India exports food while millions go hungry
“At a time when [India's] total food stocks are likely to swell to a record 75 million tonnes by June 1, out of which nearly 25 million tonnes of the stocks will be piled up in the open for lack of storage space, the demand for allowing exports [of wheat, which is now banned] is already growing. Ministry of Commerce has already started an exercise to know how much quantity of wheat can be allowed for exports.
“It is a strange paradox of plenty. While on the one hand India is overladen with mounting food stocks [and is the world's largest rice exporter], on the other nearly 320 million people go to bed hungry. The number of hungry and malnourished in India almost equals the entire population of America.
“When it comes to malnutrition, several studies have pointed out that nearly 50 per cent of children are malnourished. India fares worst than even sub-Saharan Africa. According to the 2011 Global Hunger Index India ranks 67 among 81 countries, sliding below Rwanda …”
-- Devinder Sharma, May 26 post on Ground Reailty blog, via ClimateandCapitalism.com.
Canada: Another huge oil spill
“A huge pipeline spill has released 22,000 barrels of oil and water into Muskeg in the far northwest of Alberta. The spill ranks among the largest in North America in recent years, a period that has seen a series of high-profile accidents …
“The most recent spill was discovered May 19 emanating from a pipeline belonging to Pace Oil & Gas Ltd. … As with many recent pipeline accidents, Calgary-based Pace did not detect a problem, but was informed of the leak by another company after the spill was spotted from an aircraft ...
-- Globe & Mail, May 30, via ClimateandCapitalism.com
Glow in the dark sushi?
“Bluefin tuna contaminated with radiation believed to be from Fukushima Daiichi turned up off the coast of alifornia just five months after the Japanese nuclear plant suffered meltdown last March, US scientists said ...
“The levels were 10 times higher than those found in tuna in the same area in previous years, but still well below those that the Japanese and US governments consider a risk to health. Japan recently introduced a new safety limit of 100 becquerels per kilogram in food.
“The timing of the discovery suggests that the fish, a prized but dangerously overfished delicacy in Japan, had carried the radioactive materials across the Pacific ocean faster than those conveyed by wind or water.”
-- The Guardian, May 29.
