Food price volatility to remain till next year: FAO

High volatility and price swings in food commodities are likely to prevail for the rest of this year and could continue into 2012, UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation on Tuesday said.“High and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of this year and into 2012,” Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a statement.

Great Indian Bustard on brink of extinction

The Great Indian Bustard is on the brink of extinction, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Tuesday.The Great Indian Bustard has been up-listed to ‘critically endangered,’ the highest level of threat, IUCN said in a release.Hunting, disturbance, habitat loss and fragmentation have all conspired to reduce this magnificent species to perhaps as few as 250 individuals, IUCN said.

TigerText leaves security agencies worried

At a time when the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is struggling to find a way to satisfy Indian law enforcement agencies (LEAs) on security issues related to BlackBerry smartphone, the Union Home Ministry has asked it to ensure that no mobile operator is allowed to offer a unique mobile application – TigerText – before getting clearance from the government and security agencies.

Post-Aila salinity defeats Sunderbans farmers

For thousands of farmers at Gosaba in the Sundarbans the coming monsoon does not hold out any hope as they continue to battle the extreme salinity of the soil caused by cyclone Aila two years ago.Adding to their agony is the lack of manpower as the area has experienced large scale migration since the natural calamity.

Afghanistan faces economic downturn: Senate report

Afghanistan is at risk of a deep financial crisis when foreign troops leave in 2014 if the United States is unable to overhaul its multibillion—dollar package of nation—building assistance, according to a congressional report that comes as President Barack Obama weighs the size and scope of the initial phase of a U.S. troop drawdown.

Finance Ministry sets up another panel on black money

Facing flak from civil society for not doing enough to deal with the menace of black money, the government on Wednesday announced the setting up of another panel to suggest ways to trace tax defaulters, reveal their identity to the public and recover taxes.The committee, set up by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in the Finance Ministry, will also look into the possibility of putting the list of “chronic defaulters” in public domain.

Hegde says govt. ‘preventing’ drafting of Lokpal Bill

Karnataka Lokayukta and one of the members of the Joint Committee for drafting Jan Lokpal Bill, Justice Santosh Hegde, on Wednesday alleged that the Government was ‘preventing’ the drafting of a strong anti-corruption Bill.Asked about civil rights activist Anna Hazare’s statement that his fight was not against the government, but against the system, Justice Hegde said on the sidelines of a function here that now, “There has to be a fight against the Government itself” as it was “preventing” drafting of the Bill.