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  • Arctic plunder

    The Bush administration has passed a bill that permits oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

  • Amnesty portrays India`s warts in detail

    Amnesty portrays India's warts in detail

    IN DAYS long gone, the bearer of bad tidings was usually put to death unceremoniously. In today's more civilised times, we in the Third World prefer to vilify such messengers as biased agents of

  • Teething troubles

    Teething troubles

    A UN body formed almost a year ago is still unable to suggest how to achieve its goal of sustainable development.

  • One earth but whose future?

    FOR SOME publications, it is more interesting and instructive to review the context rather than the content. In the case of One Earth One Future-Our Changing Global Environment, the content is by now

  • Koel Karo: a question of votes

    Sources say caste politics has a lot to do with the current interest shown by Bihar's Janata Dal (JD) government in getting the 710 MW Koel-Karo hydel project through. Chief minister Laloo Prasad

  • Managing water locally   a good model

    Managing water locally a good model

    In the Water and Sanitation Project implemented by the Tamil Nadu government with assistance from the Danish International Development Assistance, the institutional foundation for providing water supplies lies within the framework of the Panchayati Raj sy

  • In short

    too demanding: The Uttar Pradesh government decided on December 14, 2004, to constitute an Irrigation Development and Flood Control Commission. The move is allegedly aimed at merely including

  • Bata Atha farm a tribute to Ruhuna farmers'

    The Bata Atha agro technological farm was set up as a tribute to the farmers of Ruhunu Magam Pattu, said the Minister of Ports and Aviation Chamal Rajapaksa. The Minister was addressing a meeting at Siyabalaheddewa in Weeraketiya DS area that followed the opening of several common amenities including a housing scheme set up by the Southern Development Authority (SDA) under the Jathika Saviya Gama Neguma programme. Rs. 3,197,037.80 were spent for the projects. The Minister said that the farmer community is the lifeblood of the nation and that it is the community that produces the staple food, rice. They are an asset and a legacy for a nation. We provide them necessary facilities and protect them like precious gems. He said the farming community has a lot of things to learn from the agro technology farm at Bata Atha. I request them to visit it in order to learn the latest technology in farming. The Minister said late D. A. Rajapaksa was instrumental in setting up the Chandrikawewa reservoir at Embilipitiya. That was also a tribute for the farming community. He said 4,000 villages are being developed in Sri Lanka under the Jathika Saviya Gama Neguma programme. The SDA has been entrusted with several villages under the programme in Hambantota district. The Minister said President Mahinda Rajapaksa became President in 2005. He is a leader with farsighted policies as such the people decided to elect him President. He said President's farsightedness has brought the NE conflict almost to an end. The cost of living has risen as a result of a colossal sum of money spent in this endeavour. The Minister said the people of Deduru Oya grow gotukola and earn a substantial income from it. They export them to America through an agency. In America they convert gotu kola into powder and tablets and export them to Sri Lanka. Ranjith Gunasekera Chairman and Director General SDA said that the Siyabalaheddewa village is an underdeveloped village which was known to him since 1970. A period of transition has occurred in the village with projects implemented under the Jathika Saviya Maga Neguma programme. He said President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is familiar with the less fortunate downtrodden masses implements development programmes to elevate them to the status of the haves. The Minister said we summoned the Jana Sabha to identify the priorities that need development in the village of Siyabalaheddewa. We as SDA utilised funds provided to us for fruitful purposes and the people reap the benefits of it. The Chief Coordinating Secretary to the President Upul Dissanayaka, Coordinator to the President Wasantha Gunasekera, SPC Minister V. K. Indika and SPC Chairman Somawansa Kodagoda were present.

