The head of the UN food agency, Jacques Diouf, says he is not satisfied with the final declaration of the UN world food summit in Rome. Mr Diouf criticised the declaration - which vowed "urgent action" to boost food security - for not including exact targets to reduce hunger. Aid agency Oxfam also condemned the statement as "un-costed, unfunded and unaccountable". The UN estimates more than one billion people worldwide...

In the 1990s, Ahmed Khan’s company in Bangalore, India, churned out hundreds of thousands of plastic bags and other packaging material each month that eventually ended up as garbage. Now, he is in the business of scouring the city’s landfills and trash cans to reclaim some of that waste and pave the way to a more environmentally friendly enterprise. Mr. Khan, 60, is trying to solve two of the biggest...

For a man who will inherit vast tracts of fertile farmland in Punjab, India's grain bowl, Jaswinder Singh made what seemed to him a logical career move -- he took a job with a telecoms company in New Delhi. "I can't go back to the village after an M.B.A. Delhi has more money, better quality of life. The job is more satisfying, and you don't depend on the weather or...

The UPA government on Thursday raised the minimum support price (MSP) for most rabi crops, encouraging the sowing exercise under way. Aiming at making up the loss in kharif production due to delayed and poor rainfall, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, raised the minimum support price of wheat to be marketed in 2010-11 by Rs. 20 to Rs.1,100 per quintal. This year, the...

A simple vegetarian fare of dal, rice, vegetables and chapattis is costing you more every month. Prices of vegetables have almost doubled in the last two months while pulses and foodgrain are costing 25 per cent more. Lady's finger that was available for Rs 28 a kg a fortnight ago now costs Rs 40 a kg. Capsicum is up to Rs 70 a kg from Rs 40 a kg while prices of...