Egypt’s state-run buyer is negotiating privately with traders to purchase wheat, making a rare shift from its usual tender process. 

 

The nation’s General Authority for Supply Commodities is seeking direct offers for wheat on Monday, according to traders who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The country is seeking supply for September and October and offers should be valid until Tuesday, three of them said. 

 

Egypt’s government has traditionally only bought wheat cargoes via tenders. Just last week, it scooped up 815,000 tons, marking its largest single purchase since at least 2012. However, Bloomberg reported in April that it planned to soon allow buying wheat via direct offers to the supply ministry, seeking to avert supply disruptions from the war in Ukraine. 

 

GASC did not immediately answer calls seeking comment. The talks were first reported by Reuters. 

 

Egypt is among the world’s largest wheat importers, and its purchases are closely tracked by the market. It has historically sourced much of its grain from Black Sea producers, while it also bulked up on French cargoes in its purchase last week. 

 

Benchmark wheat futures in Chicago recently retreated to pre-war levels as Northern Hemisphere harvests accelerate and commodity markets become mired in worries about economic recessions. 

India and Mozambique on Monday reviewed the multi-faceted bilateral relationship including political exchanges, development partnership projects, defence and security cooperation during the second round of Foreign Office Consultations held here.

 

The Indian side was led by Puneet R. Kundal, Joint Secretary (East & Southern Africa) and the Mozambican side was led by Ismael Valigy, Director for Asia and Oceania in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique.

 

An External Affairs Ministry release said the two sides also exchanged views on global developments and issues of common interest including cooperation in the United Nations, South African Development Cooperation (SADC)and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

 

India and Mozambique sides agreed to enhance people-to-people exchanges, and cultural cooperation.

 

'During the FOC, both delegations reviewed the multi-faceted bilateral relationship, covering political exchanges, development partnership projects, defence and security cooperation, trade and economic matters, consular issues, and cooperation in areas such as agriculture, sports, health,' it said.

 

The Indian side congratulated Mozambique on its election to the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2023-24.

 

Both sides also agreed to continue high-level political exchanges and regular meetings of the joint institutional mechanisms to keep the 'partnership vibrant and mutually beneficial'.

 

The release said that talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere.

 

The two sides agreed to hold the next round of consultations at mutually convenient dates in Maputo.

More than a decade back, masalas used for making meals were typically made at home. Now ready-to-cook masalas have become an integral part of Indian households.

 

The ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat segments have surely reduced cooking preparation time and made it easy to cook Indian delicacies at home. Ready to cook (RTC), and Ready to eat (RTE), food segment has witnessed a surge in demand in the last couple of years and takes care of customers that have a lack of time to spend in the kitchen or just simply a lack of skill to cook cumbersome curries regularly.

 

The preference for these meals by the working population and millennials has grown because of changes in lifestyle. Working parents prefer the easy cooking method. Working mothers seek healthy and tasty options for their children.  Disposable incomes have led to the demand for RTC products.  

 

Increasing urbanisation has increased the awareness of RTC segment. The consumer can add fresh proteins or vegetables and also add their own flavour and touch to the meal prepared at home for the family.

 

Consumers today have a hectic schedule; they look forward to options that are quick and easy to make and at the same time healthier than ordering food from outside. Restaurant food is always oilier and less dependable in terms of quality of ingredients than food made at home. Tapping this need in the market many manufacturers are trying to cater and meet this potential in the food industry.

 

Here are some of the reasons why consumers now want a quick solution:

Demand for healthy instant food:

The pandemic and the consecutive lockdowns have made people reevaluate what they eat, they have become conscious about healthy food and healthy eating options. The fast-paced lifestyle changes have led to a realisation that focusing on health and wellness is necessary. The evolving needs of the consumer have pushed the demand for clean label and plant-based food segments, across the world. There are many options available, from plant-based beverages to ready-to-cook food items.

