Resurgent food prices, which rose by 10% on average in many regional economies in Asia this year, can push an additional 64 million people into extreme poverty, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report says. The study, titled, 'Global food price Inflation and Developing Asia', by the multilateral lending agency, finds that a 10% rise in domestic food prices could push an additional 64 million people, out of 3.3 billion people living...

Three pronouncements made on three consecutive days this month by the Supreme Court of India have brought relief to different groups of economically and socially deprived people. The beneficiaries include children sold out by poor parents to work in circuses as child labour; young men and women determined to get married crossing caste barriers and harassed for that very reason by ‘khap panchayats'; and the hungry poor across the country...

According to the third advance estimate, India’s foodgrain production in the current farm year (to end in June 2011) will be a record 235.88 million tonnes, including an all-time high wheat output of 84.27 million tonnes against 81.47 million tonnes projected earlier. Ahead of the wheat harvest, the country had buffer foodgrain stock of 47 million tonnes at the start of 2011 in the central pool. A buffer close to double...

Ahead of a crucial meeting, on the coming Monday, of a group of ministers to finalise the Food Security Bill, a consensus is emerging on a dual system of subsidy. This is that families below the poverty line (BPL) be given food subsidy through direct cash transfer. And, those above the poverty line (APL) be distributed foodgrains at a level equal to the minimum support price (MSP) offered to farmers, which...

Raising their voice against the Delhi Government’s plans to introduce cash in lieu of ration residents and volunteers working on the public distribution system came together on Thursday and released a survey from the slums of Delhi showing that 99% of the respondents don’t want cash transfers. The survey conducted across a sample of 593 ration card holders in 14 slum areas shows that 99% of the people living in these...