Modi hails Uttarakhand farmers for 'value addition' process
New Delhi, April 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appreciated the farmers of Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district for starting the production of biscuits from their agricultural produce and selling them in the market.
"In Bageshwar district, main crops sown are mandwa, chaulai, corn or barley. This being a hilly area, the farmers did not get a fair price of their produce.
"But, the farmers in Kapkot village decided to come out of this situation and adopted a value addition process and changed the loss incurring equation into a profit-earning one," the Prime Minister said in his monthly radio programme "Mann Ki Baat".
He said that after these farmers started selling Chaulai (Amaranth) in the form of biscuits directly in the market, their income doubled with the price of grain went to Rs 50 per kg from Rs 25 per kg.
"With the hard work of these farmers, the annual turnover of the society has gone up from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh and with more than 900 families getting employment here, people have stopped migrating to other places," he stressed.
Modi has promised to the farmers that the government's initiatives in agriculture will double farm income by 2022.
He has been urging farmers and bureaucrats to think "out of the box" to help them increase their income.
"Some farmers from hilly areas of Uttarakhand have become a source of inspiration for the farmers across the country. With their collective efforts, they have not only changed their own fortunes but have changed fortunes of the whole region," he said.
He added that it is believed that the land in this area was iron-rich.
"Impressed by the bold initiative of these farmers, the administration has also linked this to the National Livelihood Mission," he said, adding that these biscuits were now being supplied to Almora and Kausani besides being sold to about 50 Aanganwadi centres in the district.
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Explosion near CRPF School in Delhi caused by lit cigarette butts: Report
New Delhi: The investigation team that probed the explosion that took place outside the CRPF School in the Prashant Vihar area of the city on October 20 morning has reportedly not found any terror force behind the blast.
The investigation team, consisting of Delhi Police and staff members from central agencies, has stated in its report that cigarette butts thrown by a local resident might have come in contact with industrial waste and have caused the explosion. Circumstantial evidence does not show the incident to have a terror angle to it, reports The Indian Express.
The Delhi Police, the city bomb squad and the fire brigade had rushed to the spot following the explosion, which was initially believed to have been caused by a crude bomb. The forensic experts who inspected the spot hinted at the presence of potassium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide and some electrical wires there. The school wall had been damaged and the windows of a car nearby had shattered in the explosion.
The investigation team scanned the CCTV camera footage and zeroed in on around 10 people questioned. A senior police officer said that a North Delhi-based businessman from Prashant Vihar was found to be present at the spot around five minutes before the explosion, as he had come there on Sunday morning to walk his dog. The CCTV footage showed him smoking and, after questioning him, the team concluded that he had left lit cigarette butts before leaving the spot, the officer added.
The spot where the explosion took place is learned to have been usually used for dumping garbage and also has a public urinal.
An officer has said that the Delhi Police had consulted forensic and technical experts of the National Security Guard regarding the things found on the explosion site but are yet to get the report. The officer added that they have found no detonator so far.