 

Urbanisation:

Growing urbanisation has been a huge driving force in India, especially over the last five years in terms of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food and conversion of unbranded to branded food. Since there is a wide range of consumers, manufacturers are gradually focusing on a variety of prepared foods across regions. There is a variety of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods for everyone, from office-going parents to children. To cater to all these sections of Indian society, companies have adopted different a portfolio to include nutrition-based categories to meet the growing demand.

 

Specialty Regional cuisine:

The ready-to-eat food that was first introduced in India in the space of instant noodles, soup, frozen vegetables, or snacks has come a long way from its existence. The industry has kept up with the shift in demand and the wide consumer base that it caters to. There is now a whole range of RTC meals customised for the Indian diaspora, from Panner Tikka Masala, Shahi Paneer mix, Vegetable Biryani, and Chicken Biryani, Chicken Chettinand mix, Goan fish curry. Regional cuisines are taking a preference.

 

There is no doubt that not only RTE and RTC food is going to stay in India but also going to continue to grow with more women joining the workforce, the increasing consumer demands, and the market trends. This will eventually turn into a breakthrough in India’s food manufacturing industry and has the potential of being in every Indian household.

The positive outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent telephonic talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin offers yet another indication that relations between India and Russia remain on firm-footing.

 

According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement, Prime Minister Modi and President Putin, in their telephonic talk, 'exchanged ideas on how bilateral trade in agricultural goods, fertiliers and pharma products could be encouraged further.' They also discussed 'global issues, including the state of the international energy and food markets.'

 

Highly placed sources say that, despite the ongoing friction between Washington and Moscow, both of which are friendly to New Delhi even in today's changed world scenario, Indo-Russian trade ties have continued to grow. Despite the current Western sanctions against Russia in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, India has emerged as a major importer of the discounted Russian crude oil.

 

Personal ties between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin have been excellent. Putin visited India in December last year as part of the 21st Annual India-Russia Summit with Prime Minister Modi. Meanwhile, PM Modi too is expected to visit Russia this year. Their latest telephonic talk is the fourth one between the two since the beginning of this year. They had earlier spoken to each other in February and March 2022.

 

The latest telephonic discussion took place just a couple of days after PM Modi participated at the G7 outreach summit in Germany. One of the focal points of the summit was to contain Russia. It has, however, affected little India's growing relations with Russia.

 

New Delhi seems to have been fully aware that Ukraine exports to the world more than 13 per cent of corn and over 5 per cent of wheat. Russia accounts for 18 per cent of the world's wheat exports and 14 per cent of fertilisers. Russia is also a major player in the market for energy and metals. Due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the current Western sanctions against Russia, all such transactions are badly hit and the prices have been rising the world over. New Delhi has hence consistently suggested a course of 'dialogue and diplomacy' to end the Ukrainian crisis.

 

Pertinently, Russia has been a time-tested partner of India since the cold war years. Since the eighties, India has increasingly been diversifying its defence trade partners. Yet Russia continues to dominate the Indian defence inventory. Russia is the only nation that is still willing to give India critical technologies.

 

Besides, in the post-cold war era, Russia has extended its unwavering support to India for a permanent seat in a proposedly expanded UN Security Council. Moscow has also supported India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Organically grown mangoes will have a great demand in the domestic as well as international markets and farmers must consider growing it, said chief minister Yogi Adityanath at the mango festival he inaugurated at Awadh Shilpgram on Monday.

 

He visited stalls where different varieties of mangoes were displayed and asked growers about them at the festival which is on till July 7.

 

'I wanted to visit every stall but could not because of the lack of time. One thing that I found missing was organic mango. It would have a huge demand,' he said, adding that while production has been increased to increase export there has to be a balance between demand and supply along with the timely availability of the produce and its good quality.

 

The horticulture department should work with the agriculture department to draw benefits from its natural farming programme, he said, adding that there is a need to preserve the organic nature of the produce right from the seedling stage to where it starts bearing fruits, and that is possible through natural farming.

 

'Whenever a lot of chemical fertilisers are used, the product fails tests before it is exported and it gets rejected. We have to start working on it from now,' he said.

