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Global food prices jumped to a historic high last month on grain and edible oil supply woes brought about by the conflict in Ukraine, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday.The FAO said in a statement: “World food commodity prices made a significant leap in March to reach their highest levels ever, as war in the Black Sea region spread shocks through markets for staple grains and vegetable oils.” The FAO’s food price index rose by 12.6% to a record 159.3 points in March against February’s high of 141.4 points, “making a giant leap to a new highest level since its inception in 1990.”
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Food: World Prices Hit New High, Alerts UN
by Countercurrents Collective
Global food prices jumped to a historic high last month on grain and edible oil supply woes brought about by the conflict in Ukraine, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday.The FAO said in a statement: “World food commodity prices made a significant leap in March to reach their highest levels ever, as war in the Black Sea region spread shocks through markets for staple grains and vegetable oils.” The FAO’s food price index rose by 12.6% to a record 159.3 points in March against February’s high of 141.4 points, “making a giant leap to a new highest level since its inception in 1990.”
Why Ukraine?
by Richard Falk
The question ‘why Ukraine?’ calls for answers. The standard answer of reverse racism, moral hypocrisy,
and Western narrative control is not wrong but significantly incomplete if it does not include the geopolitical war that while not now directly responsible for Ukrainian suffering is from other perspective more dangerous and destructive than that awful traditional war.
Russia, Ukraine and the United States: Trapped in a cultural script
by Kristin Christman
Compassion for Ukrainians victimized by Russia’s violence demonstrates that human hearts care. However, beneath the visible current of compassion there’s an alarming, dangerous dynamic at play. What’s hair-raising about the crisis is not only the violence, but the fact that US political leaders and media makers are not recognizing positive and negative motivations on both sides of conflict. Instead, they’re deliberately creating an inaccurate good vs. evil storyline—for potentially harmful reasons.
Law’s
Limits: The Passage of the Antilynching Bill
by Dr Binoy Kampmark
Nearing the end of March this year, US President Joe Biden signed into law the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, its name taken from the teenager murdered in 1955 by a mob for supposedly flirting with a white woman. In being designated a hate crime, those responsible for its infliction, resulting in either death or injury, can face up to three decades in prison in addition to time for other charges.
The Grandfather and the grandson, The story of the struggle of a nation to survive
by Dr Salim Nazzal
Yesterday, the 9th of April, the Israeli forces killed the Palestinian freedom fighter Ahmed Al-Saadi in a military campaign in Jenin camp. It also wounded 19 people with various wounds.
Rice Fortification May
Prove to be Very Harmful for Our Food System
by Bharat Dogra
The government has recently announced a very fast schedule of spreading rice fortification in India. According to this schedule the supply of fortified rice to ICDS, mid-day meals, other nutrition and welfare schemes as well as to the vast public distribution system is to be completed by the year 2024.
Most disadvantaged policy holders to lose out in LIC IPO
by E A S Sarma
It appears that not more than 8 Crores of policy holders out of a total of 32 Crores will now be able to open demat accounts, which is a condition precedent to their being eligible for investing in acquiring equity shares in the Corporation, through a highly restricted policy holders’ window of 10% (Foreign investors get a 20% window!). In other
words, 75% of the policy holders, largely belonging to the most disadvantaged groups, would be left out of the LIC IPO!
Debt and bureaucracy deal death blow to MP farmers reeling from Covid impact
by Ashok Kapse
A young farmer Raju Singh’s eyes start tearing as he says all and yet he cannot keep quiet either. The choked voice emanating from his throat indicates how farmers, who were already doomed by various problems, were further ruined by the Covid epidemic. Whatever was left has been taken away by government officials involved in the corrupt bureaucratic system.
Why is Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi unable to develop an emotional chord with the Dalit
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Rahul Gandhi’s speech on the occasion of the release
of book ‘Dalit Truth’ edited by Dr K.Raju, and published by Penguin India, has gone viral as Darbari media has again launched offensive against him while the BJP trolls have started picking up hole in it.
Pakistan: Politics of Deception and Betrayal
by Dr Mahboob A Khawaja
The lingering suspicion unfolds a reasoned impression that Imran Khan – the hurriedly ousted PM’s failure is the net success of the nine skeleton grouped parties – “Democratic Front.” This Front is not formed by the people but by the few discontented figures eager to grab political power by any means. It would be illogical to describe the opposition as democratic as so many of them are listed indicted criminals, thugs, killers and failed politicians of the recent past
Hindutva Social Contract in India
by Bhabani Shankar Nayak
The Hindutva
euphoria in legitimizing authoritarian state power with the help electoral democracy is another success story in the history of fascism. The liberal, constitutional and secular democracy is falling apart with the ascendancy of authoritarian waves led by Hindutva politics of hate. The Brahminical social contract based on Hindu caste order, propaganda, populism, relentless indoctrination led religious polarization, and neoliberal capitalism are five pillars of Hindutva fascism
Protest against the arrest of political prisoners
by Harsh Thakor
On April 8th at Sangrur the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab Students Union, Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Commitee raised a protest demanding unconditional release of all the political prisoners who have been framed by the Indian state. A march was staged of around 100 persons to the District Collectors office
Protect the spiritual rights of
Adivasis: Shivu J.A
by National Solidarity Forum
Karnataka Government has passed the Anti-Conversion Bill in the Assembly despite stiff opposition from civil society and political parties. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the upper house to be made into a law. The Anti-Conversion Laws affect Christians, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis and Women. It restricts the rights of an Indian citizen to choose one’s religion. It violates the equality and freedom of religions in India as per the Indian Constitution. It is discriminatory as well as draconian. The National Solidarity forum initiated a campaign to Repeal Anti-Conversion Laws in India. The appeal is to support the campaign through endorsements on: https://chng.it/gBYcGCPZyV
The fate of the enforced disappeared and the mass graves in Sri Lanka
by Kumarathasan Rasingam
In Sri Lanka, the issue of people going missing during the country’s long civil war is an open wound as evinced by the struggle of Tamil mothers seeking news about their loved ones. For the past five years Tamil mothers have been protesting in the North and Eastern Provinces in hot sun dust and rain demanding to know what happened to their loved ones who after they surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army, arbitrarily arrested during and after the end of the war never returned home.
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