New Delhi, Sep 18 (ANI): Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that late end-season rains will help India’s winter crops.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Pawar said, “It’s true that because paddy area transplantation has been dropped, but the late rains are very helpful particularly for Punjab, Haryana, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.”
“There would not be any pressure on food grains supply, as the stock position was good,” Pawar added.
Meteorological Department has said that since June 1, monsoon rains have been 20 percent below normal and heavy showers in the past week have reduced the total seasonal deficit by three percentage points.
Met department said the country can expect heavy rains for at least another week, but the withdrawal of the monsoon, which usually begins to wind down in early September, would be delayed.
A surge in food prices unexpectedly pushed the annual change in India’s wholesale price index into positive for the first time since late May, putting pressure on the central bank to bring forward an exit from its easy monetary policy.
The annualised wholesale price index rose by an unexpected 0.12 percent in the year to September 5, compared with the previous week’s 0.12 percent fall and analysts’ forecast of a 0.08 percent decline.
The food articles sub-index rose an annual 15.4 percent, up from the previous week’s 14.8 percent rise, as a dry spell hit nearly half of India’s districts, hurting summer crops and prompting the government to take steps to raise supplies. (ANI)
Musharraf power theft scandal case: Low level workers punished
Islamabad, Sep 17 (ANI): The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has only punished 64 junior officers for their involvement in the power theft scandal involving former President Pervez Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz and others in the luxurious Chak Shahzad farmhouses.
The big guns in the electricity department have not even been touched, according to well-placed sources.
The list of punished employees includes 35-meter readers, 14 line superintendents and 15 sub-divisional officers, The News reports.
Sources said these personnel were those who had to implement the orders of the higher-ups and no high-ranking official has been touched in the order passed by Iesco on 10-9-2009.
The official spokesman for Iesco, Ameer Hussain Chaman, when asked about the punishment, said he was not aware of any such punishments.
“I have not been conveyed any such details, therefore, I cannot offer any comment over the issue,” he added.
Sources said Colonel Umer Hayat was conducting the inquiry and on 9-9-2009 his tenure was completed and on 10-09-2009 these personnel were punished.
They say that in this power-theft scandal the higher-ups passed all the orders and the junior officers had no option, but to obey the orders.
It is worth mentioning here that Musharraf had constructed a modern house on the farm obtained for breeding poultry and vegetables, but the ex-general has been enjoying the cheapest power tariff, D-2(1) connection, which is meant for agriculture tube wells and lift irrigation pumps. (ANI)