Food inflation soared to 17.47 per cent in the third week of November from 15.58 per cent a week ago, mirroring a shortage in supply that set in following weak monsoon in the country. With the economy on upswing, analysts said the rising food prices should prompt the government and the Reserve Bank of India to shift their focus on controlling inflation, otherwise it would increase Manufacturing inflation as well. The...

Manufacturers are using chemical additives to make greener tyres JOHN DUNLOP had a son who complained that his bicycle was bumpy to ride. So he invented the pneumatic tyre in 1888. Various improvements have been made since then. In particular, Pirelli, an Italian tyremaker, introduced steel-belted radial tyres in 1973. These reduced the fuel consumption of cars fitted with them. Now manufacturers are trying to develop tyres that reduce that consumption...

There are now one billion hungry people on the globe, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said recently. A statistic that is shameful and shocking at the same time. The global financial crisis too has led to a dramatic rise in hunger across the world. Ban warned that the food crisis is a wake-up call for tomorrow since by 2050 the planet's population will be 9.1 billion people, over two billion more...

India's economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate of 7.9% in the three months to September, compared to the same period last year. The growth was helped by government stimulus spending. A boost in Manufacturing and services helped the country expand at the fastest pace for 18 months. Some analysts said this could give the central bank room to raise interest rates as early as December to combat rising inflation. "This data...

AT THE recent food summit in Rome, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva donned a pair of bright-red boxing gloves labelled “Hunger Free” and waved to the cameras. They were his prize—if that is the right term—for Brazil’s success in topping a league table drawn up by ActionAid, a British charity, of countries that have done most to reduce hunger*. The occasion was a stunt, of course, but had a...