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| ADB will provide $ 100-mln emergency assistance to Pak MANILA, Aug 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said it will provide .......more HP to
arrange soil testing KULLU(HP), Aug 17: The Himachal Pradesh Government will arrange soil testing for the benefits of....more Rs 91.25
cr project CHANDIGARH, Aug 17: In a bid to make Haryana disease free so as to enable it to enter world trade.....more Petroleum
dealers’ NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders has decided...more |
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Workshop on raising coconut productivity KOCHI, Aug 17: Coconut Development Board Chairman Dr Rethinam has suggested various measures, including improving productivity and adoption of farm level processing, to solve the problems of coconut..........more Illegal
mining, NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Bandhua Mukti Morcha today criticised illegal storage of fuse wires and....more Petroleum
dealers’ NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders has decided not to launch a .....more Usha Intl
targets 19 KOLKATA, Aug 17: Usha International Ltd, a member of Siddharth Shriram Group, targets 19 per.....more |
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HP to arrange soil testing for benefits of farmers KULLU(HP), Aug 17: The Himachal Pradesh Government will arrange soil testing for the benefits of farmers and to determine which kind of crop could be grown to yield better results, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has said. Talking to mediapersons at Sarabai in Kullu district last evening, he said that scientific and maximum use of land could strengthen the economy of farmers and urged them to go for cultivation of commercial crops instead of traditional crops. The Chief Minister said there was a vast scope of growing medicinal herbs and flowers in the state which could yield handsome income. It has been found that a herb grown in China, which gives an income of about Rs one lakh, can also be grown in snow-bound areas of Himachal, he added. Similarly, in Chamba, flowers should be grown in maize producing areas which could fetch an income of about Rs 25,000 per kg, he added. Prof Dhumal said in order to ensure remunerative prices for horticulture produce, fruit processing units were being encouraged. He said two fruit based winneries, one in Shimla district and other in Mandi district, were being set up in the state. Referring to a question regarding employment to Himachalis in the hydel projects coming up in the private and public sector in the state, Prof Dhumal said the Government had got incorporated in agreements signed with these projects that70 per cent of employees in Class III and Class IV would be recruited from the state, especially from the area where the project was located. Asked that the NHPC was not allegedly adhering to this clause and taking staff from other projects, the Chief Minister said it was because that himachalis employed in NHPC projects elsewhere were being given preference in jobs. He said the Government would fully safeguard interests of workers and added the Labour Department would ensure that they were not exploited. He, however, said that industrial peace would not be allowed to be disturbed. Prof Dhumal said that for the first time sincere efforts had been made to exploit the immense hydel potential of the state as the Government believed that on the speedy exploitation depended the prosperity of the state to a great extent. He said what when the hydel potential was fully exploited, people would get electricity at cheap rate and more industrial units come up leading to generation of employment and income. Asked about tourism development in Kullu-Manali, the Chief Minister said the Central Government had greed to spend Rs 30 crores for expansion of the Kullu airport by channelisation of the beas river which would attract more tourists to the area. He said that zonal hospital at Kullu would be strengthened by providing better medical facilities in it. (UNI) |
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Rs 91.25 cr
project on anvil to enable Haryana CHANDIGARH, Aug 17: In a bid to make Haryana disease free so as to enable it to enter world trade of export of live animals and animal products, the State Government has formulated a 91.25 crore project to be launched during the 10th five-year plan, Haryana Livestock Development Board Chairman A L Chaudhary has said. Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Dr Chaudhary said that Haryana being the home tract of the world’s best milch buffalo breed, the murrah, has a great potential of exporting this germ plasm to buffalo rearing countries in South America, Europe and far east countries for improving their buffalo breeds. He said that in order to enter into the world trade of export of animals as well as animal products, however, the specified standards of quality and certification of non-occurence of certain discease is a pre-requisite. The State Government’s project to initiate a mass scale programme in this regard was under consideration of the Union Government, he added. Dr Chaudhary said that a broiler buffalo production programme under buy-back arrangements and a 100 percent Union Government funded programme for ‘making wealth from waste(dead animals) was also being lauched in the state. A Rs 45 crore National Project on Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB) was already operational for upgrading the genetic merit of the cattle and buffalo of the state, he added. He said that Haryana ranks second in the country in per capita per day milk availability with 627 gms as against the national average of 210 gms and there were as many as 2370 animal husbandry institutions in the state. (UNI) |
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Petroleum dealers’ agitation called off NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders has decided not to launch a nation-wide agitation from the midnight of August 19 after talks with the Government Announcing this in a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha today, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik said the Federation had announced to launch "no purchase no sale of petroleum products" to support of their demands, including enhancement of commission on the products sold by them. The Government had talks with the federation and also with the petroleum companies. A contingency plan was worked out to ensure that there was no no disruption in the availability of petroleum products any where in the country, he added. Mr Naik said under the ‘contingency plan’ the District Collectors were advised to take all steps to maintain the supplies through the retail outlets owned and operated by oil companies, consumer pumps, dispensing facilities in oil company depots, installations/ terminals, LPG bottling plants and pipeline tap-off-points and also to takeover the dealer operated retail outlets which are located in key and prominent locations in cities, national and state highways, pilgrim and tourist centres etc. And operate through oil companies. The Government has assured the faint that their concerns will be looked into as early as possible, he said. (UNI) |
