The government is expected to notify new rules on food safety in December to regulate manufacture, sale and import of food items. “Ministry has already finalised the rules and regulations for the implementation of the food safety and standards act (FSSA), 2006 and the draft will be notified by December for the public consultation,” the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr Ghu lam Nabi Azad told PTI. This will pave...

Two walls of extremes are closing in fast on mankind. The spectre of climate change threatens agriculture, especially in developing countries where farming is dominated by smallscale farmers heavily relying on rainfall. Along with this, is the scourge of burgeoning population, which is likely swell to 9 billion in the next 40 years. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), about 14% of the 6.5-billion world population are affected by...

Last month, leaders from 185 countries met in New York to take stock of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — which include, among other things, eradicating poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health — that were set in 2000 by the United Nations. The aim was to achieve these goals by 2015. But 10 years down the line, the world is way behind targets in achieving...

India has been ranked 67, way below neighbouring countries like China and Pakistan, in a new global hunger index by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The index, released on Monday, rated 84 countries on the basis of three leading indicators -- prevalence of child malnutrition, rate of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. China is rated much ahead of India at the ninth place. The 2010 Global...

The untiring champion of the downtrodden and civil rights and former IAS official (1956 batch) of the Andhra Pradesh cadre S R Sankaran passed away on Thursday in Hyderabad. A bachelor, Sanakaran was 76. Though retired in 1992, he never called off his mission to defend the rights of the marginalised sections. Be it government, Maoists, civil rights organisations, Supreme Court or Planning Commission of India, his services were most sought...