 

The state government is already working to provide infrastructure like testing labs in every commissionerate. With the help of Israel, two centres of excellence have been set up in the state: in Basti for horticultural produce and in Kannauj for vegetables, said Yogi.

 

In addition, there is a need to identify markets where growers and farmers can sell their produce and to diversify the product through food processing, he said.

 

He asked the horticulture department for wider publicity of the festival.

 

Awadh Shilpgram, Yogi said, should hold exhibitions of traditional products of UP, like mango, guava, goose berry, banana and other horticultural and agricultural products.

 

Agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi and minister of state for agricultural exports (independent charge) Dinesh Pratap Singh were also present on the occasion.

 

Visitors can view over 1,000 varieties of mangoes brought from various districts of UP, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh at the four-day festival.

India’s coffee output for the new 2022-23 crop year, starting October, is heading for a new record, provided the weather supports the crop for the rest of calendar year.

 

The Coffee Board, in its early production estimates also known as post-blossom estimates, has pegged the 2022-23 crop at 3.93 lakh tonnes on favourable weather conditions during March-May, which aided the blossoms and crop setting this year.

 

The post-blossom estimates are higher by about 15 per cent over the final estimates of 3.42 lakh tonnes for the current 2021-22 crop year ended September. The output of Arabicas, the mild and premium variety, is seen 23 per cent higher at 1.169 lakh tonnes (lt) over the previous year’s 95,000 tonnes. Similarly, the output of Robustas is likely to be 12 per cent higher at 2.77 lakh tonnes over the previous year’s 2.47 lakh tonnes.

 

Good pre-monsoon showers

K G Jagadeesha, CEO and Secretary, Coffee Board, said the post-blossom estimates for 2022-23 is a record, but how much of it remains by the time the crop is harvested remains to be seen. While the key coffee-growing regions in Karnataka and Kerala have received good pre-blossom and blossom showers, there has been a deficit in the monsoon rainfall, so far in these States. 'If there is a recovery in rainfall deficit, we may not have any problem. However, there has been no damage so far,' Jagadeesha said. Other producers like Tamil Nadu and Andhra have not faced any problems.

 

In a normal year, there would be a 10-15 per cent crop loss from the stage of post-blossom estimates to the actual harvest. 'Even if we factor in a 10 per cent crop loss, it is still going to be a record output,' Jagadeesha said. India’s highest coffee output was 3.48 lakh tonnes during 2015-16.

 

Karnataka’s role

Much of the expected increase in next year’s output would be driven by Karnataka, the largest producing State which accounts for two-thirds of the country’s output. The 2022-23 crop is seen higher by 18 per cent in Karnataka, 11 per cent in Tamil Nadu and 6.3 per cent in Kerala.

 

In Karnataka, the post-blossom arabica output is pegged higher at 86,150 tonnes, an increase of 27 per cent over 68,025 tonnes this season. Similarly, Robusta output is seen higher at 1.99 lakh tonnes, an increase of 15 per cent over this season’s 1.736 lakh tonnes.

 

In Kodagu, the largest coffee-producing district in the country, the output of Arabicas is expected to go up to 22,275 tonnes, some 21 per cent higher compared with 18,325 tonnes in 2021-22. Similarly, Robusta output in Kodagu is projected higher at 1.227 lakh tonnes (1.05 lakh tonnes).

 

In Chikkamagaluru district, the arabica output is estimated 30 per cent more at 43,255 tonnes (33,100 tonnes), and robustas 12 per cent up at 52,955 tonnes (47,050 tonnes).

 

In Hassan district, the arabica crop will likely be 20,200 tonnes (16,600 tonnes) and robusta at 23,325 tonnes (21,350 tonnes).

 

In Kerala’s largest producing district of Wayanad, robusta output may rise to 62,425 tonnes (59,350 tonnes).

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the Centre had approved a mega cluster of mangoes in Lucknow and Rs.100 crore will be spent on it in the next five years.

 

Speaking at a function after the inauguration of 'Uttar Pradesh Mango Mahotsav-2022' here, he said in this mega cluster, mangoes from Lucknow will be known as the 'Kakori brand'.

