. |
In the case of rice, the economic cost surged to Rs 1,893 per quintal from Rs 1,789 in the previous year, registering a gain of Rs 104 per quintal. |
| For the BPL people, the subsidy was over 72 per cent in 2009-10, against 70 per cent in the previous year. The rice subsidy for the BPL came to over 70 per cent in 2009-10, against over 68 per cent in the year before. |
| Sugar muddle : |
sugarcane price order sought to bring about two important changes: Transfer the burden of higher sugarcane prices announced by the states from the industry to the state exchequer and freeing the industry from the burden of sharing its windfall profits with farmers. The first move had undermined the state’s freedom to dole out financial concessions to farmers at industry’s cost. The second move dealt a direct blow to farmers. BS 241109 |
| K.R.S.Reddy -24 Nov 09 |
For the past six years since 2003 SMP was fixed around Rs 80 per quintal, way below sugarcane cost of production. Cost of labour has doubled thanks to NREGS and input costs increased by over 50% during the period and the SMP fixed was very unfair and un- remunerative. Hence farmers switched over to cultivating other crops as sugarcane farming proved to be a losing proposition and sugarcane acreage and supply declined. Therefore sugar production declined as a consequence. States fixed higher SAP for sugarcane. Naturally sugar prices doubled in the process, all because of un-remunerative SMP fixed by government for the past several years. Government is floundering on the crystals of sugar again and again. |
| Health care in a shambles : |
The Plan document bemoans: “The public health care system in many States is in [a] shambles. Extreme inequalities and disparities persist both in terms of access to health care as well as health outcome.” The Plan deplores the critical shortage of health personnel, particularly doctors and nurses, poor working conditions and inadequate incentives, and the low utilisation of the meagre facilities in government hospitals. Government hospitals at all levels present a picture of neglect and decline. |
| M P Mal-nourishment rate 60% : |
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-III, 60 per cent of the children in the 0-3 years category in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished, while 82.6 per cent in this category are anaemic. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the State stands at 70/1,000, while the same indicator for tribal areas is 95.6/1,000. |
| Primary Education in Shambles : |
Teachers who do not turn up to teach at rural schools (absenteeism is about 30%, according to one estimate) and teachers who are not equipped or motivated to teach but continue in service without challenge are part of India’s socio-political reality. ET 031109 |
| High level of corruption : |
Out of the various departments analysed, India's police department fares the worst in terms of corruption, while school education was the sector where least corruption prevails. The most corrupt state is Bihar, followed by Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh. BS Nov 18, 2009 |
| A P-A ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi! : |
Believe it or not — the authorities in Andhra Pradesh have issued a ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi along with his picture! What is more shocking is that the card named Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, as his father. Godse, however, has been misspelt as Godsay. |
| In June, a ration card issued to one Laxmi of Vizianagaram district with a photograph of tennis star Sania Mirza was detected. The authorities had launched door-to-door verification campaign early this year when it was found that the number of ration cards issued in some districts exceeded the population. The number of bogus cards in the state is estimated to be 3.5 million. TH 211109 |
