Parthasarathi Biswas

In many cases, workers are either reluctant to file a complaint or they don’t know about their rights, says a labour leader

A year since the promulgation of the GST, small and medium industries of Pimpri Chinchwad have reported ease in filing of returns. Sandeep Belsare, president of the Pimpri Chinchwad Small and Medium Scale Industries Association, spoke to The Indian Express about the atmosphere in the industrial circles in the region

Tilak, Gokhale, Ranade had sported it; ‘Pawar had gracefully accepted it’

Historically, the Puneri pagadi, which is associated with the erstwhile Peshwas, has been identified with the “elite and educated classes”.

Dairies in Maharashtra are presently selling milk at the rate of Rs 41-44 per liter. To the farmers, dairies are paying between Rs 17-25 per liter for milk with 3.5 per cent fat and 8.5 per cent solid not fat (SNF).

Sugar prices have soared following the Union government's announcement of a Rs 7,000 crore package for cane growers, but it has failed to uplift the spirit of sugar mills and cane farmers

OF THE 23 residential schools for tribal students under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), Ghodegaon, seven have seen 100 per cent results — a significant improvement from last year. The schools have also recorded a significant increase in the average marks obtained by students. Ayush Prasad, project officer of ITDP, Ghodegoan, talks to The Indian Express about the various initiatives they have undertaken.

Earlier this week, the central government had announced a Rs 7,000-crore package for the sugar industry. As part of the package, it had fixed Rs 29 per kg as the minimum selling price for sugar and introduced a quota-based system restricting sugar sale. 

Since August, dairies have started slashing procurement price for farmers, as they cited a slump in global prices of Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) and imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on byproducts.

A month since the state government announced a special package to help dairy farmers realise better prices for milk, farmers continue to face the effects of low prices.

Nine months after it was set up by the central government, a Rs 10,000-crore fund for the development of the dairy sector is yet to disburse a single paisa. This was revealed in response to an RTI application filed by The Indian Express with NABARD and the National Dairy Development Board.

By May-end, Maharashtra had recorded procurement of around 1 lakh tonnes of chana and around 3.24 lakh tonnes of tur.

The nation-wide strike, called by the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh from June 1, has so far received a lukewarm response in Maharashtra.

The 100-year-old Solapur DCCB sits at the top of the cooperative credit disbursal pyramid of the district. 

Office-bearers of the Kisan Samiti said they had given a call for farmers’ strike on last June 1 over demands, including complete farm loan waiver, minimum support price for farm produce as well as implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, among others.

Indications have come in that the CPIM backed All India Kisan Sabha might escalate the strike from Saturday.

Short margin is a condition when sugar prices fail to cover the advances given to mills by banks. In such a scenario, mills are required to pay the “shortfall” to banks before sugar sale starts.

Government godowns are, for the first time, bursting at the seams with pulses on record procurement

Onion prices have crashed in the wholesale markets of Maharashtra due to the bumper crop in the state. This year, Maharashtra reported plantation of over 3.5 lakh hectares of land, instead of the usual 3 lakh hectares.