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Workshop on raising coconut productivity KOCHI, Aug 17: Coconut Development Board Chairman Dr Rethinam has suggested various measures, including improving productivity and adoption of farm level processing, to solve the problems of coconut farmers in Kerala. Speaking at an interactive workshop here yesterday, he stressed the need for augmenting the productivity, reducing the production cost, adoption of inter-mixed cropping, farm level possessing, setting up of coconut growers’ society and product diversification. He also called for expert opinion to develop strategy plan for boosting the production. The workshop was organised to chalk out the strategy for increasing the productivity of coconut and to manage the wide spread incidence of root wilt and eriophid mite in the state. Dr K V A Bavappa, FAO expert and former Director, CPCRi, Kasargod, attributed lower sunshine hours as one of the reasons for low productivity in the state and wanted a study to be made on the indifference shown by farmers in adopting scientific management. Dr K V Peter, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, said that fertility of soil was going down and no soil conservation method had been adopted in the state. A draft committee had been constituted to finalise the recommendations of the workshop to overcome the present crisis.(PTI) |
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Illegal mining, lack of safety endangers life NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Bandhua Mukti Morcha today criticised illegal storage of fuse wires and dynamites in the jhuggis of stone quarry workers in Faridabad endangering their lives. Morcha general secretary Sheotaj Singh in a statement here said under the safety laws the material used for blasting should be stored in a safe place and blasting operations should be carried out by trained persons. However here all these processes are being carried out by the poor workers at the risk of their life. "It is unfortunate that all this is happening under the nose of the Directorate of Mines Safety. It seems that there is a nexus between the officials of the Mines Safety Directorate and quarry owners. Obviously, there have been frequent mishaps in these stone quarries." Prof Singh alleged that illegal mining is rampant in the area and urged the Haryana Government and the Directorate of Mines Safety to immediately take steps to curb the illegal practice. "Dragging of the feet will be uncalled for and will tantamount to violation of the laws on the subject by the custodians themselves," he said and demanded banning of the practice at once.(UNI) |
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Petroleum dealers’ agitation called off NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders has decided not to launch a nation-wide agitation from the midnight of August 19 after talks with the Government Announcing this in a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha today, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik said the Federation had announced to launch "no purchase no sale of petroleum products" to support of their demands, including enhancement of commission on the products sold by them. The Government had talks with the federation and also with the petroleum companies. A contingency plan was worked out to ensure that there was no no disruption in the availability of petroleum products any where in the country, he added. Mr Naik said under the ‘contingency plan’ the District Collectors were advised to take all steps to maintain the supplies through the retail outlets owned and operated by oil companies, consumer pumps, dispensing facilities in oil company depots, installations/ terminals, LPG bottling plants and pipeline tap-off-points and also to takeover the dealer operated retail outlets which are located in key and prominent locations in cities, national and state highways, pilgrim and tourist centres etc. And operate through oil companies. The Government has assured the faint that their concerns will be looked into as early as possible, he said. (UNI) |
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Usha Intl targets 19 pc growth in turnover KOLKATA, Aug 17: Usha International Ltd, a member of Siddharth Shriram Group, targets 19 per cent growth in turnover and over 50 per cent in export this fiscal (Apr-Mar), company Managing Director Sunil Wadhwa says. Last year our turnover was Rs 410 crore and we have a target of 19 per cent growth to cross the Rs 500 crore mark this fiscal, Mr Wadhwa told reporters here today. Launching a wide range of products ranging from fans to pressure pumps, he said the company’s export was likely to cross the Rs 100 crore mark during the current financial year from Rs 65 crore in 2000-01. The company has been exporting fans to Middle East countries, chemicals to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh and auto -components to Latin American and European countries, including the UK. Mr Wadhwa said his company had recently tied up with United States’ hunter fan company, the largest ceiling fan manufacturer in the world to exclusively market the hunter range of fans in India under the joint branding of Usha-Hunter. The tie-up with Hunter makes Usha the first company to enter and create a hi-end premium category in the ceiling fan market in India and enable the consumer to look forward to super premium ceiling fans with wooden blades and an option of imported Belgian and Italian light fittings to enchance the decor of any room, he pointed out. Mr Wadhwa said his company had also tied up with Chinese company G D Midea for its mist air ultra and sterling range of table fans. While the Usha-Hunter fans will cost between Rs. 9000 and Rs. 12000, the table fans would cost between Rs. 1000 and Rs. 2000, he said. Announcing the company’s tie-up with Daikin Industries Ltd. Of Japan, the world’s second largest air-conditioning company in the world, he said his company had been appointed distributor for Daikin air conditioners in West Bengal and East India. Frontline people have been imparted training by the engineers for the past one eyar and the company is all set to launch 28 models of split airconditioners in the market before the advent of the next season, he said. Mr Wadhwa said the company had a recent tie-up with Davey Product Pty Ltd. of Australia for marketing pressure pump under the brand name of Usha-Davey. These pumps are the international solution to insufficient water pressure in taps, showers and mixers, he said. We are the first company to launch pressure pump in the country. These pumps come with the patented hydrascan technology and are available in different capacities for different houses. As an additional service, experts trained by the australian company will install these pumps free of cost, he pointed out. The company, which already had a tie-up with Janome of Japan for sewing machines, launched a new variation of the existing flair model and a new machine fashion stitich for the west bengal market. With introduction of the new models, the number of model from Janome of Japan will go upto five, Mr Wadhwa added. (UNI) |
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