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Onion to play hide and seek till October even as tomato plunges to ground

NEW DELHI, Aug 21: After the Centre restricted the export of onion by clamping a 40 per cent tax to improve supplies in the domestic market and rein in the rising prices of the bulb, the traders have stopped the auctions in protest, which will harm the farmers' interests. The prices shot up because the Government stocks are meagre and the crop was also poor this time due to adverse weather, leading to short supply.

The rabi crop was damaged by bad weather conditions like hailstorms in the major producing areas of Maharashtra. Rabi is usually harvested in April-June. The maximum onion production is achieved in rabi season, crossing 60 % of the total produce in a year. The next season of kharif crop harvest comes in October-November.

Till then the prices will bob up and down. Because the supply situation will be erratic due to the 'uncertain' curbs on exports and the limitations on procurement.

The wholesale price in Nashik, onion's heartland, was Rs 1,370 per quintal on August 1 which shot up to Rs 2,050 by August 20. There were times during distress sale the bulb being sold for Rs 500 to Rs 700 per quintal.

On Monday, the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) outlets began sale of onions at a subsidised price Rs 25 per kg in Delhi and some other selected centres, by releasing buffer stocks. It had also sold tomato at subsidised prices.

The Ministry of Finance had imposed the duty on Saturday. And on Monday the traders in retaliation closed onion auctions indefinitely in the APMCs in Nashik district, Maharashtra, which is the largest producer of the commodity. The traders complain that the export contracts are signed in advance and the new tax will be a burden on them.

The Nashik District Onion Traders Association has asked the traders not to take part in onion auctions till the Centre withdraws the new levy.

The onion farmers and traders alike are holding protests in Nashik against the new export tax. They held a sit-in agitation on Nashik-Aurangabad highway on Monday.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said procurement of onion at a never-before price of Rs 2,410 per quintal (previously the price was Rs 1,200 per quintal) began on Tuesday afternoon by the NCCF and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED ). Now two lakh tonnes extra will be purchased to raise the buffer level to five lakhs.

Goyal asked the farmers not to resort to panic selling. Farmers, on their part, are worried if export stops the prices will crash to an unremunerative level and there will be distress sale. They claim that Rs 20 is spent on producing a kg of the bulb and, considering all factors, they demand a price of Rs 40 per kg.

The onion is following tomato which hit a sky-high price of about Rs 260 a kg and stayed there for a couple of months. The retail price of tomato had been Rs 20 to 40 per kg at most places in the country for the past few years. Now, towards the end of August, the plummeting tomoto has already dropped below Rs 60 a kg.

TAILPIECE: Here is a lesson for all when the prices go up: Maharashtra Minister Dada Bhuse told PTI: “When you use a vehicle worth Rs 10 lakh, you can buy the produce at a higher rate by Rs 10 or Rs 20 than the retail rate. Those who cannot afford to buy onion, it would make no difference if they do not eat it for two-four months... Sometimes onion fetches rates of Rs 200 per quintal while sometimes it attracts Rs 2,000 per quintal."

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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.

The irony lies in her illustration of her experiences in the country she has been living in for the last four years. What it really is!

ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
  • The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
  • The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

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