-Deccan Herald The National Biodiversity Authority has recognised 30 villages in Zaheerabad of Medak district of Andhra Pradesh that grow traditional and fast-disappearing millets as Agricultural Biodiversity Heritage Site (ABHS). The Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (APSBB), which finally gave green signal for the rare recognition, has sent its recommendation to the National Biodiversity Board, which has approved the proposal making these villages to become first villages in India...

-The Business Standard To kick-start the ambitious National Food Security Act, the food ministry has urged all state governments to open more foodgrain purchasing centres, as the Act will require about 10 million tonnes of more wheat and rice than the average procurement of last five years. According to an official statement, a meeting of state food secretaries has also been called in the second week of February by the Centre to...

-Newsclick.in With sixty percent children malnourished in the state, the implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services, the largest scheme to provide nutrition to children in the country, is nothing but a sham. Sitting outside her semi-pucca house in Bilgram block, Kasturi says, "My children get five fistful of panjiri once a month from the Aanganwadi Centre." Thirty-three year-old Kasturi has never, in her parents' village or her in-law's village seen an...

-The Hindustan Times Misunderstandings about the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pervasive. The media coverage of the recent WTO meetings at Bali has added to the confusion. The bone of contention was the government procurement of the food grains in India under the National Food Security Act. The final outcome is a stopgap arrangement that has bought the Indian government some time; most importantly, it does not have to undertake any...

-The Hindu     In the case of north-eastern and hilly States, Centre should bear 90% of the cost, says panel The Centre may share with the States 50 per cent of the costs for distribution of the foodgrains meant for the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the recently passed National Food Security Act (NFSA). An inter-State committee of secretaries chaired by Union Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar has recommended that the Central government pick...