Chandigarh, April 11 (IANS) As the wheat arrivals surge across agrarian state Punjab, the total purchase of wheat has created a record in five years, officials said on Monday.
Government agencies have procured 4.3 lakh metric tons of wheat till April 10, against the earlier highest peak of 38,019 metric tons in 2018.
An official told IANS this year the government has ensured that minimum support price (MSP) payments of Rs 138 crore transferred directly into bank accounts of farmers, whereas the earlier high was Rs 6.5 crore in year 2017.
Terming the record-breaking figures a result of the good arrangements, he said the state government was committed to welfare of the farmers and would continue to take all possible steps to facilitate them.
The Central government has fixed the minimum support price of wheat at Rs 2,015 per quintal.
The government aims to purchase 132 lakh tonnes of wheat this season. The procurement of wheat, which began on April 1, will continue till May 31.
Ancient DNA obtained from the skeletons of Roopkund Lake -- representing the first ancient DNA ever reported from India -- reveals that they derive from at least three distinct genetic groups.
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Punjab has declared a national calamity, while Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar carried out an aerial survey of the affected areas in his state.
A man allegedly gave triple talaq to his wife inside the civil court premises in Lucknow in the presence of her advocate after she refused to accept a chewing gum from him.
Information and Culture Secretary of Pakistan's Punjab province Raja Jahangir has asked its different cultural departments to give within a week an outline of the preparations for Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary celebrations in November, media reports said.
