-The United Nations   The United Nations and international figures marked World Food Day today with calls for immediate aid and longer-term solutions, and warnings of factors that keep hundreds of millions mired in hunger, such as price swings and gender discrimination. In a message delivered to a ceremony at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that there is more than enough food on the...

-The Economic Times   India ranked way below its South Asian neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China in the global hunger index 2011 released by the International Food Policy and Research Institute. South Asia fared worse than Sub-Saharan Africa netting a score of 22.6 on the global hunger index, or GHI, the report said.  While, India stood 67th amongst 81 countries, Pakistan ranked 59, China ranked fourth, Vietnam ranked 25 and Sri Lanka...

-PTI   Terming high global commodity prices a "grave threat", Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has called for developing countries to increase their investments in agriculture to improve crop productivity. "The recent commodity and food price rise and their volatility constitute a grave threat to economic growth and food security in our economies," Mukherjee said at a meeting of G-24 Finance Ministers here last evening. He took over as the new chairman of the group...

As leaders from two of the world's largest financial institutions, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, met for annual meetings here Tuesday, a delegation of activists from India called on the World Bank to follow through with its proposal to dramatically cut funding for coal-burning power stations. Over the next few days, the delegation will travel from Washington to West Virginia where, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, activists...

Global efforts to set a target for daily salt consumption at 5 grams, in order to reduce deaths due to stroke, has faced a major setback. The all important United Nations Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Summit in New York, that kicks off on Monday, is unlikely to set a global target for reduction in salt consumption levels. According to the NCD Alliance, a formal alliance of four international federations -- International Diabetes Federation,...