1.   

Country can achieve 4% growth in farm sector: Prime Minister

Expressing confidence of 4 per cent growth in the agriculture sector during 12th Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the government was bringing a food security legislation on back of higher foodgrain output and crop diversification. "We achieved 3.7 per cent growth per year in agriculture during the Eleventh Plan compared with only 2.4 per cent in the Tenth Plan. We are targeting 4 per cent in the Twelfth Plan, and I am confident we can do it," Singh said addressing the fourth Anniversary of UPA-II government.

2.   

India wants China to walk the talk on export pacts

Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao will lead a group of senior officials for a three-day visit to China from May 27 to work on the specifics of the recent memoranda of understanding signed for export of bovine meat, oilmeal, fishery and pharmaceuticals. He will also hold consultations with his Chinese counterparts on exporting more IT products, a Commerce Department official said. “There is little we can do to stop imports from China, as there is a genuine demand from the Indian industry.

3.   

Vice President to represent India at the 50th AU Summit

Besides India, the other select partners invited for the Summit include the US, the European Union, France, Brazil, Russia, China, Japan, Brazil, Jamaica besides the United Nations. Vice President Hamid Ansari will represent India at the golden jubilee African Union Summit in Addis Ababa later this week, joining around ten select partners of the grouping invited for the occasion. Ansari will address the gathering of top African leaders in the Ethiopian capital on May 25 focusing on the road ahead especially in the fields of peace-keeping and security, besides cooperation in agriculture, information technology, HRD, education, trade and investment.

4.   

UP emerging as fruit, veg hub with CAGR of over 15% and fresh arrivals

Uttar Pradesh is fast emerging as a hub for fruit and vegetables by registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent and fresh arrival of vegetables produced across the state to the wholesale markets from about 28 lakh tonne in 2008-09 to over 43 lakh tonne in 2011-12. It is expected to be 46 lakh tonne by the end of the current fiscal year 2013-14, according to a recent study titled 'Horticulture Sector in India: The State-level Experience' by the research bureau of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), the apex trade body.