The present situation is different from that of 2007-2008, although recent climatic events may significantly reduce agricultural production next season. Must history always repeat itself? We are indeed on the verge of what could turn out to be another major food crisis. The FAO Food Price Index at the end of 2010 returned to its highest level. Drought in Russia and the export restrictions adopted by the government, together with...

While reliable data on health workers in India is difficult to obtain, a report in The Lancet: India series says that the country has roughly 20 health workers per 10,000 population. The figure is arrived at when the workforce is calculated including allopathic doctors (31%), nurses and midwives (30%), pharmacists (11%), practitioners of ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homoeopathy (9%), and others (9%). In their paper ‘Human Resources for Health...

An RTI activist Monday filed a complaint alleging that a police official at the behest of the state home minister had threatened him and other activists to delete a crucial name 'Roy' from his criminal complaint against officials and politicians involved in the drug mafia nexus case. Kashinath Shetye, who has in the past succeeded in using the RTI act to expose systemic corruption over the last two years, in his...

The virus that causes Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is slow moving and will not spread across the country as fast as the H1N1 swine flu virus, experts have said. However, the mortality rate among those affected by Congo virus will be far more than H1N1. In an exclusive interview to TOI, Dr A C Mishra, director of the National Institute of Virology, Pune, said different viruses have different characteristics. Influenza viruses...

Women continue to reap less benefits from employment in agriculture than men in rural areas, and the recent global financial and food crises have slowed down progress towards gender equality in farming-related labour, three United Nations agencies said in a joint report unveiled today. According to the report, compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), women...