Food

Business

Hydroponics: Scientists develop “electronic soil” to enhance barley crop growth by 50%

December 26, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: Can hydroponics, the soil-less cultivation method, solve the planet’s increasing need for farm products? For, Swedish scientists have developed what they call “electronic soil” (eSoil) that enhances crop growth by 50 percent in about two weeks, the media reported on Tuesday. Hydroponics uses a root system that is stimulated electrically […]

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Business

Agriculture: Despite restrictions, exports may reach $53 billion in FY24

December 21, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: India’s exports from the agricultural sector are likely to reach USD 53 billion in FY24, the same as in the previous fiscal, 2022-23, despite restrictions imposed on shipments of certain key commodities like rice, wheat, sugar, and onions, among others. “We expect that we would reach that level despite a […]

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Business

Additional spends: Parliament okays Rs. 58k crores, mainly for rural and farm sectors

December 19, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: During the ongoing Winter Session, Parliament on Tuesday approved a net additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk allocated to MGNREGA and fertilizer subsidies. The gross additional spending would now be more than Rs 1.29 lakh crore, out of which […]

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Business

Onions: Ahead of LS polls, India bans the bulb’s export until March 2024

December 8, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: The humble onion, whose higher prices have affected election results in the past, is back in the headlines. Some months ago, the onion prices had sky-rocketed multiple times and the government had to arrange for their marketing through its channels in different places to cool down the prices. Now, ahead […]

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Business

Growth: Nirmala junks Chidambaram’s claims of jobless growth as “whimsical calculations”

December 8, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: Tearing into the Opposition’s claims of India witnessing a ‘jobless growth,’ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday dubbed these claims as a result of “whimsical calculations” and said careful implementation of various welfare schemes by the Modi government has ensured that benefits reach the people. Slamming Congress for its claims […]

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Business

Economy: RBI hikes FY24 GDP estimate from 6.5% to 7%

December 8, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: After several leading global rating agencies’ positive outlook in recent weeks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also raised the South Asian country’s GDP estimates from 6.5 percent earlier to 7 percent in the financial year 2023-24 on buoyant domestic demand and higher capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector. After […]

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Business

Roving Periscope: After China and Russia, N. Korea also wants women to have more kids!

December 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Facing critically declining birth rates and workforce, and ballooning pension and health bills for the longer-living elderly, North Korea became the third dictatorship in Asia after China and Russia to ask its women to produce more children. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while appealing to women to have more […]

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Business

New economy: India recognized nearly 1.15 lakh entities as startups until Oct

December 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the government has recognized 114,902 startups in the country as of October 31, 2023. These eligible firms can seek fiscal incentives under the Startup India Action Plan, launched in January 2016, which includes income tax exemption for three years, […]

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Business

Roving Periscope: Himalayas melting alarmingly, warns UN chief

December 2, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Warning the world that the Himalayas are melting at an alarming rate, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday insisted on urgent action to protect the world from climate challenges ahead. Nearly 240 million people depend on the glaciers and 10 major rivers, including the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra which […]

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Business

Modern Stars: D-Mart’s RK Damani tops the list of “Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs”

November 30, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Radhakishan Damani, founder of retail chain D-Mart, may be leading the list of the “Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023”, announced on Thursday, the focus of Modern India is elsewhere. For, eight of the Top 10 most valuable companies in the list are startups. “The IDFC FIRST Private […]

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