Rice, Photo: Pixabay

The government on Tuesday said fortified rice is being distributed through ration shops in 439 districts and other welfare schemes so far, while asserting that there is enough global evidence of its health benefits.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2021 said the government aims to distribute fortified rice via the government schemes by 2024.
Thereafter, a scheme for the distribution of fortified rice, containing prescribed micronutrients (Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12) was launched on October 2021 in a phased manner in order to address the problem of anaemia in children and women.
Addressing a press conference, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh noted that there is "global evidence" of the health benefits of fortified rice and it is being implemented in several countries including the USA.
Moreover, the Women and Child Development Ministry and government think-tank Niti Aayog had advocated the distribution of fortified rice and the scheme wa

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Chairperson of New Delhi-based Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority (PPV&FRA)  Trilochan Mohapatra on Sunday called upon agricultural scientists to jealously promote nutritional literacy in the country by mainstreaming the bio-fortified crops.
He stressed the need for an enlarged food basked that would address malnutrition, adequate seed production and price advantate to farmers
Mohapatra, a former head of the Directorate of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), was delivering the first K Ramiah Foundation Day lecture here at the National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) on Sunday.
He said the global food system is currently being challenged by three 'Cs': Climate change, Covid and Conflicts.
Speaking at length on nutrition security through various food crops to address the malnutrition menace, the senior rice scientist, in his talk, spelt out the priorities for farm ...

forest economy, green cover

Fortified rice is being distributed via public distribution system (PDS) in 269 districts so far and will cover the rest of the districts well before the deadline of March 2024, Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2021 said the government aims to distribute fortified rice via the government schemes by 2024.
Thereafter, a scheme for the distribution of fortified rice,  containing prescribed micronutrients (Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12) was launched on October 2021 in a phased manner in order to address the problem of anaemia in children and women.
Addressing a press conference, Chopra said fortified rice distribution in the last two phases has been implemented successfully.
"This is a unique and very successful initiative of the central government which has given extremely good results in the past two years. We are extremely enthused by the response we got from the public," he said.
There was a certa

A total of 269 districts in 27 states have started distributing fortified rice under the Targeted Public Distribution System, achieving a 100 per cent target set for second phase by March 2023

chart

Fortified rice with essential nutrients was started on a pilot basis for three years in 2019-20

biofortification

The benefits of the biofortified crops have been corroborated even by the actual impact assessment studies on children and women

Rice

Some experts say fortified grain is a wasteful expenditure with no tangible results, and advocate balanced diet instead. Others cite the success of fortification in other South Asian countries.

millets, pearl millets, bajra

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia which limits brain development and learning capacity

Biofortification alters the genetics of plants to make their output healthier

The stock price of GVK Power & Infrastructure was locked in the 5% upper circuit for the eight day, trading at its highest level since September 2018 on the BSE

Sensex, Nifty, stock brokers

The restructuring exercise will be undertaken by Arjun Mohan, who was recently elevated as chief executive officer (CEO) of its India business, replacing Mrinal Mohit, according to the sources

Byju's

Meanwhile, companies like HP and Acer, which do not sell mobile phones in India, are likely to miss out

Apple iPhone

His three children - twins Akash and Isha (both 31) and Anant (28 years) - will get only a sitting fee and a commission on the profit earned by the firm

Reliance Industries chairman Mukseh Ambani and Nita Ambani's children, left to right, Akash, Isha and Anant Ambani. PTI: Photo

Isha, Akash and Anant Ambani

Analysts at Jefferies, believe that the time is ripe to buy Eicher Motors given alleviating competitive concerns, along with tailwinds of 2W demand recovery, industry premiumization and exports.

Eicher Motors, motorcycle ,Royal Enfield, Royal Enfield bikes,

The combined market valuation of eight of the 10 most valued firms plunged by Rs 2,28,690.56 crore in a holiday-shortened last week, with HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries taking the biggest hit, amid an overall weak trend in equities.
Last week, the BSE benchmark fell 1,829.48 points or 2.69 per cent, and the Nifty declined 518.1 points or 2.56 per cent.
Equity markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.
From the top-10 pack, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance were the laggards while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Hindustan Unilever were the gainers.
The market valuation of HDFC Bank plummeted by Rs 99,835.27 crore to Rs 11,59,154.60 crore. Shares of the company fell by nearly 8 per cent last week.
The valuation of Reliance Industries plunged Rs 71,715.6 crore to Rs 15,92,661.42 crore. The company's shares declined over 4 per cent past week.
ICICI Bank's valuation dropped Rs 29,41

