The government has extended the deadline for accreditation of halal certification bodies and registration of export units by three months till July 4 this year. Last year, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had notified the policy conditions for halal certification process for meat and meat products and had directed the existing bodies to seek accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) for i-CAS (Indian Conformity Assessment Scheme) Halal till April 5, 2024.

The secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare during a series of interactions with representatives of pulses industry in the run up to operationalisation of online stock monitoring from April 15, 2024, emphasised that anyone found to be indulging in forward trade of pulses would be dealt with firmly as per various provisions of Essential Commodities Act.

The Centre is working systematically with farmers in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh for the first time to sow kharif pulses such as tur, urad and moong even before sowing for the season starts, with a promise to procure an unlimited quantity of their produce at the minimum support price (MSP).

Wheat procurement in the country reached 119.26 lakh tonnes (lt) until April 23, against 159.23 lt year-ago, official data show. Though there is a drop in Punjab, as much as 31.64 lt was bought in last six days from April 19 for the Central Pool stock, which indicates that the procurement is back on track. Procurement by the food Corporation of India (FCI) got affected by untimely rains earlier this month in Punjab resulting in higher grain moisture.