While many U.S. residents prepare for their annual Thanksgiving feast Thursday, one in six are at risk of hunger – including a quarter of all children in the country. Globally, 925 million people, or a little less than 15 percent of the world population, is undernourished. Ironically, Washington's efforts to alleviate hunger abroad may be more successful than at home, analysts say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's estimate last week that 49...

The institution of Auditor General, established in 1860, became Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) with the commencement of the Constitution. On the occasion of the initiation of year-long celebrations to mark 150 years of the institution, may one, as a former member of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, put forward a few suggestions (numbered for convenience) aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the institution? 1. It is a...

Maharashtra weeded out 2.9 million bogus ration cards last year, launching an identity verification drive to make the system foolproof. Residents had to provide electoral roll numbers, electricity bills and rent receipts to receive a ration card. Migrants had to present an official document confirming their change in residence. That led to the exclusion of many poor, homeless and migrant families as they lacked the necessary papers. This is the kind...

The Economic Offences Wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation has unearthed a multimillion-rupee bribery scam and arrested top officials of public sector banks and financial institutions, including the Chief Executive Officer of the Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Limited. On Tuesday, the CBI conducted raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Jalandhar and seized some documents. “Five separate cases have been registered,” Joint Director P. Kandaswamy told a press...

Discussions at an international forum in Russia on restoring the global tiger population from the brink of extinction have resulted in a United Nations-led alliance to fight wildlife crime and put an end to the key drivers threatening the wild cats around the world. The meeting held this week in Saint Petersburg saw the governments of 13 Tiger Range Countries agree to double tiger numbers by 2022 and the heads of...