 

'Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government has approved a mega cluster of mangoes in Lucknow on which Rs.100 crore will be spent in the next five years,' Adityanath said.

 

Mangoes in this cluster will be known as 'Kakori brand', which will be a true tribute to the great heroes of Kakori as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', he said.

 

Earlier, the chief minister visited the mango exhibition organised by the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, released the festival souvenir and honoured progressive farmers of the state, according to an official statement.

 

Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Horticulture Dinesh Pratap Singh were also present on the occasion.

The results of the third edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems were released by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles today at The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. For the purposes of the Ranking, States and Union Territories are classified into 5 Categories, viz. Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders and Emerging Start-up Ecosystems.

 

Gujarat and Karnataka emerged as the Best Performers in a category of States which included NCT of Delhi. Meghalaya won the top honour among UTs and North-eastern (NE) States. While Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Telangana got the Top Performers award among states, Jammu & Kashmir emerged as the Top Performer among UTs and NE states.

 

Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were adjudged the winners in the Leaders category among states; Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa bagged the Leaders honour among the UTs and NE states. Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were declared as Aspiring Leaders among the States. Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Puducherry and Tripura were the Aspiring Leaders from the UTs and NE states. Andhra Pradesh and Bihar from States category and Mizoram and Ladakh from the UTs/NE States were clubbed under the Emerging Start-up Ecosystem.

 

Speaking after declaring the awards, Shri Piyush Goyal said that ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) had the power to spawn thousands of start-ups. 'The huge success that UPI has been in India, which has democratised the payment system in India. In the next 5 year, we will have ONDC democratize the e-commerce across India. So much so that we will have a few thousand start-ups may be more and a few hundred unicorns. Rather than three companies being 100 billion or one trillion size, you will have a thousand companies each of a billion dollar. That is what ONDC has the power to do,' the Minister said.

 

Emphasizing that Indian ecosystem could become the best in the work, Shri Goyal suggested that States could align with neighbouring ones so as to learn from each other. He also asked the department to get more start-ups on the Government E-Marketplace (GeM), saying that now even the Services had been brought under GeM.

 

Shri Goyal suggested that there was a need to focus on developing start-up ecosystem in districts with help of all the start-up related schemes by the central and the state government. He emphasized upon the need to onboard and register more start-ups. He added that there was a great opportunity to democratize the start-up ecosystem in the same way as the Indian Premier League (IPL) democratized the cricket arena.

 

The minister appreciated the new mentorship program and said that it would help those with ideas to get support and help them fructify their ideas.

 

Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT said that a number of initiatives of the government including JAM (Jandhan, Aadhar, Mobile), Digital India, Gatishakti, Ease of Doing Business were driving the start-up ecosystem. 'If the Start-up system has to grow further, the biggest role has to be played by States. We can play a facilitative role,' he added.

 

Shri Manoj Kohli, Member, National Start-up Advisory Council the new coaching/mentoring programme MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience and Growth) would focus on creating profitable start-ups, improving their corporate governance, scaling up their operations, addressing funding gaps and building their brand. This, he said would improve their success rate.

 

The call for mentors for MAARG portal was also announced during the event. The portal is developed with the idea to develop a tool for start-ups in India that can be accessed from every corner of the country to request and connect with a mentor.

 

Smt. Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, DPIIT said that the start-up ecosystem has come a long way with States playing a big role. 'Today, States have vibrant ecosystem with 27 states having their portals in regional languages,' she added.

 

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been conducting the States’ Start-up Ranking Exercise since 2018 to facilitate the ease of building a start-up and doing business across the country. The exercise has grown in its impact over the last three editions, with 31 participating states and union territories this edition, the highest till date. The State Start-up Ranking Exercise aims to support states and union territories in developing their start-up ecosystem and learn from the best practices in each state and union territory.

 

The consideration period for the third edition of the States Startup Ranking Exercise was 1st October 2019 to 31st July 2021. The documentary evidence submitted was evaluated over a 6-month duration. The evaluation committee across 14 meetings assessed each document and was composed of representatives from 19 government departments and 29 non-government startup ecosystem stakeholders, for fair and transparent evaluation.

