For those who might not know, following a week after the Russia-Ukraine wheat embargo, there are even bigger and ominous signs hinting at global food insecurity and the catastrophic agricultural crises coming our way.
India last week banned export on all non-basmati rice varieties.
I repeat: EXPORT BAN ON ALL non-basmati RICE varieties.
[Aside: export of basmati variety will continue, the demand for which is relatively small in India when compared to the nearly 15 major varieties of rice (it's home to at least a 1000 varieties) consumed by very large populations everyday(these are the ones which are now banned). Basmati is a "festive" and only occasionally consumed variety in India. It is largely exported to the richer nations, many of whom think it is the only variety of rice from India.]
Why is India banning rice now?
Answer: global warming.
What’s happening in India (and South Asia at large) should both terrify you and wake you up
Here’s more (facts? trivia? bothersome news? how the world actually works?).
Is this signature written by hand directly onto the book, or is it a printed version of a handwritten signature? I want it to be the former, but my colleague thinks it's the latter.
It's of Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali poet and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature
My house flooded THRICE in a WEEK. My block had a gastroenteritis outbreak because of it. I had to take my Dad to the ER because I was too ill to treat him at home myself
Before that? Flooded once two YEARS ago
More than SIX years after the last one
HUNDREDS are DEAD across #Pakistan#India, bt thats "TYPICAL"?
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has opened a hearing on a petition filed by human rights groups to stop the deportations of Afghans who were born in Pakistan and those who would be at risk if they were returned to Afghanistan....
Ok, its already been here for a couple of years (floods and heatwaves in #Pakistan alone have led to multiple cycles of crop losses), but the fact that its going to happen to upto 22% of production across #Asia
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is responding to flash floods in Bangladesh that have displaced over 15,000 Rohingya refugees and 300,000 members of the local communities in Cox’s Bazar....
Indian authorities have instituted mass testing to halt the spread of the deadly Nipah virus, which has killed two people in the southern state of Kerala....
According to officials, more than 111.2 tonnes of rice being smuggled into Nepal has been seized by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and police in the last four months....
As Pakistan prepares for the upcoming Eid al Fitr, peaceful dissent can be noticed in Balochistan against the regular occurrences of enforced disappearances and other atrocities inflicted by Pakistan on the Baloch community. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), an organisation involved in Baloch rights advocacy, recently...
The government set a minimum export price (MEP) of $1,200 a tonne on basmati rice shipments in a move aimed at reining in domestic prices ahead of elections in key states. The move came a day after it imposed a 20% duty on non-basmati parboiled rice exports, effective immediately....
A few days ago, we took a trip to Chandni Chowk in Old #Delhi. Right across from Red Fort is Lal Mandir, a #Jain Temple from the 17th century. The inside is gorgeous but what makes it so special is that it hosts the Charity #Bird Hospital. This facility takes injured #birds from all over the city, nurses them back to health, and releases them. It is a true embodiment of #nonviolence (#ahimsa), the essential virtue of #Jainism.
Somali pirates has released hijacked Bangladeshi cargo vessel MV Abdullah and all 23 crew members after keeping hostage for 32 days, an official of the owner company of this ship said....
The Chinese fishing fleet is responsible for systemic illegal fishing and human rights abuses in countries bordering the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO), undercutting China’s claims of supporting sustainable development and thriving blue economies in the region, according to a new report published today by the Environmental...
The Cameroonian Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday a significant reduction in rice prices effective Friday. This price adjustment follows the arrival of a portion of the 190,000 metric tons of rice negotiated with India. The minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, detailed that the price for a 50 kg bag of Indian broken...
The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has significantly enhanced global trade by introducing the Integrated Maritime Service (IMS), facilitated by VASI Shipping, at the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam....
Bhutan and Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation across various sectors Asia News Network (ANN) is the leading regional alliance of news titles striving to bring the region closer, through an active sharing of editorial content on happenings in the region.
Have recently got every into researching administrative records of past students. This was a fun post to do, where a member of the family of the student filled in some of the gaps that the administrative record masks
Eerie silence now dominates the atmosphere around the abandoned school in Yonphula, Trashigang where the wind almost seems to screech through broken windowpanes....
