New Delhi: In an extraordinary effort at resolving policy disputes, the Union food ministry pleaded before the Supreme Court on Thursday to order the Planning Commission to release funds for reforms in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to order the rural
development ministry to provide details of how many people in the category of poorest of poor had been left out of PDS.

An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia although conditions remain fragile and could worsen, the United Nations said on Friday.

The U.N. declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia last July and extended the famine warning in September to six out of eight regions in the anarchic Horn of Africa country.

China said on Wednesday it would boost agriculture innovation in an effort to increase food output, signaling that the world's most populous country is trying to tackle outdated farm and food infrastructure to feed its people.

China accounts for a fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of its arable land, and the cabinet suggested in a document that China's leaders were aiming to get serious about technology to ensure long-term food supplies.

The food security Bill will benefit multinational corporations and hurt genuine traders. The charter of the proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is reminiscent of the socialistic era from the 1960s through the 1980s where the state decided how much a person needed and at what price that should be made available, irrespective of the cost of production. That model of nationalisation of grain trade collapsed with the demise of the Soviet Union.

Price unchanged since 2002; 6.52 cr poor to be affected if price increased to . 17.5 a kg. The food ministry has proposed a 30% increase in the price of sugar sold in ration shops to reduce the food subsidy bill. This will raise the monthly bill of over 6.52 crore poor families who purchase sugar from these shops.
According to the proposal, the government should charge . 17.5 a kg, up from . 13.5. The decision, to be taken by the Cabinet, is likely after elections.

New Delhi, 29 Jan: Concerned over poor budget allocation for the farm sector, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today said it may be difficult to implement the proposed Food Security Bill without adequate funds to boost agri- output, a must for increased foodgrain requirement. “My grievance is only one ~ the total budgeted provision for entire agriculture ministry is Rs 20,000 crore. And subsidy is, as of today, Rs 65,000 crore. It might go to Rs 1 lakh crore in the current year.”