New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) Punjab and Chhattisgarh topped among states as the Centre procured 741.62 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22, up to March 27, government data showed on Monday.
Stating that the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in KMS 2021-22 at minimum support price (MSP) from farmers, officials said that paddy procurement has been done from Chandigarh, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Pudducherry, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
About 105.14 lakh farmers have been benefited with an MSP value of Rs 1,45,358.13 crore, government data showed.
Apart from Punjab (1,87,28,335 MT) and Chhattisgarh (92,01,000 MT), the other top paddy procurement states included Telangana (70,22,000 MT), Uttar Pradesh (65,53,029 MT) Odisha (57,16,134), Haryana (55,30,596), Madhya Pradesh (45,82,610), and Bihar (44,90,319 MT).
Chhattisgarh, with 21,05,972, topped the list of states of farmer beneficiaries from whom purchases were done under MSP followed by Odisha (12,90,846), Telangana (10,62,428), Uttar Pradesh (9,47,326), Punjab (9,33,263), Madhya Pradesh (6,61,756), West Bengal (6,43,401), Bihar (6,42,225), Maharashtra (4,74,855), and Tamil Nadu (4,09,088).
Reacting strongly to the IGI airport authorities sending Darshan Singh Dhaliwal back to the US after denying him entry to India, five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "intervene personally and effectively" to get the order vacated.
One incident was reported in the Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology located on the outskirts of Sangrur town, while another was reported from Rayat Bahrat University in Kharar in Mohali district.
Addressing a youth rally at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Amit Shah lashed out at former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Terming the trolling unfortunate and shameful, the Hyderabad MP said it shows how communalism, radicalisation, and hatred against Muslims has spread in the country.
The Punjab government on Friday ordered a probe into former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's relations with his Pakistani woman friend Aroosa Alam and her relation with the ISI. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa said the government would probe the ISI links of Aroosa Alam.
Raising the demand at a meeting with Union Health and Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya, Badal said it is equally important to diversify Punjab's economy as well as its agriculture.
