ITANAGAR: Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Dr Charan Das Mahant today asked Arunachal Pradesh to be a pioneer in organic farming in the country, considering the State’s suitable climatic condition.

The minister was addressing the farmers at the valedictory function of the three-day first State-level Krishi Expo and Kishan Mela here this evening. “I appealed to the State government to organize such melas in the districts so that the farmers could reap the real benefits of such important events,” he said. Stating that there would be no dearth of funds from the Centre for supporting the farmers, Mahant informed that his ministry has been providing all support to the small and marginal farmers under various central schemes.

Close on the heels of the government rejecting the standing committee on finance's decision to keep 26% FDI cap in the insurance sector, fresh tension is brewing between the parliamentary panel on petroleum and natural gas and the Centre over a proposal to limit the sale of subsidised cooking gas to individuals with an annual income of less than R6 lakh.

While the panel has favoured this formula to make the government's subsidy scheme more targeted, the Centre has quietly buried the proposal. If the House panel's proposal is implemented, households with any one individual earning more than R 6 lakh a year would not eligible for subsidised cooking gas and would have to buy the fuel at market prices.

Around 40,000 fair price shops (FPS) across Odisha downed their shutters on Tuesday in protest against Central government’s plan to transfer cash subsidy directly to the FPS consumers.

“In response to call given by the All India Fair Price Dealers’ Federation (AIFPDF), all the fair price shops across the state downed their shutters. The control shop owners will stage rally in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday in support of their demands,” said president of Odisha Fair Price Retailers Welfare Association (OFPSRWA), Nagendra Jena.

Asserting that “third generation plus” safety features had been incorporated in the reactors of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy on Sunday said the first 1,000 MWe reactor would start generating power by December-end.

He told reporters that the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which were keen on guaranteeing the safety and security of the people living around the KKNPP site, had ensured the incorporation of state-of-the-art seven-tier safety features in the reactors.