The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets even as he flagged concerns over a missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Edible insects such as caterpillars and grubs should be considered an alternative source of nutrition in the effort to overcome food insecurity in central African countries, a new study by the United Nations food agency has said.
How can 'first food' meet the challenge posed by factory-made 'fast foods' which are backed by marketing money and often come with 'traditional taste' tags attached to them? The first step would be to preserve knowledge about first foods, says Dinesh C Sharma.
European Commission has claimed that its agriculture proposal submitted to the World Trade Organisation is fair and a win-win with sufficient safeguards to protect food security of developing countries including India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning Indian-American singer Falu for a special song to promote the benefits of millets and their potential to alleviate world hunger.
Indian growth in the rest of this fiscal year and next will be propelled by robust domestic consumption as consumer confidence improves, and by investment, including large increases in government capital expenditure, according to the Asian Development Outlook September 2023. "As slowing exports could foment headwinds for the economy, and erratic rainfall patterns are likely to undermine agricultural output, the growth forecast for FY2023 is revised down marginally to 6.3 per cent," ADB said.
According to the latest Food Outlook, a biannual publication by the FAO focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets, this year's food import bill for the Low Income Food Deficit Countries is forecast to reach $ 169 billion. Characterising this as a 'worrying development' the FAO noted that by the end of this year imports could cost four times as much as they did in 2000.
'I declared myself a Sikh. We want freedom from caste discrimination.'
He noted that the current crisis was triggered by a confluence of factors including increased use of biofuels, surging demand for agri products due to population and economic growth in emerging markets and inadequate supply of cereals -- which is at its lowest levels in three decades. Further aggravating these problems are restrictive protectionist measures taken by some exporting nations, speculation on futures markets and high prices of agricultural inputs, he added.
Bulk of the starving population belong to the developing world, with Asia and the Pacific region estimated to have about 642 million hungry people in 2009, Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million, Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million while the Near East and North Africa 42 million, the report said.
Did you know that a food security officer in a leading company can earn upto $84,000 a year by just protecting data?
UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has revised upwards India's rice production to 100 million tonnes (MT) in the 2012-13 crop year on the back of revival of rains in August and September.
African swine fever has been reported from two farms at Mananthavady in Kerala's Wayanad district, officials said on Friday.
The grant will make funds available immediately for relief operations and enable several UN agencies, including the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, to provide food, shelter, water and sanitation. Citing government statistics, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that over 2,400 people are dead and 1,500 missing after Cyclone Sidr. Over 273,000 houses, 760,000 acres of crop were destroyed.
India's exports to Iran have been falling over the last one year, amid decline in rupee reserves of the West Asian economy. Going ahead, the possibility of augmenting exports to Iran may not be easy for India, considering the geopolitical tensions - Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts - and the West Asian country's support for Russia and Hamas, people aware of the matter said. Exports to Iran saw a downward spiral since November last year.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
Addressing the food security concerns is important as India is still has 190 million hungry people, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth said at an event organised by a global think-tank The Club of Rome.
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
India needs a second green revolution along with the next generation of reforms with a view to make agriculture more climate-resistant and environmentally sustainable, said an RBI article on farm sector challenges. Observing that Indian agriculture has exhibited remarkable resilience during the COVID-19 period, the article said "new emerging challenges warrant a second green revolution along with next-generation reforms". Despite the success in terms of production that has ensured food security in the country, food inflation and its volatility remain a challenge, which requires supply-side interventions such as higher public investment, storage infrastructure and promotion of food processing, said the article titled 'Indian Agriculture: Achievements and Challenges'.
India had proposed amending the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap of 10 per cent.
'Had they agreed to our demands that we raised two years ago, we would have never started our agitation again.'
According to the WB datat, February witnessed a 40 per cent rise in coal prices and 24 per cent in rice. To add to that fuel, food, fibre, and metals saw double-digit jump in global prices. Rice went up 24 per cent due to limited export supplies, deteriorating prospects for the next crop, and the impact of higher wheat prices. Lead jumped 18 per cent on falling stocks, strong battery demand in China, and weather-related supply reductions, also in China.
A whopping $700 million (about Rs 3,700 crore) is paid annually as bribe in India for land administration services, a joint study by United Nation's body FAO and Transparency International has observed.
The global body on the farm sector has pegged India's rice production to be lower at 100 million tonnes in the 2012-13 crop year (July-June) from record high of 104.32 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year.
Bhujbal, who has strongly opposed the demand to include the Marathas in the other backward classes category for quota benefits, said a new social system is taking shape in Maharashtra which is different from the order envisaged by prominent social reformers.
Global tea prices are likely to maintain their upward trend this year because of tight supply in the wake of a projected 10 per cent decrease in production in Kenya, according to the latest findings by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations Organisation.
Strengthening of rupee has made Indian rice dearer in the international market
The level of poverty is lower in Europe than in other regions but the significance lies in the fact that the region encompasses some of the richest countries.
Most key rabi-producing states of north India, such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have staggered their procurement to enable farmers to come in batches, so that there is no overcrowding. The Centre has also set up a call centre to coordinate the inter-state movement of farm commodities.
Global rice production is expected to touch 476 million tonnes in 2011, on the back of improved weather conditions, as the influence of La Nina is expected to neutralise by June, United Nation's body FAO said.
A locust warning issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Organisation has asked India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to safeguard their crops.
States have been told to prepare in advance to counter any impact of an adverse southwest monsoon.
The Indian states figure in the list for East Asia countries. The names are there in annexure five of the 2010 FAO report to assess greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector. Arunachal Pradesh has been spelt as 'Arunashal' Pradesh in the list which also shows Aksai Chin as a separate country. China holds Aksai Chin as its integral part while India says it is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir
The United Nations has asked the international community to invest more in surveillance and control measures to check animal diseases. It also said the increased mobility of viruses and their carriers across countries is emerging as a new global threat.
China granted bio-safety certificates in 2009 to two pest-resistant GM rice varieties and one type of corn, the first country to allow field trials of GM staple foods.
The joint report by UN Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation released on Tuesday said that consumption, production and trade of forest products reached record highs in 2006, with a slight downturn registered in 2007. That decline accelerated in 2008, marking the sharpest drop since the first oil shock of 1973, and continued into the first half of this year, it said.
As the kharif season is setting in, India is scrambling to source fertilisers from the international market. It is set to sign long-term contracts - especially with Morocco and Latin American countries - to ensure steady flow of supplies. "We have to source fertilisers wherever it is available because crops have to be secured.
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