The Union Government has reversed its earlier decision on 27 pesticides, which were banned in May 2020 The manufacturing, import, sale, distribution and use of pesticides are regulated under the Insecticides Act (1968) with a view to preventing risk to human beings or animals and for matters connected therewith. The Registration Committee (RC) – set up under the Act – registers every pesticide after scrutinising the formula, verifying claims of efficacy and safety to human beings and animals and specifying the precautions against poisoning and any other functions. It is empowered to refuse registration of any pesticide if issues pertaining to safety have not been satisfactorily adhered to. From time to time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW)...
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News & Media
Nano fertilisers can reduce subsidies
Nano fertilisers can yield better results but they can’t perform miracles. For a substantial reduction in subsidy, the Govt must implement agri reforms On April 26, 2023, Union Minister for Home and Cooperatives Amit Shah launched liquid nano-diammonium phosphate (nano-DAP) developed by the Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) (Kalol) of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO). During the current fiscal, IFFCO plans to produce 50 million bottles (500 ml) of nano-DAP which will be scaled up to 180 million bottles by 2025-26. According to US Awasthi, Managing Director of IFFCO, by then imports of DAP might not be required; currently, India imports over 50 percent of its DAP requirement. Earlier, on October 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched liquid nano...
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GST is undergoing metamorphosis
There is a surge in GST collections, which has proved sceptics wrong and even surpassed the expectations of the authorities Only a couple of years ago, top officials in the Department of Revenue used to gloat over a collection of GST Rs 150,000 crore if achieved in any given month. They couldn’t even imagine that collection of Rs 150,000 crore consistently every month in a year would ever be possible. But, this happened during 2022-23, when the department garnered a total of Rs 1800,000 crore. During the current year, it is aiming at a target of Rs 2000,000 crore. A major factor behind this is an increase in nominal GDP during 2022-23 by 15.9 per cent (from a tax collection...
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Countering the menace of corruption
Funds siphoned off from welfare schemes, meant for the benefit of the poor, is also an act of corruption and must be dealt with with a heavy hand Setting aside the anticipatory bail granted by the Gujarat High Court to an IRS officer in a corruption case on April 17, 2023, the Supreme Court said “Corruption poses a serious threat to society and must be dealt with an iron hand as it not only leads to abysmal loss to the public exchequer but also tramples upon good governance”. The observation of the top court has catapulted to the centre stage a malady that has afflicted India for generations. The Government of India’s standards of financial propriety lays down that “no...
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No fertile future yet for farmers’ scheme
PM-KISAN’s benefits are being extended to many who don’t deserve them, but they elude the needy According to a statement made by the government in Parliament, the number of farmers receiving income transfers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme declined from 104 million during 2021-22 to 80 million during 2022-23. There has been a corresponding reduction in payments from Rs 67,032 crore during 2021-22 to Rs 57,646 crore in 2022-23. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, 2019, and made effective from December 1, 2018, PM-KISAN is a central sector scheme. Under it, the Union government gives Rs 6,000 a year to each farmer with a valid enrolment. It is paid in three instalments of...
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Don’t apologise for PSH subsidy at WTO
Indian rebuttal to the claim of developed countries on food security is logical as India’s public stockholding (PSH) has helped food security around the world Last month, in a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (CoA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – it oversees the implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) – developed countries including the USA and Canada challenged India’s public stockholding (PSH) programme saying “it is highly subsidized, especially for rice, and that this is affecting the food security of other countries”. India countered their claim by saying that far from any adverse effect, its PSH program was helping other countries ensure their food security. This is how its argument goes. In 2021, India distributed 58...
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Has the government shelved reforms in gas pricing?
The revision of the gas pricing formula is in line with the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh committee but the government is silent on deregulating prices from 2027 The shift to link the price of natural gas with the crude oil price is unwarranted as natural gas is not a replacement for crude oil. The government made two significant changes in the revised pricing policy for domestic natural gas produced from legacy fields. One, it linked the price of natural gas to the basket of Indian crude oil instead gas prices at global hubs. Two, it introduced the concept of a price band. Legacy fields are nomination fields, blocks given under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and pre-NELP blocks. It...
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Inflation versus growth: RBI’s dilemma
Too much reliance on monetary policy instruments such as a hike in repo rate is of little help Having already increased the repo rate or RR (interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends to banks) by a cumulative 2.5 per cent in the past 11 months, the RBI’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on April 6 voted unanimously to keep it unchanged at 6.5 per cent. However, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das pledged to hike the RR again if needed, saying the decision to pause was “for this meeting only”. In 2016, the Government put in place an institutionalised framework, the MPC, to formulate monetary policy and determine the key interest rates. It mandated the RBI to fix...
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Mess in Delhi’s power distribution business
The problem can be eradicated only if the State Government liberates the three discoms from its controls and gives them the much-needed freedom In 2018, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) issued an order requiring the Delhi Government to give subsidies to its preferred consumers, primarily households, ‘directly’ by crediting it to their bank account using the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism instead of routing it through the three power distribution companies (discoms) namely BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), discom for South & West Delhi; BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) — discom for Central & East Delhi; and North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) — discom for North Delhi which is the existing practice. The order was never implemented and is...
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Reforming the capital gains tax a smart move
It is perfectly justified if the rich class is made to pay more which, in turn, helps the Government provide services to the poor In the Finance Bill, 2023 passed by the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2023, an amendment relates to a change in the tax treatment of capital gains from non-equity or debt mutual funds (DMF). This has led to consternation in the investor fraternity including high net-worth individuals (HNIs), corporate, and so on who argue this will undermine efforts to deepen the bond market which is crucial for financing the long-term development needs of the economy. They also say such a change should have been introduced in the Union Budget. This would allow for thorough discussion in...
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