The food crisis and India

The World Bank has joined the chorus warning the world of an impending food crisis with damaging food price inflation. In its late-August edition of its Food Price Watch the Bank reported that global prices for food as reflected by its Food Price Index rose 10 per cent in July 2012 alone. The prices of staples such as corn and soya bean were at an all-time high that month, with the increase in corn prices amounting to 25 per cent and that in soya bean to 17 per cent over a single month. Earlier, the FAO had reported that its Food Price Index (FPI) rose by 6 per cent in July 2012, driven by grain and sugar prices. Cereal prices had risen by 17 per cent in June relative to the previous month, maize prices by close to 23 per cent and wheat prices by around 19 per cent.

Visionary extraordinaire - Verghese Kurien

Much has already been said and written about the monumental contributions of Verghese Kurien to the development of the Indian dairy industry, rooted on the Gandhian Principle of production by masses. I met Dr. Kurien soon after his return from Michigan State University and his taking up residence at Anand. From then on, we shared ideas and experiences in the area of rural transformation through agriculture and dairying. Among the very many unique contributions of Dr. Kurien which led to India becoming the leading milk producer of the world, I would like to highlight a few.

Breastfeeding – The Best Start in Infant’s Life - Opinion

Breastmilk is natural and perfect food for the baby.WHO recommends that all infants should be fed exclusively on breastmilk until they are six months of age and continued to be breastfed till two years or beyond along with the introduction of adequate complementary foods after six months of age.Breastmilk provides uniquely appropriate concentrations of almost all the nutrients for infants at the time when the growth and development rates are maximal.Mother’s milk comprises of White Blood Cells (leucocytes), macrophages and epithelial cells; lipids (triacylgycerols, free fatty acids, phospholipids, sterols, hydrocarbons and fat soluble vitamins); carbohydrates (lactose, galactose, glucose, oligosaccharides, and glycoproteins); protein (casein, α-lactalbumin, lactoferrin, immunoglobins like SlgA and others, lysozymes, enzymes, harmones and growth factors); non-protein nitrogenous compounds (urea, creatine, creatinine, uric acid, amino acids including glutamine, nucleic acid, nucleotides and polyamines), water soluble vitamins, macronutrient elements, trace elements and various non nutritional components (anti-microbial factors, digestive enzymes and growth modulators) that promote the infant’s growth and development.

AEPC’s Outlook, Role and Vision - Opinion

Born in 1978- Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is a sponsored body under the Ministry of Textiles. Build and lived to its mandate of Apparel and Garments export promotions in India; it tells the saga of the bygone era.  From just being a quota monitoring entity, AEPC is today a powerful body for the promotion and facilitation of garment manufacturing and their exports. AEPC is endowed with the power to create myth, transcending moments of apparel export history as a narrative of extraordinary time. This body has recorded amazing kaleidoscopic breadth of events– witness of good and bad business environment. AEPC has often triumphant in the cause of promoting apparel export with the cooperation and stupendous talent of exports across India. Initially started with a just one office, with a passage of time it has grown to be the largest Export Promotion Council having membership of nearly 8000 from amongst large Corporate Houses, Star Trading Houses, Small & Medium Scale Units (SME), Trading Houses, etc. Out of the total membership of the Council, 85% constitutes the SMEs.

Kerala governement ‘Likes’ Netizen Police on FB

It seems the State government ‘Likes’ Netizen Police, a group on the Facebook.The group in the social networking site has become a movement strong enough to make the State Government take notice of it. The group has many stories of online frauds and cyber crimes that the State Government is now actively following them up.“Reports on the basis of complaints lodged at the group are being prepared, which will be forwarded to the cyber cell. Cases will be registered against those found committing online crimes,” Minister for Home Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told The Hindu.

India-EU BTIA Negotiations: What is India Asking For? - Opinion

 

At a time when the bilateral trade in goods between India and the European Union was € 40 billion, when India exported € 3.8 billion worth of services to EU, and when EU was India’s largest source of foreign direct investment; or in short when there were healthy trends in bilateral trade and investment between the two, the seeds of a High Level Trade Group (HLTG) were sown during the 2005 India-EU Summit to explore ways to give further boost to trade and investment between the duo. Different platforms were thought over during the brainstorming discussions by the HLTG. It was commonly agreed upon during the discussions that only after the removal of non-tariff obstacles to trade could the dream of strong trade ties be built. It was finally recommended that a broader platform for expanded trade ties be inculcated through the negotiations of a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA). The India-EU BTIA talks have since then discussed issues related to trade in goods and services, sanitary & phyto-sanitary measures, intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, dispute settlement, customs and trade facilitation and procurement among others.

Bill providing reservation to SC/ST in promotions in govt jobs introduced in RS

A Constitutional amendment bill providing for reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in promotions in the government jobs was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday amidst pandemonium. As soon as the House re-assembled after an hour-long adjournment, members belonging to Samajwadi Party trooped into the well shouting slogans against the reservation even as Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked the Minister of State for Personnel, V Narayanasamy to move the Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, 2012.On the other side, the BJP members continued to shout slogans demanding the Prime Minister's resignation on the alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks.Amidst the din, the Deputy Chairman adjourned the House till 2 PM.