  • Bountiful crop proves bitter

    There seems to be no end to sugarcane farmers' misery in the State who every year face the problem of excess production. The farmers this time have taken to the streets expressing their displeasure with the sugarcane package announced by the government. Karnataka stands fourth in the country in the cultivation of sugarcane but the State is yet to see a sugarcane policy or a scientific basis for fixing the minimum support price. The farmers blame the sugar mills, the factory owners in turn blame the government, the government feels that the mill owners and farmers are both at fault for not coming to a consensus, thus completing the vicious cycle. Elected representatives on their part keep using the sugarcane pricing issue to fuel anger among the farmers (to keep the vote bank intact) but there is no permanent solution to the problem. Deccan Herald presents a lowdown on the state of affairs from the eyes of various stake-holders. The sugar industry in Karnataka can be divided into two groups - unorganised sector which comprises of the producers of the traditional sweeteners such as gur and khandasari and the organised sector which consists of the sugar mills. Farmers' woes: *Dictatorial attitude of sugar mills. Last year a majority of mills refused to implement the statutory minimum price fixed by the government. The State government had directed all co-operative sugar mills to pay farmers Rs 1,200 for a tonne of sugarcane. Except two or three mills, others paid only between Rs 600 and Rs 800 a tonne. *No action was initiated against mills which did not follow the State government directions. *The dues owed to farmers by the mills exceed Rs 160 crore *The recently announced sugarcane package does not solve the problem of growers being offered a low price for their produce or the glut in sugarcane production. * No policy for use of by-products like molasses and bagasse Mill owners' take *The sugar market has fallen. Paying Rs 1,200 per tonne for sugarcane as demanded by farmers is suicidal. * Mills have been accumulating losses. *The recovery (sugar content) is less than 9 per cent compared to 11 pc in other states. Hence rates prevalent in other states cannot be implement . * There is no proper distribution of mills especially in the sugarcane growing belt * No scientific basis for arriving at the minimum support price The way out *A comprehensive sugar policy that spells out the cropping pattern. *Farmers could be allowed to take up production of jaggery on a large-scale to utilise the excess sugarcane. *Govt should announce minimum support price for jaggery at Rs 1,500 a quintal. The present price of Rs 600 a quintal is not remunerative. *Mismanagement of mills need to be curbed.

  • Sindh farmers want wheat procurement target raised

    The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) on Sunday asked the government to increase wheat procurement target from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. The chamber's senior vice-president Dr Shahnawaz Shah said at a meeting at the Agriculture Complex that the government should pay growers an additional Rs40 for each 40 kilogrammes of wheat from its own funds to help them offset the high cost of fertilisers and pesticides. The meeting observed that the poor growers would suffer huge losses as the cost of production was much higher than the government's procurement rate of Rs510 per maund and demanded that the procurement offices should be established at union council level and the mode of payment to growers should be simplified. The growers called upon the newly-elected members of the national and provincial assemblies to take up the issue of sugarcane at the first session of assemblies and adopt resolutions against the excesses of sugar mill owners. They demanded that assemblies should ensure that the growers were paid the official rate of Rs63 per 40 kg and pointed out that the cane's production in the province had dropped by 20 per cent due to sugar mill owners' highhandedness and reduced price. Anwar Bachani, Mir Imdad Talpur, Mohammad Khan Sarejo and Nawaz Ali Samejo were among the participants of the meeting. HCCI: The president of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Haji Mohammad Yaqoob on Sunday criticised raids on glass bangle factories by the officials of labour department and said it had seriously hurt the business. He said after meeting a delegation of the office-bearers of Glass Bangle Association that if bangle manufacturing units were closed due to harassment, thousands of workers including a large number of would lose their jobs. He said that the additional director and joint director of labour usually raided factories sometime before morning prayers, which was adversely affecting the production process. Under the relevant labour laws, the officials were supposed to visit the factories only once a year and they were creating harassment by conducting raids on a daily basis, he said. In a separate statement to press, the HCCI president demanded that the government should take back raise in the prices of petrol, diesel and electricity. Increase in power tariff would deal a serious blow to agricultural and industrial production and raise in oil prices would further ratchet up transport fare and prices of other essential items, he said. The cost of industrial production would shoot up considerably due to increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and electricity, which in turn would lead to hyperinflation, he observed. He said that the country was in the grip of energy crisis and urged the government to formulate short term and long term policies to tackle the problem.

