ROTTING FOODGRAINS...NOT EXCUSABLE...

Oct 18 : Ticking off the Centre for the rotting of huge quantities of foodgrains when people are dying of hunger, the Supreme Court today asked what action has been taken against officials responsible for it. Terming the matter as "extremely serious", the apex asked the Centre to ensure no further wastage and gear up to meet the storage required for the ensuing kharif crops. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Mohan Parasaran drew flak for his argument that only 7000 tonnes of grains had got rotten in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns and that 67,539 tonnes were wasted in the godowns owned by States of Haryana and Punjab. "Even if it is 7,000 tonnes how can it happen? Then there is the wastage in two States. It is an extremely serious matter. You compare the wastage world over. The damage done in two States is very high. What action you have taken against the officials? "You are admitting 7000 tonnes have been damaged. People are dying of hunger. You are not providing them grain. This litigation has been going on for the past 10 years. Some evaluation should have been done by you by this time to prevent wastage and ensure proper distribution," a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma told the ASG. The apex court made the observation while dealing with the public interest litigation moved by Peoples Union for Civil Liberties's(PUCL) complaining about large scale corruption the country's public distribution system (PDS) and rotting of food grains in government godowns. The Bench had earlier ordered the Government to distribute food grains free of cost to the hungry poor, but the Centre had not given any commitment on the issue though Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Paward had orally assured that Government would implement the direction. However, subsequently the Prime Minister joined the issue saying courts should not interfere in policy matters. 

THAT'S CHINA...

China which has been operating bullet trains is now developing a new high-speed locomotive that could travel like smaller air planes, logging about 500 km per hour, a top railway official has said. "We want to lead the world in high-speed railway construction," He Huawu, chief engineer of Chinese Ministry of Railways said. China created a world record on June 24, 2008, when the Beijing-Tianjin CRH3 high-speed train hit 394.3 kilometres per hour. Experts however said the 500 km super fast train is still in the research phase. The newer high-speed technology is in its final phase of development. "As long as we can prove that the train can run without slipping at such a high speed, we have achieved our goal. It is just an experiment," Wang Mengshu, a professor at the Tunnel and Underground Engineering Research Centre at Beijing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times. "Our aim is to tell the world that China has the ability to achieve this goal," he added. As of September, there were 7,055 kilometres of high-speed tracks in China and construction is underway to build another 10,000 KM. The China-made CRH380A train hit 416.6 km per hour - a world record - during a trip from Shanghai and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province last month. The train was designed to run as fast as 350 km per hour to cover the 202-km distance between the two cities. It will make its debut operation officially at the end of this month. Some 80 million passengers are expected to travel the route every year. Travel time between the two cities was slashed to less than 40 minutes from more than two hours after the train was put into service. By 2012, a 110,000-kilometre network of rails will include 13,000 kilometres of high-speed rails, the ministry said earlier. The 1,318-kilometre Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway, which cost about 220.9 billion yuan (USD32.5 billion), is scheduled to open in 2012. The train will cut travel time between Beijing and Shanghai by half to less than five hours. He, the engineer, estimated the length of high-speed rails would hit 50,000 kilometres in the near future, connecting all cities with a population of more than five lakh.

HP's Kinnauri shawls get GI tag

The famous Kinnauri shawl of Himachal Pradesh has joined the club of intellectual property right (IPR) protected goods as it has been granted Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the government.
Kinnauri shawl has been registered under the Geographical Indication Act, a spokesman for the Himachal Pradesh Patent Information Centre (HPPIC)--which comes under State Council for Science, Technology and Environment--said today.
Kinnauri shawl is the fourth traditional product of Himachal Pradesh that has been granted GI tag. Kullu shawl, Kangra tea and Chamba Rumal are already in the club of protected goods.
The Registration of Kinnaur shawl under GI would prevent the unauthorised production as well as misuse of the brand name of Kinnauri shawl originating from a place, other than the place of origin.
Any unauthorised use and infringement of the registered Geographical Indication, by producers, other than from the place of origin of these products could attract imprisonment upto three years and maximum fine of Rs 2 lakh.

India's higher growth not translated in reducing hunger

Unlike China, higher economic growth is not translated into a more rapid reduction of hunger in India, which has more hungry people than its neighbouring countries, a US-based policy think-tank said today.
"It is ironic that out of 84 countries, India ranks 67th for having alarming scale of hunger. Higher growth rates in India has not been translated into hunger reduction,"Ashok Gulati,International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Director Asia, told reporters after the release of the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI) here.
China's economy, which is four times bigger than India, has made remarkable progress in reducing hunger. As a result, the country has been ranked at the ninth place, he said.
India's economy grew at 7.4 per cent in 2009-10 fiscal and is expected to touch 8.5 per cent this financial year.
Gulati pointed out China has been successful in expanding its economy fast, with reforms in agriculture followed by manufacturing and services sectors.
"On the contrary, India's growth story is more focused on services sector, especially IT and telecom. Agriculture sector is still waiting for reforms," he noted.
However, despite lower economic growth, even neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been successful in reducing hunger, he added.
Gulati further explained that one per cent farm growth is 2-3 times more effective in tackling hunger. But presently, there are not enough reform packages to boost farm growth, as we have for services and manufacturing sector. Agriculture in India is most controlled sector, he added.
India's agricultural growth in 2009-10 fiscal fell to 0.2 per cent, while it was 1.6 per cent last year.
According to the 2010 GHI, which is jointly prepared by the IFPRI and German group Concern Worldwide and Welthunger Hilfe, the high index scores in India are driven by high levels of child underweight, resulting from the low nutritional and social status of women in the country.