The ban is also estimated to have prevented 18 lakh men in the state from becoming overweight or obese, it said.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has named Ravneet Kaur, a Punjab cadre IAS officer of 1988 batch, as chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Kaur will hold the post for five years or until attaining the age of 65. She is the second woman to serve in an 'economic regulator' role after Madhabi Puri Buch, who was appointed chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India last year and the first woman to head the country's chief national competition regulator.
Amid the ongoing festival season and ahead of the elections for five state assemblies, the Centre is closely monitoring inflation, particularly in food items, to enable it to take steps to increase their supplies. "There is a complete no-nonsense attitude when it comes to food inflation, and instructions have been issued at all levels to be very sensitive to any possible price movements in any commodity," a senior official explained. Sources have said that all departments dealing with food items have been instructed to keep a close eye on all commodities and maintain a weekly record of their price movements.
Let's take a look at some countries, including India, that have highest number of people going hungry.
Dr Purnima Menon is a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute's Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, and is based at IFPRI's Asia office in New Delhi. She conducts applied nutrition research in the South Asia region, with a focus on programs and policies to improve maternal and child nutrition.
The two decades of our "spectacular economic progress" has side-stepped vast swath of our underprivileged that oscillates between twenty per cent and one-fifth of our population!
India's extremely poor score in successive years in the global hunger index (GHI) should remind policy makers of the unfinished agenda of liberalisation.
Country's performance in reducing hunger is disappointing, says International Food Policy Research Institute.
The index, released on Monday, rated 84 countries on the basis of three leading indicators -- prevalence of child malnutrition, rate of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient.
According to the Global Hunger Index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute, India ranks 67th out of 84 countries, having slipped by 2 ranks since the last year, with a hunger rate of 23.7.
The impact of their actions on prices is not conclusive - and overzealous regulations could add to the problem.
The widely held notion that supply constraints, coupled with protectionist policies (read export bans) in several food-surplus countries, including India, were the prime causes of the problem has virtually been discounted by this global food policy think tank.
Over 25 million more children will suffer from malnourishment by 2050 due to effects of climate change and India will be one of the worst affected in the Asian region, a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute said on Wednesday.
According to an IFPRI press release, the Union Government and HarvestPlus have signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct research on increasing the level of essential vitamins and minerals, or micronutrients in crops critical to poor people.
Few price control policies taken by the governments, including India, are likely to backfire by making the international market smaller and more volatile, a think-tank of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has said.
'As far as contract farming is concerned, we already have a model Act and states will be encouraged to adopt them.'
Although India has improved its score of 25.03 on the index compared to 33.73 in 1990, it is lagging behind China and Pakistan ranked at 47th and 88th positions, out of the total list 118 countries, respectively.
The remarks of the apex court, which also said there is a 'peculiar lack of comprehension' about constitution of a panel, assumes importance as some of the members of the recently constituted committee to resolve the deadlock between farmers and the centre over the farm laws had earlier reportedly expressed their views on the subject.
'Mann's decision is a welcome move. The other three members of the panel, who have shown pro-new farm laws stance should also follow Mann's suit'
Mann said he would sacrifice any position offered to him so as not to compromise the interests of farmers.
Shetkari Sanghatana president Anil J Ghanwat said the panel's report was in 'favour of farmers' and will decide next week on releasing the report in the public domain.
The government's ninth round of negotiations with protesting farmer unions will take place as scheduled on Friday and the Centre is hopeful of positive discussions, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde will hear the application on January 18 along with pleas raising the issue of farmers protesting at Delhi borders.
The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti said the principle of natural justice is going to be violated as those appointed to the four-member committee 'have already supported these laws'.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said that 'Khalistanis' have infiltrated the protest and he will file an affidavit along with the necessary inputs of the intelligence bureau (IB).
The farmer leaders said they are not willing to participate in any proceedings before a committee appointed by the Supreme Court, but a formal decision on this will be taken by the Morcha.
'The committee was confident that the recommendations will pave the way to resolve the ongoing farmers' agitation'
"The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police," the bench said.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary also said the government is always ready for talks but it is up to farmer unions to decide whether they want to go ahead with the scheduled ninth round of talks on January 15.
Though their intensity has been less so far and the exact impact on the crop is not yet known.
Addressing a press conference at Singhu Border in New Delhi, farmer leader Balbeer Singh Rajewal said that farmers never demanded the Supreme Court form a committee to resolve the impasse, alleging the central government was behind this development.
The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain pleas seeking time-bound probe, including by an apex court-appointed commission, into the tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day saying the government is already inquiring the matter and the Prime Minister has stated that law will take its own course.
Two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the tractor rally violence on Republic Day, with one seeking the setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident, while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence.
While Bangladesh ranked 75, Myanmar and Pakistan are in the 78th and 88th position. Last year, India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries.
'This four-member committee cannot supersede the four-five member ministerial committees, 25 top-level government bureaucrats, with whom we have had nine rounds of discussions each of which lasted for more than six-seven hours.'
Farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said told reporters after the meeting that the unions urged the government to repeal the three laws, but the Centre was unwilling to do so. "We decided to meet again on January 19 at 12 pm," he said.
Officials said good rain in August - though it might not improve acreages much for most crops except urad, moong, and paddy - would help in improving yields in the crops already planted.
The country ranked 100th out of 119 countries on the global hunger index, slipping three positions from last year.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a stay of the implementation of the contentious three new farm laws hoping this will end the prolonged protests by the farmers and also constituted a four-member panel of agri experts to resolve the impasse between their leaders and the Centre.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances