New Delhi: Concerned over the worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court yesterday mulled over the prospect of directing the Centre to suspend and not renew the licence for possessing, stocking and selling of fire crackers in the national capital. Reserving its order in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, said it would go step-by-step on the issue as fire works have now become a part of life and a reasonable order needs to be passed.
On being told that large number of fire crackers would be burnt in the upcoming wedding and festival season, the apex court said, if it bans crackers, then cracker brust would be a breach of order. It said, the court will consider all aspects and pass an interim order for a limited period. The court said, it was considering passing an order that no new licence will be granted and existing licences not renewed or could direct the Centre to pass an order suspending the existing licences in Delhi-NCR.

New Delhi: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said the record air pollution in Delhi is a wake up call for the world and if decisive actions are not taken to check it, the smog in National Capital and its adverse impact on the daily lives of its citizens will become a commonplace phenomenon.

The UNICEF said it is a wake up call to all countries and cities where air pollution levels have resulted in death and illness amongst children.

Air pollution level hit record high in New Delhi in the past week following Diwali celebration.

The capital’s smog, said to be its worst in 17 years, lead to the closure of the city’s over 5,000 schools to minimise the risk for children to be exposed to the polluted air and resulted in an estimated 4.41 million children missing three days of school, the UNICEF said.

According to estimates, air pollution levels hit 999 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter in some areas of the national capital, more than 15-16 times the limit considered safe.

The agency underscored that the alarming level of air pollution is not just a challenge in Delhi but for many cities around the world. Air pollution levels in other Indian cities, such as Varanasi and Lucknow, have been equally extreme in recent days.

And over the past year, air pollution levels in London, Beijing, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Manila have exceeded international guidelines – in some cases by considerable margin, it said.

Hyderabad: Cricket legend and Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar has announced that his adopted village Puttam Rajuvari Kandriga in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is open defecation free.

Yesterday, Tendulkar visited the village in Gudur mandal that he had adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana two years ago. He said, he could remember the conditions in the village which were appalling two years ago and there has been great progress.

He appreciated the support of the officials and implementing agencies. The cricketer said, India needs Swacch and Swastha Bharat and PR Kandriga will be a role model for it.

Upon adoption, Sachin had contributed almost 3 crore rupees to PR Kandriga and the district administration mobilized another 3 crores for taking up various works.

Beijing : In China, Beijing and its adjacent area have issued an orange alert for heavy air pollution which looks set to linger for the next three days.

The orange alert, the second highest in the four-tier warning system, came into effect from last night in Beijing. The capital is forecast to see serious air pollution from today to Saturday.

Beijing Vice Mayor Zhang Gong ordered implementation of full emergency measures, including restrictions on coal burning, production and heavy trucks.

The smog is expected to disperse Sunday when a cold front is forecast to arrive in north China.

New Delhi: A strong magnitude earthquake hit northeastern Japan early today, the country’s meteorological agency said, issuing a tsunami warning for the region’s coast including Fukushima prefecture.

The US Geological Agency said that the earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck the country shortly before 6:00 am local time in the Pacific off Fukushima at a shallow depth of 11.3 kilometres.

Public broadcaster NHK said, a tsunami of up to 1.4 meters had been observed around Sendai, about 70 kilometers north of Fukushima. It was originally reported that a potential tsunami may be up to three meters, but the channel broadcasted shortly after that it could be even higher.

A 60 centimeter tsunami reached the Onahama Port in Fukushima. The area was expected to be struck repeatedly. Shortly after the first tsunami struck, the water cooling system seemed to have stopped at TEPCO’s Daini nuclear power plant.

Tepco issued a statement however, saying that there have been no abnormalities at their power stations. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the residents of the eastern Japanese prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima should evacuate immediately. Japan Railways has suspended operation of dozens of bullet trains in eastern Japan. No other damage from the quake has been confirmed at any of its power plants, although there have been blackouts in some areas.

​New Delhi: The national capital is facing the worst smog in 17 years, according to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The AQI index in Delhi hovered in the range of 376-450 on normal days, whereas the prescribed norms for any city are 50-100 units.  Thus, on any given day, the air is 4-5 times more toxic than the prescribed limits.

Capital First Ltd. has taken the initiative of raising awareness about air pollution in the city, and also to provide means for protection to those that are most vulnerable to the ill effects of air pollution namely; school children and traffic policemen. The volunteers from Capital First have approached government schools and the traffic police for distributing N 95 quality air pollution masks.

To support this drive, Delhi Traffic Police joined hands with Capital First Ltd., and have organised a special function to distribute pollution mask to Delhi traffic police officials; by Shri. Ajay Kashyap, Special Commissioner of Police at the Traffic Police Headquarters, Todapur on 30th December 2016.

Also present at the function were, Mr. A.K. Ojha, Joint Commissioner of Police:Traffic & Mr. B.K. Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police:Traffic, along with senior officials from Capital First. With the aim to educate users about the ill-effects of air pollution, the masks were distributed with a small leaflet in Hindi that explained the rationale for wearing an anti-pollution mask.

