Rs 1,000 crore-diesel subsidy to paddy growers: Pawar

August 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asked the State Agriculture Ministers on Friday to take immediate steps to provide relief to the drought affected areas. Addressing a conference of State Agriculture Ministers here, Pawar urged them to take steps to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that he expected rice output to slump by ten million tonnes this Kharif season, but added that the UPA Government would not hesitate to introduce measures to check spiraling prices of rice and wheat in the wake of bad monsoon. Addressing a conference of State Food and Civil Supplies Ministers here on Wednesday, Pawar said the government is keen to buy more to build adequate reserves and strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS).

July 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - There is no reason to panic over the inadequate rains in the country for the meteorological department has predicted good monsoon in August, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said Saturday. Replying to a special discussion on drought conditions in the country in the Lok Sabha, Pawar said except paddy crop, whose area of cultivation had fallen drastically, the figures for rest of the major crops in the country were comparable to the corresponding period last year.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government would stop all exports of non-Basmati rice and wheat, and bear half of the subsidy on diesel offered to farmers by the states in order to counter the deficient rainfall. Pawar announced these decisions on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet colleagues were briefed on the monsoon situation and Kharif sowing.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Friday that a weak and erratic monsoon in various parts of the country may adversely affect the paddy crop, and added that the government is drawing a contingency plan to deal with the situation. "Contingency plans are getting operationalised in the areas where dry spell is getting prolonged," Pawar said, replying to a calling attention motion in the Rajya Sabha on the monsoon situation.

July 20th, 2009 Elderly women in Bihar yoked themselves to plough in place of oxen and tilled the cracked fields to please the rain God as drought situation appeared turning grim across the state. Officials and witnesses said two women aged 65 and 70 respectively ploughed fields at Hamid village under Sadar block in Bihar’s Siwan district today for about half an hour as other women sang religious songs to appease the rain God.

July 7th, 2009 LUDHIANA - To overcome the problems caused by shortage of farm labourers and scarcity of water for irrigation, farmers in Punjab have adopted direct seeding methodology for paddy cultivation. The technique has come as a major blessing for paddy growers.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's Economic Survey tabled in parliament Thursday called for decontrolling petrol and diesel prices "at the earliest" and reforming subsidies to cooking gas and kerosene. The survey said the subsidies regime, including that of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, had to be reformed so that "all the needy get the intended benefit".

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Thursday refused to roll back the increase in fuel prices but said that a revision will be considered when the international crude oil prices come down. The government Wednesday allowed state-run oil firms to increase prices of transport fuels, resulting in petrol becoming dearer by Rs.4 per litre and diesel by Rs.2 per litre.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Wednesday allowed state-run oil firms to increase prices of transport fuels, resulting in gasoline becoming dearer by Rs.4 per litre and diesel by Rs.2 per litre, following successive increase in global crude prices. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference here that the new prices take effect from the midnight of Wednesday.

June 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unstable international oil rates may force the Government of India to increase petrol price by Rs 2 a litre and diesel by Re 1 per litre, unless excise duty on both the fuels is cut to neutralise the increase. According to reports, state fuel retailers- Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum- incur a loss of Rs 135 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.

June 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run gas major GAIL India Monday reported a net profit of Rs.2,804 crore ($585 million) for 2008-09 as against Rs.2,601 crore recorded the year before, an increase of 8 percent. In a regulatory statement, the company said its turnover during the period increased 32 percent to Rs.23,776 crore from Rs.18,008 crore in 2007-08.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday revised the total expenditure estimate in the current fiscal to a little over Rs.9 trillion (Rs.900,953 crore), an increase of Rs.1.5 trillion (Rs.150,069 crore) on account of increased assistance to states, greater sectoral investments and a higher subsidy burden. In the interim budget that he presented in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee hiked the plan expenditure by Rs.395.71 billion (Rs.39,571 crore) to Rs.2.82 trillion (Rs.282,957 crore), against the budgeted estimate of Rs.2.43 trillion (Rs.243,386 crore).

February 8th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Faced with the ire of farmers after a glut of potato crop in the state, the Punjab government Monday announced that 3,000 tonnes of potatoes would be exported to Middle East countries. The export of the potato crop will be in addition to the 200,000 tonnes of potatoes being sent to other states within the country like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

December 22nd, 2008 RAIPUR - Keeping up its poll promises, Chhattisgarh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced Tuesday it would provide Rs.220 per 100 kg as a bonus amount to farmers during the ongoing government-sponsored paddy procurement drive. The announcement for bonus bonanza was made by Chief Minister Raman Singh after presiding over the maiden cabinet meeting at the state secretariat here.