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Food Supply

  • Grain truths

    By holding higher grain consumption in India and China responsible for global food crisis, US President George W Bush and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, have needlessly started a blame game which is so far removed from the facts as to be laughable, which does not improve Mr Bush's already dodgy reputation on sticking to the facts, and which in any case leads the world nowhere in its combat against hunger.

  • Rolpalis face acute food shortage

    With shortage of the food supply in Rolpa, families displaced during the conflict have been facing starvation, reports say. 32 tons of rice and five tons of pulses supplied by World Food Programme, Save the Children and USAID are yet to reach the district. The 243 families were given ration card last month to regularise the food distribution. As per the schedule of the local authority, the distribution of ration was to begin from the fourth week of April, but the Nepal Red Cross Society local committee is still unaware when the foodstuffs would arrive.

  • CII task force to look into rising food prices

    The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), expressing its concern over the rising food prices, has called for an immediate global response to tackle the crisis. "We need to build a global platform for dialogue and action to manage the crisis,' said CII director general, Chandrajit Banerjee in a statement. He said the entire issue of spiraling food prices needs to be seen in a global perspective rather than an issue limited to specific countries.

  • India can solve global food worries: Swaminathan

    India, now under scrutiny due to rice export curbs and growing consumption that have helped drive grain prices to record highs, could help ease global food security fears, M S Swaminathan, the country's most revered rural economist, said. A rich diversity of secondary food crops, a huge base of rural workers and good rainfall mean India is able to raise production quickly with small investments, allowing it to export a bigger surplus to world markets, he said on Monday.

  • How the PDS has softened the blow

    Extensive cover, increased allotments and a relatively efficient distribution system have helped Tamil Nadu cope with the rise in food prices Tamil Nadu is reputed to have one of the best Public Distribution Systems in the country, with a majority aware of their entitlements and demanding their quotas from ration shops under the scheme The Public Distribution System is the only safety net for the poor and the low-income groups against inflation. Rice at Rs. 2 a kg, sugar at Rs. 13.50 a kg and wheat at Rs. 7.50 a kg shield them from the soaring prices in the open market.

  • Eroding self-sufficiency (editorial)

    Allowing four states to import wheat directly from abroad is a move to dismantle the food distribution system. First the Central government allowed global food giants and private companies to buy wheat directly from farmers, thereby deliberately initiating a shortfall in procurement for the Public Distribution System (PDS). It has now directed four states

  • Planning Commission calls for PDS revamp

    The member of the Planning Commission Abhijit Sen said that it was necessary at this stage for the government to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) in the country and bring under its net a number of essential commodities.

  • Surging food prices bite across Asia

    From the rice paddies of Asia to the wheat fields of Australia, the soaring price of food is breaking the budgets of the poor and raising the spectres of hunger and unrest, experts warn. A billion people in Asia are seriously affected by the surging costs of daily staples such as rice and bread, the director general of the Asian Development Bank, Rajat Nag, has said. "This includes roughly about 600 million people who live on just under a dollar a day, which is the definition of poverty, and another 400 million who are just above that borderline,' he said.

  • Rising global food prices also due to India's prosperity: Bush

    United States President George W. Bush joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in ascribing the spiralling global food prices to the rising prosperity of India's huge middle class. Prosperity in countries such as India was "good' but it triggered increased demand for "better nutrition' which in turn led to higher food prices, Mr. Bush said. At an interactive session on economy in Missouri, Mr. Bush argued that there were many factors for the present crisis, only one of which was investment in biofuels such as ethanol.

  • State distributing same red wheat: Cong

    The State Government is distributing the same red wheat under the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojna which the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has criticised six-months back, alleged Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson JP Dhanopiya. In a press statement, Dhanopiya alleged that six-months back State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that Centre is sending red wheat which are not suitable for human consumption. Now, the State Government is supplying same wheat under it's much-hyped Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojna at Rs 3, he alleged.

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