PM transfers about Rs 19,500 cr to over 9.75 cr farmers under PM-KISAN
New Delhi, Aug 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually transferred about Rs 19,500 crore to over 9.75 crore beneficiaries farmers under the government's PM-KISAN scheme.
With this, the government has so far transferred nine installments amounting around Rs 1.57 lakh crore to farmer families under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
After the release of the amount, the Prime Minister interacted with beneficiaries of this scheme from across the country.
An annual financial benefit of Rs 6,000 is provided to eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal four-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each, under the PM-KISAN scheme.
The scheme was announced in February 2019 in the Budget. The first installment was for December 2018-March 2019 period. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Addressing the virtual event in the presence of the Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that before the ninth installment, the central government had disbursed about Rs 1.37 lakh crore to around 11 crore beneficiaries under the scheme.
The government has linked 2.28 crore PM-KISAN beneficiaries with Kisan Credit Card scheme, under which they have been able to avail loan up to Rs 2.32 lakh crore so far.
He also said the farmers have worked hard despite challenges of COVID-19 and ensured bumper production last year. Better output is expected in the coming days due to continued farmers' efforts.
Expressing concern over shortage of edible oils and pulses, Tomar said the government is focusing on boosting the domestic production through several schemes so that the country's dependence on imports
Union Ministers of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, as well as Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Aggarwal were among state ministers and officials present in the event.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
