-The Guardian In a village in India's poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice – with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages? Sumant Kumar was overjoyed when he harvested his rice last year. There had been good rains in his village of Darveshpura in north-east India and he knew he could improve on the four or five tonnes per hectare that he usually...

-The Hindu The United Nations has been drawing attention in recent years to the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, which have been adding to morbidity and premature deaths in most countries. In a declaration issued at a high-level meeting in 2011, the U.N. argued that low and middle income countries should actively pursue public health policies that will reduce the incidence of NCDs arising from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and a...

-The Business Standard Indian plantations bloom in Ethiopia at the cost of the livelihoods and homes of the tribals If there is “blood diamond”, there is also such a thing as “blood maize”, “blood soya” and “blood pulses”. These come all the way from plantations in Ethiopia and other countries with repressive regimes. India, which claims to shun blood diamonds coming from African mines that use slave labour, is enthusiastically backing exploitation of...

-Live Mint Proposal aimed at beefing up security, besides making sure development reaches neglected parts of India A day after the government pledged the partial decontrol of sugar in the next fortnight, the Union cabinet on Thursday approved a set of significant measures aimed at tackling Maoist insurgency and asserting its strategic hold over an area claimed by neighbouring China.   The measures approved involve upgrading rural road connectivity with special emphasis on...

-The United Nations World food prices are steady after three months of decline with increased prices for oil and fats balancing out lower cereal and sugar prices, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today said. FAO’s Food Price Index – which measures monthly changes in international prices of a basket of meat, dairy, cereals, oils and fats, and sugar – remained at 210 points in January, same as in December. The...