The Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that worldwide progress in reducing hunger remains slow. The 2009 global GHI has fallen by only one quarter from the 1990 GHI. Southeast Asia, the Near East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean have reduced hunger significantly since 1990, but the GHI remains distressingly high in South Asia, which has made progress since 1990, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has...

India is ranked a poor 65th in battling hunger, according to the Global Hunger Index for 2009. The report, released on Wednesday by the International Food Policy Research Institute, German aid group Welthungerhilfe and Irish aid group Concern Worldwide said the number of malnourished people was rising as a result of recent events. “The current situation of food crisis, financial crunch and global recession has further undermined the food security...

Brazil and China have been praised for their efforts to tackle hunger, in a development charity's report released to coincide with UN World Food Day. But the ActionAid report criticises India and others countries for not doing enough to alleviate the problem. The agency also ranked rich countries, saying Luxembourg is trying hardest to end global hunger, while the US and New Zealand rank bottom. Studies estimate that one billion...

You may soon find India’s first genetically modified vegetable, Bt brinjal, making its way to your vegetable market. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, which is responsible for approval of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered products, on Wednesday approved the environmental release of the vegetable but it still has to get a nod from the central government. Many in India are concerned over the harmful effects of the vegetable...

Concerted efforts have been made to give a new lease of life to the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. The question before us is: what is the most relevant role which this revived round of trade talks can play? If we take an overview of the entire international trade scene and the changes that have taken place ever since the WTO was created (including the negotiations which preceded the WTO’s...