Category: Uncategorized

The government’s recent decision to cut the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on tractors to 5% is a timely boost for farmers and manufacturers alike. Lower costs are expected to accelerate mechanisation at home, contributing to a stronger domestic manufacturing base to support exports abroad. Yet the global regulatory landscape for such exports is...

The story so far: Among the key areas of disagreement between the U.S. and India regarding trade is a demand that India should import U.S. corn. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that India has 1.4 billion people but does not import a single bushel of corn from the U.S. (25 kg approximately). Does...

GUWAHATI A biosecure nuclear breeding farm and model fattener farms are fuelling the drive of a tribal council in Assam to become the hub of quality pig production for the pork-loving northeast India and beyond. In 2021, the authorities of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) turned to Europe for a project to elevate the traditional...

The Viksit Bharat aspiration, which has gained considerable momentum, will require a significant development of scientific capability, and some of this, especially in the new digital economy, will have to be aatmanirbhar. There is much to learn in this context from the most successful experiment in atmanirbharata in the past, which was the achievement of...

Addressing contestations about the impact of blending ethanol with petrol for vehicular fuel, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) in a detailed statement Tuesday (August 12, 2025) underlined it would provide better ride quality alongside ensuring greater income to farmers and bearing a positive impact on foreign exchange reserves. The statement also refuted...

Near the entrance of the newly-expanded outlet store of Vaisakh Gardens, situated at Kuravankonam, in Thiruvananthapuram, two refrigerators are placed on the ground with multiple levers on top. They are labelled passionfruit kombucha, dragon fruit kombucha, mango kombucha, and so on, connected to a 10-litre metal keg inside the cooler. Pull down the black lever;...

A general body meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) held in New Delhi on Sunday (July 20, 2025) has warned the Union government against going ahead with the proposed trade agreement with the United States. The SKM said, in a statement on Monday (July 21, 2025), that the general body has also called for...

Gujarat recorded a total production of 48.59 lakh tonnes of potatoes in the 2024–25 season, which includes varieties cultivated for processing into French fries and wafers, officials said on Monday. The State has emerged as the top producer of processed potatoes in India, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The processed potato segment in Gujarat...

Assam’s first bagless tea brand, Woolah Tea, has been granted a 20-year patent (No. 567895) for its innovative ‘compressed true whole leaf tea dips and method thereof’ (patent name). Founded by Upamanyu Borkotoky and Ansuman Bharali from Sibsagar district in Assam, Woolah is a start-up rooted in Assam’s tea heritage. Compressed tea bundle, the bagless...

Rapeseed-mustard oil (hereafter ‘mustard oil’) is the third-largest edible oil consumed in India. Two executive and judicial decisions on mustard oil — one from 2021 and another from 2024 — have major public health implications, but have hardly received the public attention and scrutiny they deserve. In the first decision, the Food Safety and Standards...