World migration report 2024
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched the World Migration Report 2024, which reveals significant shifts in global migration patterns, including a record number of displaced people
Food Security
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UN forms task force to tackle food crisis
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday ordered a top level task force to take on the global crisis caused by rising food prices and urged key producer nations to end export bans. The UN chief said the immediate priority must be to "feed the hungry" and called for urgent funding for the World Food Programme. Ban said after a meeting of the heads of 27 key international agencies that the new task force would be led by the UN's top humanitarian official, deputy under-secretary John Holmes.
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Famine an indirect phenomenon of bamboo flowering, says Laloo
Famine caused by bamboo flowering is an indirect phenomenon that happens in 30 to 40 years depending on the species of the bamboo. Senior Congress legislator and NEHU Head of Department of Botany Dr RC Laloo told The Sentinel that bamboo flowering does not directly lead to famine but it occurs after rats have shortage of food. He said when rats feed on the high-protein seeds of bamboo, flowers start to reproduce while their population doubles leading to shortage of seeds. Therefore, the rats are left with no option but to attack the paddy fields, Dr Laloo said.
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Anthony McMichael on health risks from climate change
<img src="../files/images/20080430/48.jpg" align="left"> <i><font color="#FF0000">ANTHONY MCMICHAEL</font> heads the International Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University, and is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He talks to <font color="#FF0000">VIBHA VARSHNEY</font> and <font color="#FF0000">MARIO D'SOUZA </font>about the health risks from global environmental changes </i><br><br> <b>What are the impacts of climate change on disease outbreaks?</b> <br>
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UN Agencies Weigh Response To Food Crisis
Leading figures from the United Nations met in Switzerland on Monday to chart a solution to dramatic food price increases that have caused hunger, riots and hoarding in poor countries around the world. Vietnam acted to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday, banning speculation in the market after a "chaotic" buying binge in the Southeast Asian nation highlighted growing global fears about food security.
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Food security, productivity enhancement programme expanded
The Food Security and Productivity Enhancement Programme for small farmers has been expanded in 1012 Punjab villages with Rs100 million. A spokesman of Agriculture department on Sunday told APP that federal, provincial and district governments in Punjab would jointly carry out the programme. In Sialkot district, it would be carried out in 72 villages and each village be given funds amounting to Rs1.95 crore for the implementation of the programme while work on the project has been already initiated.
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Oil prices, food crisis need immediate attention'
Though the independence of the judiciary is important for establishing the rule of law in the country, the two issues that need immediate attention in Pakistan are rising oil prices and the food crisis, which have the potential to destabilise an already vulnerable economy. This was stated by economic analyst Yousuf Nazar at the launch of his book The Gathering Storm in a local hotel on Sunday.
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Time to rethink food security
Editorial THE statement made by the head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) last week that the global food crisis could lead to civil war in some countries and requires a complete revamping of the international food system is both timely and welcome.
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Venkaiah hints at right to food'
Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu hinted on Saturday that if the NDA was voted to power in the next general election, it would seriously consider amending the Constitution to include the "right to food" as a fundamental right of every citizen. The occasion was the launch of the state government's "Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana" under which families holding BPL ration cards would be given wheat and rice at Rs 3 and Rs 4.50 per kg, respectively.
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Wages of inaction
A food security system based on indigenous produce can alone combat the rising prices in India, reports Vibha Sharma TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu weighs vegetables with a balance during a dharna against price rise jointly organised by the TDP, CPI, CP(M) and SP. TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu weighs vegetables with a balance during a dharna against price rise jointly organised by the TDP, CPI, CP(M) and SP.
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Rising food prices a global crisis - UN Chief
Rising food prices have developed into a global crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. Concerns about food security mounted this week as rice prices hit records in Asia and the United States warned that staples for the world's hungry were getting much more expensive. "This steeply rising price of food has developed into a real global crisis,' Ban told journalists in Vienna. Anger over high food and fuel costs in recent months has sparked protests in several countries.