THE boom in demand for apparel and mobile phones may soon be over as Indians plan to spend less on fun and entertainment to deal with rising food prices, a Nielsen study says. Indian consumers are extremely cautious about rising food prices and a sizeable section may defer purchases by 6-12 months, says the latest Nielsen global consumer confidence index released on Monday. Some companies, including LG Electronics and Future Group, agreed...

Asia is leading afforestation activity in the world with a significant contribution from India which is adding 300,000 hectares of forest every year, a senior UN official said. "I would highlight India, which still has important population growth. The forests in India are growing at 300,000 hectare per annum," Eduardo Rojas Briales, Forestry Director of Food and Agriculture Organisation told journalists on Wednesday. According to the 'State of the World's Forests'...

India's food prices are likely to ease, bringing down food inflation from stubbornly high levels, over the next two months as supplies of onions and other vegetables are expected to pick up, industry officials said Thursday. The country's food inflation rate surged to more than 18% in December as vegetable prices, particularly those of onions, spiked after unseasonal rain damaged crops. India's food inflation rate has slightly eased since then, but...

The virus causing the deadly Crimea Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Ahmedabad has jumped from infected ticks to local cattle like sheep, goat and cows. Cattle samples collected from six villages around ground zero -- Kolat village in Sanand whose resident Amina Momin was the first human in India to get infected with CCHF and die on January 3 -- have tested positive for high viral load. Speaking to TOI,...

The promise made by UPA II that it will ensure food security for Indians through legislation that guarantees the Right to Food seems, in its view, to have been an error. In a multi-stage process that reflects the pulls and pressures within the policy-making elite, the Food Security Bill has been diluted so much that it marks a reversal rather than an advance compared to the status quo. Let us...