"n K-P, the consequences of #GlobalWarming and #ClimateChange are evident in the changing of the #monsoon season, which now falls at a time when the #strawberry cash crop, a speciality of Charsadda, is to be cultivated."
".. unusual rains .. destroyed approximately 80 per cent of the fruit’s crop, leaving farmers in a deplorable state... "
Editorial in Dawn - Pakistan's oldest English Daily:
"The writing is on the wall. The time for incremental steps is over. The scale of the challenge requires bold, decisive actions that reflect the urgency of the moment."
Pakistan’s top court hears petition to halt deportations of Afghans (www.aljazeera.com)
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has opened a hearing on a petition filed by human rights groups to stop the deportations of Afghans who were born in Pakistan and those who would be at risk if they were returned to Afghanistan....
Bangladesh: Flash flooding in Cox’s Bazar has impacted over 15,000 refugees and 300,000 people living in host communities (reliefweb.int)
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is responding to flash floods in Bangladesh that have displaced over 15,000 Rohingya refugees and 300,000 members of the local communities in Cox’s Bazar....
[Explainer]: What is Nipah virus? Kerala starts mass testing after outbreak in India (www.theguardian.com)
Indian authorities have instituted mass testing to halt the spread of the deadly Nipah virus, which has killed two people in the southern state of Kerala....
After export ban, rice smuggling booms along Indo-Nepal border (www.bqprime.com)
According to officials, more than 111.2 tonnes of rice being smuggled into Nepal has been seized by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and police in the last four months....
[Op-ed] India pushes the world toward another rice crisis (www.japantimes.co.jp)
Spooked by volatile foodgrain prices ahead of a general election next year, India’s government has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports.
Baloch Yakjehti Committee to protest against genocide in over 20 cities of Balochistan (www.malaysiasun.com)
As Pakistan prepares for the upcoming Eid al Fitr, peaceful dissent can be noticed in Balochistan against the regular occurrences of enforced disappearances and other atrocities inflicted by Pakistan on the Baloch community. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), an organisation involved in Baloch rights advocacy, recently...
Indian Government puts Basmati rice under minimum export price, following curbs to non-Basmati (www.livemint.com)
The government set a minimum export price (MEP) of $1,200 a tonne on basmati rice shipments in a move aimed at reining in domestic prices ahead of elections in key states. The move came a day after it imposed a 20% duty on non-basmati parboiled rice exports, effective immediately....
Somali pirates release hijacked Bangladeshi ship (www.bssnews.net)
Somali pirates has released hijacked Bangladeshi cargo vessel MV Abdullah and all 23 crew members after keeping hostage for 32 days, an official of the owner company of this ship said....
Report: Chinese fishing fleet is responsible for systemic human rights abuses and illegal fishing across the Southwest Indian Ocean. (ejfoundation.org)
The Chinese fishing fleet is responsible for systemic illegal fishing and human rights abuses in countries bordering the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO), undercutting China’s claims of supporting sustainable development and thriving blue economies in the region, according to a new report published today by the Environmental...
Cameroon cuts rice prices following import deal with India (www.businessincameroon.com)
The Cameroonian Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday a significant reduction in rice prices effective Friday. This price adjustment follows the arrival of a portion of the 190,000 metric tons of rice negotiated with India. The minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, detailed that the price for a 50 kg bag of Indian broken...
King Abdul Aziz Port to connect Saudi to Southeast Asia and India (www.logisticsmiddleeast.com)
The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has significantly enhanced global trade by introducing the Integrated Maritime Service (IMS), facilitated by VASI Shipping, at the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam....
Bhutan and Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation across various sectors (asianews.network)
Bhutan and Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation across various sectors Asia News Network (ANN) is the leading regional alliance of news titles striving to bring the region closer, through an active sharing of editorial content on happenings in the region.
Once vibrant, now silent: Abandoned school in Yonphula, Bhutan haunts locals (kuenselonline.com)
Eerie silence now dominates the atmosphere around the abandoned school in Yonphula, Trashigang where the wind almost seems to screech through broken windowpanes....