<p>Status note by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in Original Application No 620 of 2022 (Kaushal Kishore Vishwakarma Vs State of Punjab & Others) dated 21/02/2024.</p> <p>The NGT, Principal
Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (NFCL) has completely exited from the inter-State mega power project under construction in Udupi, Karnataka, selling its 26 per cent stake to the Lanco group.
We are into a period of global food shortage and rise in food prices which were not anticipated even a few years ago. A steeply rising food import bill in the medium term could well be on the cards. This is likely to put a severe strain on the Indian government's efforts to reduce poverty and more equitably distribute the economic gains of the last four years. But this challenge can be turned into an opportunity and gives the country's policy makers a chance to address and partially solve the related problems of low agricultural growth and stubborn poverty in rural areas. The challenge and opportunity are both contained in a comparison with China. Though India has 1.47 times more arable land than China, the latter uses its land much better. Its cereal yield is 2.18 times India's. If Indian farm productivity and incomes can be dramatically raised, both global poverty and food shortage will be partially mitigated. To meet the challenge, absolutely the first task is to improve water management
A group of ministers (GoM) headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has formed a committee to look into issues involved in the formulation of a new policy to attract investments into the fertiliser sector. The new panel, comprising secretaries of expenditure, fertilisers and agriculture & cooperation, will be headed by Planning Commission member (agriculture) Abhijit Sen. It is expected to submit its recommendations to the GoM within the next two months. Government sources told FE, "The committee's formation has taken place at a time when the finance ministry has rejected the demand by the department of fertilisers (DoF) for an exemption on customs duty on imported goods, and an exemption on excise duty for greenfield/ brown field/ expansion/ revamp projects. The committee's formation is also important in view of the fact that the fertiliser sector has not attracted any major investment for about a decade, while other industrial sectors are flooded with funds, including FDI. Recent policies with excessive regulations and controls have stifled the industry.' Industry sources emphasised the need for a new investment policy, as it has been sandwitched between rising prices of inputs and relatively insignificant increases in minimum retail prices of fertilisers. The industry has observed that a rise in subsidy, which is estimated to be a record Rs 70,000 crore for 2008-09, is not due to inefficiency but short-term government policies. The industry has sought sops for hassle-free investments in the sector. According to sources, the industry must be allowed to recover its cost with reasonable margins. Sources said the new investment policy should be a part of the overall economic policy, particularly agriculture policy, and it should not be finalised in isolation. Sources said the new policy to attract investment was the need of the hour, as by the end of the 11th Plan, the gap between consumption and domestic production will widen to 16 million tones, excluding an import requirement of raw materials and intermediates.
about 50 heads of livestock, mostly cattle, died in the last week of January after drinking water from a stream in the Ghaggar Union Council of Bin Qasim township on the outskirts of Karachi in
Global fertiliser supply is expected to outstrip demand by 2011-12 and will support higher levels of food and bio-fuel production, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has said in a report. The supply of fertiliser
Let's be clear at the outset
Studies show that soil fertilized with organic materials, such as compost, could increase the amount of stored carbon and potentially help slow down greenhouse emissions. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore (25 February, 2008)
Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (DFPCL) has launched a clean development mechanism (CDM) project at its manufacturing plant in Taloja. The project will address concerns on global warming, by reducing green house gas emission. The project will be implemented within six months. - Our Bureau
Conceding the request of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for providing additional NPK fertilizers, the Centre sent the first consignment of 2,500 metric tonnes early this month. A spokesman for the Agriculture Department said here today that most of the quantity had been sent to various godowns of HIMFED. There was demand for 68,700 metric tonnes of chemical fertilisers for the rabi crops. As much as 57,180 metric tonnes of fertilisers were made available to farmers from October 1, 2007, to February 10, 2008.
Moves are afoot to ring in reforms in the fertiliser sector. A Group of Ministers (GoM) on fertilisers headed by the agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, has given its in-principle nod to the Department of Fertilisers' proposal to have an independent regulator for the sector. J. Sreedhara Sarma, Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, told Business Today that the "