  • Auto industry sees positive impact

    The Budget has evoked mostly a positive response from the automobile industry. About large cars: The General Motors India President, Mr Karl Slym, has said the company expected duty reductions for all types of cars. "Generally, it is all right. We have heard about national highways programme but we are yet to get the details. Large cars (which attract excise duty) at 24 per cent are left out. That is a bit of disappointment.' Positive for the sector: Mr Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of auto-parts company Bharat Forge said input cost reduction and lower project import duties are a positive for the sector. "Scrap duty has been an area of concern for the auto component industry and (the fact) that this has been reduced is also good news,' he said. Not hurting: The Sona's group's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Surinder Kapur, termed the Budget an election year Budget but one which had not hurt the industry. Using-up stocks: While lauding the proposals, the Kinetic Group's Chairman, Mr Arun Firodia, said dealers have stocks purchased at a higher rate of excise duty. When these stocks are exhausted there would be a reduction in prices, he said. Rekindling interest: Mr Ajit Rai, Managing Director of Suprajit Engineering, which makes auto components, said the duty reductions will rekindle consumer interest to buy cars. He said reduction in customs duty on scrap should moderate price increases in steel and aluminium, which has seen a big run up. Softening effect on input cost: Mr V. Mahadevan, Managing Director of Ennore Foundries, said the duty cuts will have a positive impact on the growth of the manufacturing industries. "Removal of custom duty on scrap import will have a softening effect on the input cost of raw materials,' he said. Demand trigger: The Managing Director of Aditya Auto Products & Engineering Pvt Ltd, Mr C. Jayaraman, said the duty reduction would not help the auto component industry directly, since the savings have to be passed on to the customers immediately. Small car hub: The Managing Director of Liners India Ltd, Mr S. Ganesh, pointed out that the Budget was on the same lines of the Automotive Mission Policy and the country was set to become a major hub for small cars.

  • TDP to launch new programme for farmers

    In its bid to woo the farming community, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is now planning to launch another programme across the State on the lines of Eruvaka. "The TDP has got an impressive response from the public, in particular, the farming community when our party leaders took out several road shows as part of the Eruvaka programme to enlighten farmers on the need for enhancing minimum support price (MSP) for paddy to Rs 1,000 per quintal. The party has now decided to launch similar programme with another name to raise agriculture-related issues further in the coming months across the State. And the whole objective is to exert pressure both on the Centre and State government to implement recommendations of M. S. Swaminathan Commission as well as Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) in toto and in particular, the MSP for paddy and wheat. Hence the party will launch a programme, whose name will soon be finalised,' TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu told reporters on Wednesday. He was here to attend a marriage function of TDP senior leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy's daughter. Lack of clarity Claiming credit for the Centre's decision to waive farm loans, Mr. Naidu said that the Finance Minister would not have announced it, had TDP and UNPA not taken up the farmers' cause. "As a whole, the incentives announced in the Union budget are peripheral, while certain aspects lacked clarity. For instance, the definition of small and marginal farmers is a broad one. We want the Government to adopt a new definition as there is a different definition for marginal farmers in dry land, non-irrigated and irrigated lands.' When asked whether the TDP is still committed towards an integrated Andhra Pradesh, the TDP president ducked a direct reply by taking a dig at the Congress on separate statehood to Telangana. "Let the Congress first spell out its stance on the issue clearly. As the single point agenda of the Congress is to defeat TDP in elections, the party forged an alliance with Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who left the TDP on the separate statehood agenda after he was denied a ministerial berth. The ruling party had an understanding even with naxalites and cheated both of them along with its electoral partners CPI and CPI(M).

  • In search of East India Company

    In search of East India Company

    Ours is a corporate age. And amid the fertile arguments on how to tame and transform today's corporation, there is a sense that current era of business dominance is somehow unique. But there was a time when corporations really ruled the world, and among

  • Rising from rubble

    Rising from rubble

    An African nation refuses international aid and sets up a highly ambitious agenda to stand on its own feet

  • 'I have yet to apply my mind to the forest convention'

    Even uith the United Nations General Assembly Special Session to held in New Yorkjust two weeksfirom now, the Union minister for environment and forest, SAIFUDDiN SOZ, tells SUPRIYA AKERKAR that the government is neitherfor a glqbalforest convention no

  • Forests of global contention

    Forests of global contention

    The South"s determined efforts to scuttle the forest convention that the North was adamant on pushing through was a major triumph. A blow-by-blow account of the crucial, often tricky, negotiation

  • Helping children find work at home

    Helping children find work at home

    Gramashrama, a children based organisation in Karnataka, is trying to understand the causes of migration and prevent the exodus of youngsters from villages to cities.

  • Sukhomajri at the crossroads

    Sukhomajri at the crossroads

    The forest department intervenes to spoil a successful conservation programme of a Haryana village. An assement by Richard Mahapatra

  • Is it on the right track?

    Is it on the right track?

    Controversy has dogged the Konkan railway project since its inception. Today, many influential Goans are up in arms against the present alignment of the track, which, they allege, would wreck the state"s environment. Railway officials, of course, disagree

  • 'We need technology, but on our own terms'

    Nanuram Rawat was the adhyaksha of the gram sabha in Seed, one of the first gramdan villages where environmental resources have been regenerated through community management

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