 

The participants were evaluated across 7 broad Reform Areas consisting of 26 Action Points ranging from Institutional Support, Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Access to Market, Incubation support, Funding Support, Mentorship Support to Capacity Building of Enablers. The exercise plays a crucial role in easing the business environment for start-ups in the country.

 

The States Startup Ranking 2021 highlighted the support being extended by over 30 states and union territories through startup policies to the ecosystem. There were only 4 states with startup policies prior to 2016. The state startup teams have been extending support across mentorship, incubation and funding. Moreover, feedback was gathered from more than 7,000 beneficiaries through surveys made in 13 different languages to grasp the real situation at the execution level.

 

The States and Union Territories have been placed alphabetically within each category. Additionally, in each reform area, the states who are recognized as Leaders for their exceptional work in the particular reform area are also shared.

 

The felicitation ceremony was accompanied by the release of the National Report which highlights the vision, framework, evolution across the years, methodology and implementation, and the way ahead for the States` Startup Ranking. A State Specific Report for each of the 31 participating States and Union Territories has also been released, containing an extensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and priority areas for future.

India has achieved a monthly value of merchandise export in June 2022 amounting USD 37.94 billion, an increase of 16.78% over USD 32.49 billion in June 2021. India’s merchandise export in April -June 2022-23 was USD 116.77 billion with an increase of 22.22% over USD 95.54 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

Value of non-petroleum exports in June 2022 was 30.12 USD billion, registering a positive growth of 5.53% over non-petroleum exports of USD 28.54 billion in June 2021. The cumulative value of non-petroleum exports in April -June 2022-23 was USD 92.49 billion, an increase of 11.92% over USD 82.65 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

Value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in June 2022 was USD 26.75 billion, registering a positive growth of 4.0% over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 25.72 billion in June 2021. The cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in April -June 2022-23 was USD 82.43 billion, an increase of 12.19% over cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 73.47 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

Petroleum products (98.01%), Electronic goods (50.66%) and RMG of all Textiles (44.67%) led the way in high increase in exports during June 2022.

 

India’s merchandise import in June 2022 was USD 63.58 billion, an increase of 51.02% over USD 42.1 billion in June 2021. India’s merchandise imports in April -June 2022-23 was USD 187.02 billion with an increase of 47.31% over USD 126.96 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

Value of non-petroleum imports was USD 42.84 billion in June 2022 with a positive growth of 36.36% over non-petroleum imports of USD 31.42 billion in June 2021. The cumulative value of non-petroleum imports in April -June 2022-23 was USD 126.95 billion, showing an increase of 32.18% compared to non-oil imports of USD 96.04 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

Value of non-oil, non-GJ (gold, silver & Precious metals) imports was USD 36.7 billion in June 2022 with a positive growth of 31.71% over non-oil and non-GJ imports of USD 27.87 billion in June 2021. Non-oil, non-GJ (Gold, Silver & Precious Metals) imports in April -June 2022-23 was USD 107.14 billion, recording a positive growth of 32.55%, as compared to non-oil and non-GJ imports of USD 80.83 billion in April -June 2021-22.

 

The trade deficit in June 2022 was USD 25.63 billion, while it was 70.25 billion USD during April -June 2022-23.

Agartala, July 2 (UNI) Accepting the proposal of the Tripura government, the Centre has undertaken the initiative to make Sepahijala district into a production hub of ‘Queen’ variety pineapple and Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare would invest Rs 65 Cr.

 

Tripura agriculture minister Pranajit Singharoy on Friday said as many as 2500 pineapple producers of the district would be supported under the scheme while interacting with the pineapple growers in district headquarters at Bishramganj.

 

'After BJP led government came to power, marketing and exporting of the state-grown pineapples have been given a boost and the pineapple growers have been getting their fair prices. Although Queen Pineapples are being grown in different districts, its production is more in Sepahijala for which the district has the financial assistance of National Horticulture Board,' Singha Roy said.