Food

Clean street food hubs will be made a reality in some main cities across the State, said Health Minister Veena George on Friday . The Food Safety department will implement this project in main cities, tourist centres and beaches where people congregate in large numbers. In the first phase, the project would be implemented in Kozhikode, Kasaragod, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki. The effort is to make street food a safe proposition for the public. Small eateries and wayside vendors will come within the ambit of the project. About 20 to 50 small eateries in a locality would be considered as a cluster. All eateries in the cluster would be given training on serving safe and hygienic food and issued certificates also. Food Safety officials will conduct a pre-audit in the clusters in panchayats, municipality and Corporation areas, assess the facilities in each eatery and give sufficient directions to these eateries on serving clean and safe food. The employees in the eateries would … [Read more...] about Clean street food hubs planned

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM100mil from the Agrofood Fund will be placed under the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission (SKM) to assist cooperatives in expanding the agrofood industry, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. In his speech when officiating the National Cooperatives Month 2022 (BKK2022) celebration here yesterday, the Prime Minister said this was due to the government’s confidence in the cooperatives’ ability in ensuring national food security. “Hopefully, this can assist cooperatives in expanding the agrofood industry and the rearing of chicken in particular. “At the same time, it can help cooperatives increase food production, which subsequently tackles the issue of the rising cost of living that leaves a big impact on Malaysians, especially those from the lower income brackets,” he said, adding that the government also agreed to provide a special allocation of RM10mil to the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry. The allocation in turn would be … [Read more...] about RM100mil to assist co-ops in ensuring national food security

An Asian man assaulted in the drive-thru of a McDonald's last Saturday said the man who allegedly attacked him hurled racist insults at him. The incident comes as the United States has seen a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in recent years. Shang Wang drove to the fast food restaurant in Rockville, Maryland, when he passed by a red Nissan SUV that was idling and blocking the drive-thru from other customers, which prompted Wang to drive around the car to order his Diet Coke, local news station WJLA-TV reported. Wang said that he "didn't think anything of it" when he drove around the car, but he soon heard "constant honking" from behind him, adding that he was confused and bewildered. "And then I hear these racial comments. 'Go back to China! Hey, you Chinese MF'er!' And I look up, this guy is at my window and he spits through my window, and the spit lands on my face," he told the news station. Wang then got out of his vehicle to confront the man, who then allegedly began … [Read more...] about Asian man assaulted at McDonald’s drive-thru in “fit of rage”: Police

Last week, the National Sample Survey Office, India's official source of regular large-sample survey statistics on consumption, employment and other core socio-economic issues, put out its 558th report. The report is based on a nationally representative sample of over 1 lakh households in every state and UT, and measures the levels of consumption of various goods and services. As we've noted in the paper, the data points to a >big revival in the functioning of India's Public Distribution System. We also looked at how >income circumscribes India's food choices. That second story is the one we wanted to look at a little more closely today. 1. As people and countries get richer, they tend to eat fewer cereals and more processed foods - from bread to chips. The richest 5% of urban India each consumes two bags of chips per month on average. As people get richer, they also distinctly consume more meats, fish, milk, eggs and other nutrient-rich food; every individual in the top … [Read more...] about A look at how income affects consumption habits

Growing up in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata ), where food is something akin to religion, and in a house presided over by my mother who was a fabulous cook, my memories of great food and grand meals are prodigious. Yet, when I sat down to write this piece, a single memory leapt to my mind — a memory from so long ago that it should have faded by now. Only, it hasn’t. Even today, on somnolent Sunday afternoons, I wistfully recollect our day trips to Barasat on the outskirts of Kolkata, where we had a bagaanbari (literally, a house with a garden), and where the caretaker would cook lunch for us visitors. The food wasn’t anything fancy, but sitting al fresco and eating off chipped, mismatched plates while the birds kept up a drowsy monotone of cooing in the trees above, everything tasted heavenly. The caretaker-cum-gardener- cum-cook’s name was Ponchu. He must have had a more civilised name, or bhalo naam , as we say in Bangla. But he was universally known as Ponchu. I called him … [Read more...] about When Sundays in Kolkata meant road trips, wood fires, and a cook who fed both the body and soul