HDFC Bank

In a move to fuel growth through self-employment, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched a scheme to help youths set up their own ventures.
At a function here, Sarma rolled out the Chief Minister's Atmanirbhar Asom Abhijan 2023. He also launched a registration portal for the scheme.
Under the programme, financial aid will be given to two lakh youths for creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, he added.
Speaking on the occasion on Saturday, Sarma said, "The scheme has been designed to create self-employment avenues to enable the youths to fuel development of the state. It has the potential to strengthen rural economy."
He said that the unemployed degree holders in the fields of engineering, medicine, agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery will be kept in the first category and will be given Rs 5 lakh.
"On the other hand, unemployed postgraduates, general graduates, ITI, polytechnic passouts will be kept in the second category for government assistance of Rs 2

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks during a press conference organised to commemorate the completion of 8 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led government at the centre, at BJP state office in Guwahati, Wednesday, Jun

Himanta Biswa Sarma

The US provided Canada with intelligence after the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but communications intercepted by Ottawa were more definitive and led it to accuse India of orchestrating the plot, The New York Times has reported citing sources.
The report came on Saturday as the top US diplomat in Canada confirmed that there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that had prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's offensive allegation against India in the killing of a Khalistani extremist on Canadian soil.
The allegations have infuriated India, which rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case. India also accused Canada of being a safe haven for terrorists.
Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was killed in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in ...

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Hardeep Nijjar

"The fact that over fifty visitors were able to raise slogans is a matter of grave concern. In response to this serious breach, Members from the opposition panics walked out in protest"

Priyanka Chaturvedi

IAS-turned-politician Sasikanth Senthil has been appointed as the Chairman of the Central War Room

Congress

International credit agency Moody's Investors Service has made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar without citing any evidence, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Monday.
The UIDAI issued a strong rebuttal to Moody's Investors Service which claimed that the Aadhaar system often results in service denials and the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual labourers, in hot and humid climates is questionable.
"A certain investor service has, without citing any evidence or basis, made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, the most trusted digital ID in the world. Over the last decade, over a billion Indians have expressed their trust in Aadhaar by using it to authenticate themselves over 100 billion times," the UIDAI said in a statement.
The unique id Aadhaar's custodian said that the report in question does not cite either primary or secondary data or research in support of the opinions presented in it.
"The investor service did not make any

Adhaar, UIDAI

The Nijjar murder is fast unfolding into treacherous scenarios that could have tragic consequences for both nations. No one stands to gain from the ongoing face-off

India Canada

The leaders of both countries should encourage bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges that can help build bridges

Canada has updated travel advisory for its citizens in India asking them to "stay vigilant and exercise caution" in the context of recent developments as there are calls for protests and some "negative sentiment" towards Canada on social media.
Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
"In the context of recent developments in Canada and in India, there are calls for protests and some negative sentiment towards Canada on social media. Please remain vigilant and exercise caution," the Canadian government said in an

India's rage is misplaced and hardly serves to endear the country to those appalled by the idea that it may have had a Canadian citizen killed

The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday is conducting major raids across 6 states in 3 cases at 51 locations belonging to associates of Lawrence, Bambiha and Arsh Dalla Gangs

Khalistan

In the wake of Canada's allegations about India's potential involvement in the killing of a Khalistani separatist on its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that New Delhi conveyed to Ottawa that it is not the government of India's policy and it is open to looking at specific and relevant information in the case.
Yes, I do have a comment. I'll share with you very frankly what we told the Canadians, Jaishankar said during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) here Tuesday when asked if he had any comment on the allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that agents of the government of India are linked to the killing of a Canadian Sikh.
"One, we told the Canadians that this is not the government of India's policy. Two, we told the Canadians saying that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it, he said during a conversation with former US Ambassador to India and CFR ..

Sources privy to the development have informed ANI that 'One Nation One Election' would be beneficial not only in the national interest but would also save a lot of the financial reserves of the govt

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S Jaishankar, EAM S Jaishankar

The company's revenue from operations in FY23, Agarwal added, stood at approximately Rs 5,463 crore in FY23 up from Rs 4,781 crore in FY22, marking a 14 per cent increase

Biofortification

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