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Welfare of India’s farmers is top priority for Govt: PM Modi

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New Delhi, Oct 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the welfare of the country’s farmers, who play a vital role in building a developed India, is a top priority for his government.

“To this end, the decision to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rabi crops has been taken. While this will strengthen our food security, it will also benefit our farmer brothers and sisters,” the Prime Minister said in a post on X.

He was referring to the Cabinet decision taken on Wednesday to increase the MSP for rabi crops for the 2026-27 marketing season to ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their produce.

The highest increase in MSP has been announced for Safflower at Rs 600 per quintal, followed by Lentil (Masur) at Rs 300 per quintal. For rapeseed and mustard, gram, barley, and wheat, there is an increase of Rs 250 per quintal, Rs 225 per quintal, Rs 170 per quintal and Rs 160 per quintal, respectively.

The Prime Minister further stated: “We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the welfare of our farmer brothers and sisters across the country. In this regard, our government has approved the Mission on Self-Reliance in Pulses. While this historic initiative will boost the production of pulses, it will also strengthen our resolve for self-reliance.”

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, on Wednesday approved the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses with a financial outlay of Rs 11,440 crore. The landmark initiative aimed at boosting domestic production and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses will be implemented over a six-year period from 2025-26 to 2030-31.

The Pulses Mission is expected to benefit around 2 crore farmers with the supply of better seeds, post-harvest infrastructure and 100 per cent assured procurement of Tur, Urad and Masoor pulses from growers at the Minimum Support Price during the next 4 years, according to an official statement.

Pulses hold special importance in India’s cropping systems and diets. India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses. With rising incomes and standard of living, pulse consumption has increased. However, domestic production has not kept pace with demand, leading to a 15-20 per cent increase in pulse imports.

In another post on X, PM Modi highlighted a Cabinet decision on the decision on widening and upgradation of the Kalibor-Numaligarh section of NH-715 in Assam.

“A historic decision for Assam and the Northeast! The Cabinet decision on widening and upgradation of the Kalibor-Numaligarh section of NH-715, including an elevated corridor with wildlife-friendly measures in the Kaziranga stretch, will boost development as well as ensure animal safety. Tourism to Kaziranga will receive a big boost,” the Prime Minister wrote.

He also took to Twitter to underline the Cabinet’s approval for Phase-III of the Biomedical Research Career Programme, which “will nurture scientific talent, support fellowships, collaborative grants and build world-class biomedical research capacity across India.”

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Air India’s US-bound flight returns to Mumbai due to technical snag

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Mumbai, Oct 22: An Air India flight scheduled from Mumbai to Newark in the United States had to return after take-off, as the crew identified a suspected technical snag, according to a statement issued by the airline on Wednesday.

“The crew of flight AI191 operating from Mumbai to Newark on 22 October, made a precautionary air-return to Mumbai due to a suspected technical issue. The flight landed safely back in Mumbai, and the aircraft is undergoing necessary inspections,” according to an Air India statement.

The total number of passengers on board, along with the time at which the airline departed and returned, was not available in the preliminary statement. As per the usual schedule, the AI1191 flight departs at 01:10 hours (IST) from Mumbai and reaches Newark at 07:55 hours (EDT).

Due to the flight’s cancellation, the return flight from Newark to Mumbai — numbered AI144 — was also cancelled.

The incident comes close on the heels of Delhi-bound Air India plane running into a technical snag at the Milan airport last Friday, stranding over 250 passengers at the foreign airport just ahead of Diwali.

The airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner (VT-ANN) had encountered a technical issue upon landing in Milan, preventing the aircraft from operating the return journey to Delhi.

Air India then scheduled an additional flight from Milan to Delhi on Oct 19 to bring back home 256 passengers who were stranded in Milan since, October 17.

The airline claimed it had extended all immediate assistance to affected passengers, including hotel accommodation and meals. Full refunds or complimentary rescheduling were also offered as per passenger preference.

A similar incident occurred on August 16 this year, when an Air India flight on the same route was cancelled due to a technical issue that was notices during pushback.

According to Air India, a maintenance task was identified just as the aircraft was preparing for departure. The subsequent delay caused the operating crew to exceed mandatory flight duty time limitation norms, making it unsafe and impermissible for them to continue.

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Gold likely to open weak after steep global fall; prices may drop to Rs 1.22–Rs 1.23 lakh per 10 gm

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Mumbai, Oct 22: The rush for gold may slow down after Diwali, as the yellow metal is expected to open on a weak note in the domestic market on Wednesday.

This comes after international gold prices fell sharply by 5.5 per cent — the steepest decline since August 2020.

Analysts expect Indian gold prices to correct to around Rs 1.22–Rs 1.23 lakh per 10 grams when markets open on Wednesday.

The fall in global prices has triggered profit-booking among investors who had benefited from gold’s recent rally.

Silver too lost over 2 per cent, trading near $47.6 per ounce after tumbling 7.1 per cent in the previous session.

Gold and silver both extended their slide from record highs, while Asian stock markets showed mixed trends following a muted session on Wall Street.

Experts said the sharp drop in precious metals reflects a wave of profit-taking after their rapid rise this year.

“Many investors have grown cautious, believing that gold’s rally may have entered a bubble zone,” analysts noted.

This year’s rally had been driven by worries about the fiscal health of major economies, especially the US, and expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates further by the end of the year.

Gold prices had surged nearly 60 per cent this year, fuelled by central banks diversifying away from the dollar and retail investors buying into exchange-traded funds.

Market sentiment also turned cautious after signs of possible progress in trade talks between the US and China.

US President Donald Trump said he expects a “good deal” in his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, though he admitted the talks might still face hurdles.

Analysts believe that while gold remains a preferred safe-haven asset in the long term, short-term volatility is likely to continue as investors balance profit-taking with global economic signals.

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Samsung Electronics to use its own Exynos chip in upcoming Galaxy S26 smartphones

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Seoul, Oct 21: Samsung Electronics Co. plans to use its in-house Exynos mobile processor in upcoming Galaxy S26 smartphone models, industry sources has said.

The company’s System Large Scale Integration (LSI) division, a fabless unit that focuses on designing and developing advanced system-on-chip (SoC) products, has completed development of the latest Exynos 2600 chip and will supply it for parts of the Galaxy S26 series starting in November, according to the sources, reports Yonhap news agency.

Exynos chipsets are designed and produced by Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business.

According to the sources, the company’s in-house tests show strong performance from the Exynos 2600 compared with competitors, and the company believes the chip compares favorably with Apple Inc.’s A19 Pro used in the iPhone 17 Pro models.

The Exynos 2600 is expected to appear in at least one Galaxy S26 model, anticipated to be unveiled early next year.

If the top-tier Galaxy S26 Ultra uses an Exynos chip, it would be the first Ultra model to include an in-house processor since the Galaxy S22 series in 2022.

Previously, Samsung Electronics used Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon chipsets across all Galaxy S23 models, while Exynos appeared only in some S24 variants.

The Galaxy S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, launched earlier this year, all use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.

Meanwhile, launch of the new generation Galaxy S26 series models in India is expected next year in January or March.

According to multiple reports and industry watchers, the model is slated to compete with with several flagships in the market, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

If reports can be believed, the price of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 5G mobile price in India is expected to be around Rs 1,59,999 for the base model.

There is also buzz doing rounds that it may offer 12GB of RAM with 3 storage options of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

However, industry watchers expect that the official pricing will be based on the storage variants.

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