When you groggily roll out of bed and make breakfast, the government edges up to your kitchen table, too. Unlike you, it's perky. It's an unseen force in your morning. The government makes sure you can see the nutrients in your cereal. It fusses over your toast, insisting that the flour it comes from has no more than 75 insect fragments and one rodent hair per 50 grams. The government also tends to your coffee, mandating that no more than 10% of your beans be moldy. Its satellites inform the weather forecast on your phone for the day ahead. The government weighs in on the water consumption in your bathroom and controls the fluoride in your toothpaste. That’s all before you leave home. The government is going to be hanging with you on and off, mostly on, until you turn off the lamp last thing at night — no new incandescent bulbs, please, under a new rule. The world of federal regulation seems both boundless and microscopic. It touches what you touch. It lends a helping … [Read more...] about From AM to PM, the fickle force of government is with you

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS: The holiday marking the birthday of the United States of America unfolds this year with deep divisions among its people over the weightiest of topics — abortion, guns, the events of 1/6 at the U.S. Capitol, rising gas prices and the direction of the nation in general. How to capture this and gauge your community’s sentiment as the fireworks explode and the flag paraphernalia comes out? Or just document the holiday? Here are some ideas on how to capture this unusual moment in the country’s history. STORY FORMS Short of polling, it’s generally impossible to take the pulse of a community. Instead, break it down into slices. Recommended Over £130m handed to housing providers named and shamed by regulator — Pick a place in your coverage area — a popular park (maybe where fireworks are scheduled?), an outdoor festival, perhaps a community sports event — and use the setting as a framing device for your story. — Range around your … [Read more...] about LOCALIZE IT: Covering July 4 in a deeply divided America

A dozen U. S. lawmakers have written a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to file a formal request for consultations with India at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over its "dangerous trade-distorting practices" that they claim have impacted U. S. farmers and ranchers. The Congressmen stated that current WTO rules allowed the governments to subsidise up to 10% of the value of commodity production. However, the Indian government continues to subsidise more than half of the value of production for several commodities, including rice and wheat, they said. ‘Lack of enforcement’ India's "lack of rule-following" and the Biden administration's "lack of enforcement" have reshaped the global agricultural production and trade channels by driving down prices, depressing production of rice and wheat commodities, and putting American producers at a disproportionate disadvantage, the Congressmen alleged in the letter. "India's practices are dangerously trade-distorting on a global … [Read more...] about 12 U.S. Congressmen urge Biden to hold India accountable in WTO for ‘trade-distorting practices’

Domestic rating agency Crisil on Friday lowered its real GDP growth forecast for India to 7.3% in FY23 from 7.8% estimated earlier. It attributed the downward revision to higher oil prices, slowing of export demand and high inflation. This is in line with the RBI's estimate of 7.2% of real GDP growth for this fiscal year. Crisil said there are a slew of negatives such as high commodity prices, elevated freight prices, drag on exports as global growth projections get lowered, and the largest demand side driver of private consumption remaining weak. “The only bright spots are the uptick in contact-intensive services and forecast of a normal and well-distributed monsoon,” it said, lowering its growth outlook. Inflation, which has been pegged to average at 6.8% in FY23 as against 5.5% in FY22, reduces purchasing power and would weigh on revival of consumption — the largest component of GDP which has been backsliding for a while, the agency said. Factors contributing to the … [Read more...] about Crisil cuts FY23 GDP growth estimate to 7.3%

The Taliban's supreme leader offered prayers on July 1 for Afghanistan's earthquake victims during a speech to Islamic clerics in Kabul. The tremor in June killed more than 1,000 people in the eastern part of the country . State radio aired Haibatullah Akhundzada's speech live on Friday from the gathering in Kabul, where thousands of Islamic clerics and tribal elders are gathering for the first time since seizing power in Afghanistan in August. Women were not allowed to attend. Mr. Akhundzada's appearance added symbolic heft to the meeting and the decisions the group is considering about Afghanistan's future. The Taliban are under international pressure to be more inclusive as they struggle with Afghanistan's humanitarian crises. The powerful earthquake killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Afghanistan, igniting yet another crisis for the struggling country and further underscoring the Taliban's limited capabilities and isolation. Overstretched aid groups already keeping … [Read more...] about Taliban supreme leader prays for Afghanistan’s earthquake victims