-The Business Standard UN report shows holes in govt's food security proposal The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has worked out the cost of malnutrition to the world economy: about five per cent of its annual gross domestic product, or $3.5 trillion, in terms of foregone production and health expenditure. Even more Important is the FAO's assessment of potential gains from investment in enhancing the nutritional standards of the population....

-AFP GENEVA: A freshwater shrimp, an island-dwelling lizard and a pupfish from Arizona have been declared extinct, while nearly 21,000 species are at risk of dying out, an updated "Red List" released on Tuesday showed. "The overall picture is alarming," said Jane Smart of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN), which is behind the Red List of Threatened Species that to date has assessed 70,294 of the world's 1.82...

-The Hindu     The Kerala government has not learnt anything from the Attappady tragedy. Nutrition levels of women and children, most of them tribals, continue to remain dismal in the area At the Agali Community Health Centre in Attappady, Palakkad district, Kerala, Kavitha tends to her four-year-old child lying listlessly on the cot, critically ill. The doctor says the child is severely malnourished. He also says there are eight such infants and children,...

-PTI India however maintained that the India Patent Act was in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement & the Paris Convention The US pharma industry has expressed concern over deteriorating intellectual property environment in India, alleging that patent rights in the country are unreasonably denied. "PhRMA remains concerned about the deteriorating intellectual property environment in India," Mark Grayson, PhRMA spokesman told PTI. The remarks by PhRMA or Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, representing America's...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Basmati rice exports to the US have plunged because many Indian firms are under an Import alert by the US authorities, leading to a detailed scrutiny for pesticide residue in every grain being shipped out. This has raised costs, upset schedules and obstructed sales, prompting exporters to seek government intervention. In the first quarter of calendar year 2013, exports were down to 19,583 tonne. With 31 Indian...