Zia Haq reports on public policy, economy and agriculture. Particularly interested in development economics and growth theories.
Articles by Zia Haq
Global tenders for flying Haj pilgrims?
Indian Haj authorities could get powers to float global tenders for airlines to ferry over one lakh pilgrims from next year.
‘Maoist grievances are genuine but not the method’
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan is a “man of enlightenment” but the country’s role in global human rights is flagging because of “fear of competition” from China, Human Rights Watch has said.
Updated on Oct 14, 2009 11:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Bt brinjal gets the green signal
The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, the biotechnology regulator today approved the commercialisation of genetically modified Bt brinjal. Bt Brinjal still needs the government's nod before its release in the market, report Zia Haq and Chetan Chauhan.
Updated on Oct 14, 2009 11:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq and Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi
Ok to shun burqa in class, but not in public: Darul
Breaking its silence, influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband on Tuesday said it was all right for girls to shun the burqa inside all-women classrooms, as top Indian clerics debated the recent ban clamped by Cairo’s Al-Azhar University on wearing the niqab (veil) on its women campuses.
Who’s afraid of BT brinjal?
Brinjal may become the first genetically modified vegetable to find its way to India’s farms and markets, a move that will take it very close to commercial farming. Zia Haq reports.
Updated on Oct 13, 2009 01:32 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Emerging slowly, steadily
The 50-year-old proprietor of MG Enterprises, a Panipat-based maker of durries, or rugs, and other loom owners in this city, had borne the brunt of the global recession – especially in the panic-stricken days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. However, export orders are now beginning to trickle in, but a full recovery and increase in employment will still take some time. Zia Haq examines...Freefall | Full coverage
Late rain blunts drought edge
Call it weird weather. India’s June-September monsoon has revived sharply at a time when it usually starts tapering off, securing all major kharif crops and raising water levels in key reservoirs. Zia Haq and Satyen Mahapatra report.
Updated on Sep 11, 2009 02:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq and Satyen Mahapatra, New Delhi
India’s low-cost food for belly-up West
When the global economy was mired in recession through 2008-09, India peaked its exports of farm products, making ready-to-eat and pre-cooked meals affordable for the developed world.
Sugar imports may see festive season through
India’s sugar shortfall has shown signs of easing temporarily, as the country appears to be bridging its shortage for the October-November festival season, when demand peaks, through frantic imports, reports Zia Haq.
Updated on Sep 03, 2009 11:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Minority Affairs push for Muslim reservation
The Centre could soon begin the spadework to take reservation benefits to more backward Muslims, with the Minority Affairs Ministry flagging off the issue for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Pawar faces drought fire, NCP upset
Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi has put Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in the dock, stopping just short of accusing him of hoodwinking the country on the drought situation and sugar stocks. Saroj Nagi & Zia Haq report.
Updated on Aug 26, 2009 11:12 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Saroj Nagi & Zia Haq, New Delhi
India has just two months’ sugar stock
India’s sugar stocks have hit rock bottom. There is about 4.5 million tonnes left, just enough to meet the demand till the upcoming festive season, a government official said on Monday. “It’s hand to mouth. We are fighting a battle,” a top official said, reports Zia Haq. See graphics
Pawar shifts focus, hope on rabi crop
Sharp showers over the week have bridged the monsoon deficit from 29 per cent to 26 per cent of the long-term average, raising hopes for the remaining paddy and a better forecast for rabi or winter-sown crops, reports Zia Haq.
Three essentials to be hit
The drought will hit hardest three commodities that are in perennial short supply in India – sugar, pulses and edible oils, while their demand is likely to soar in the coming winter-onset festival season.
Updated on Aug 20, 2009 12:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Drought sting as sharp as 2002-03?
If showers do not pick up in the next 45 days, India could be staring at a drought as bad as the last one in 2002-03, when productivity tanked by 18%, noted farm economist Abhijit Sen said on Saturday.
Met scotches rumours of poor winter rain
The Indian Meteorological Department shot down growing rumours of poor winter rains, crucial for India’s rabi or winter-sown crops, fuelling hopes of a possible farm upturn in the next crop cycle. Zia Haq reports. See graphics
Crop output may take a hit
After the driest June in 83 years, the monsoon — which brings rains between June and September — has so far fallen short by more than a quarter of the usual rains, report Gaurav Choudhury and Zia Haq.
Updated on Aug 12, 2009 01:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Gaurav Choudhury and Zia Haq, New Delhi
Fear of inflation with drought in a fourth of India
The spectre of a failed monsoon has heightened concerns about food supplies and left the government groping for options to sustain growth. Gaurav Choudhury & Zia Haq report. See full coverage
Updated on Aug 12, 2009 11:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Gaurav Choudhury & Zia Haq, New Delhi
Govt to track minority schemes; MPs to have say
The government will appoint national-level independent monitors to track back how Rs 3,780 are being spent for minority welfare under the “flagship multi-sectoral development programme”, in which Members of Parliament will now have a say for the first time.
Updated on Aug 07, 2009 12:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Yes, Indians are paying through the nose for food
Prices of several essential commodities have surged between 20 and 200% in the four metros over the last 10 months, in one of the sharpest seasonal spikes that has sawn off a significant chunk of take-home earnings of the urban salaried class. Zia Haq reports.
Rains fail, hope recedes, prices keep rising
As the sowing season comes to an end, latest figures reveal the area under paddy cultivation across the country has shrunk 26 per cent this year. Alarm bells are already ringing. A worried Centre on Monday decided to keep subsidising diesel sale up to September 30 to farmers in drought-hit districts, Zia Haq reports. See graphics
Farmers timed out by rain
July’s come and gone. Farmers are still keeping their fingers crossed, but economists have already started number crunching. Zia Haq reports.
Updated on Aug 04, 2009 01:10 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, Gaya/sasaram (bihar):
Not a fruitful monsoon
When apples from Himachal Pradesh and oranges from Maharashtra arrive at your neighbourhood markets in late August, there is a good chance they’ll be less succulent and smaller in size. The culprit: bad monsoon. Archana Phull and Zia haq report.
Updated on Jul 22, 2009 11:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Archana Phull and Zia haq, Shimla/new Delhi
Fingers crossed, Govt readies plan
A patchy monsoon is expected to trim India’s food productivity after a three-year surge. The government is ready with its countrywide drought plan, but hopes there will be no need to use it nationally. Zia Haq reports.The back-up plan
Updated on Jul 23, 2009 01:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
Stalking Clinton, legally. Here’s how
The “Americagov” Twitter feed has been following the secretary “every step of the way” during her activities in Mumbai and New Delhi. Some 2,087 fans from India were following Clinton on Twitter at the time of filing this report. Zia Haq reports.
Rains revive, blunt drought fears
India’s southwest monsoon has picked up sharply over the past two weeks, blunting fears of a drought and dip in farm output, though the rains continue to be less than normal.
From no cash to Rs 82,864 cr, Muslims cross credit milestone
Cash flow to minorities — from bank loans to scholarships — peaked during 2008-09, government data has revealed, as Muslims appeared to be slowly overcoming a strong bias of banks in lending. Zia Haq reports.
Updated on Jul 16, 2009 12:34 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, New Delhi
‘India Inc must help the govt improve workplace diversity’
The government has pushed the private sector to improve workplace diversity voluntarily, as it kicks off spadework to implement the diversity index, a key Sachar Committee recommendation write Zia Haq and Mahua Venkatesh.
Updated on Jul 14, 2009 01:21 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq and Mahua Venkatesh, New Delhi
VS left to own devises, but infighting not over
By removing Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan from the Politburo, the CPM has treaded the middle path. Action could have been harsher.
Updated on Jul 13, 2009 12:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq
Ditched by rains, crops in trouble
The country could be heading for a drought, worse than the one in 2002, if the monsoon rains do not pick up during the sowing window period for kharif crops. Meanwhile, The UPA government is taking no chances with the restoration of the Kosi barrage after the unprecedented devastation the floods caused last year and the resultant politicking, which ensued.
Updated on Jul 10, 2009 01:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Zia Haq, Aurangzeb Naqshbandi & Manish Tiwari, New Delhi