Mr. Apul Nayyar, Executive Director, Capital First said; “Capital first is deeply entrenched and committed to the communities that it serves. As a responsible Corporate Citizen, we take proactive approach in raising awareness about issues facing the communities that we serve. In one of many such initiatives the company has joined hands with the local administration in Delhi to raise awareness and fight air pollution in Delhi and surrounding areas. Capital First believes in and aspires for a better and sustainable future for the communities that we serve”

Commenting on the efforts to combat pollution, Mr. Ajay Kashyap, Special Commissioner of Police: Traffic, Delhi said, “The Delhi Police is taking extraordinary steps for controlling the city’s pollution levels right from penalising those flouting norms, stopping construction of project sites, restricted entry into the city and also deregistering old vehicles. In these critical times, we urge Delhi’s population to understand the urgency of the hour and minimise the use of vehicles and only step out when absolutely necessary.”

Welcoming the mask-donation drive by Capital First, Mr. Kashyap further added, “We welcome the wonderful initiative by the Capital First Ltd. for distributing this necessary utility and urge other corporates to come forward and support the city in such measures to combat pollution.”

Thiruvananthapuram: In Kerala, Thanal, a city-based group in Thiruvananthapuram has launched a helpline for providing technical support in treating organic waste and managing non-biodegradable solid wastes.

The helpline 94001 47150 will provide information and guidance for composting kitchen waste, terrace farming, organic farming, and pest/fungi control by organic means.

Free demonstration and technical guidance on treating organic waste will be provided. In the case of organic farming, technical demonstration will be organised for groups.

Andaman: The country’s only active volcano located in the remotest Barren Island in Andaman has begun spewing smoke and lava again.

A team of scientists led by Dr Abhay V Mudholkar from National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, reported that the volcano is active.

The Barren Island volcano, located 140-km north-east of Port Blair, dormant for more than 150 years, started erupting in 1991 and has since then shown intermittent activity.

Photographers, poachers and eco-tour operators are in the crosshairs of a Canadian conservationist who warns that tracking tags are being hacked and misused to harass and hunt endangered animals.

Steven Cooke, a biology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, says that the very tools used by scientists to study and protect animals and fish are being hijacked to do just the opposite.

Cooke, the Canada research chair of environmental science and biology, is the lead author of a paper published this week in the journal Conservation Biology. The research paper cites the example of anglers in the US state of Minnesota who petitioned for access to data on northern pike movements, arguing that it should be publicly available because the research was publicly funded.

Australian authorities have used tags to locate and cull sharks while in India, attempts were made to hack the global positioning system (GPS) collars on endangered Bengal tigers in a case of “cyber poaching.” Cooke said that it is a new phenomenon and there is no data available to quantify this “troubling and unanticipated” problem. But he provides a broad range of anecdotal evidence in his scholarly article.

Scientists are scheduled to meet in June in Australia to discuss the problem as well as potential fixes. In the meantime, Cooke is calling for encryption and strict rules to secure data and limit the use of telemetry tools for non-research activities.

In an interview, Cooke noted that natural history, ecology, conservation and resource management have all benefited from the use of electronic tagging technology. But if left unchecked, abuses could not only cause harm to animals, it could significantly hamper research. “Just think about all the weird ways that people might try to exploit this technology,” Cooke said.

The idea for this research came during a family vacation last summer to Banff National Park in Canada. It was then that he learned that the park authority had imposed a public ban on VHF radio receivers after photographers used telemetry to track tagged animals.

The World Sparrow Day was celebrated on Monday to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations.

These beautiful house sparrows are now fast disappearing. There are several reasons behind their disappearance. The need of the hour is to take steps for the conservation of these species of birds.

The house sparrow is among those few things, most of us remember from our childhood. Sparrows are perhaps the most familiar of all birds with most species of this bird living near human settlements and agricultural areas.

They mostly survive on food grains and tiny worms. The association between humans and the house sparrow dates back to several centuries and no other bird has been associated with humans so closely like the house sparrow.

Unfortunately, the house sparrow is now disappearing. Scientists believe there is a number of different reasons responsible for the decline in the number of sparrows. The most common of them are loss of their habitat, lack of insect food for the young and even the increasing microwave pollution from mobile phone towers.

At one time a very commonly found, the bird today is a rare sight, both in rural and urban areas. The disappearance of this little magical bird from our courtyard has evoked concern from both the environmentalists and civil society.

A number of NGO’s organisations have started taking steps for the conservation of sparrows.

Here’s what you can do to save the sparrows:

• Put bird boxes and bird feeders outside your house or in your gardens.

• A simple step like putting out Water-bowls or a bird-baths in the hot summer afternoon helps save the birds allowing them to re-hydrate.

• Growing plants and hedges that are native to the place you live will encourage some of the common birds to come back.

The decline of the house sparrow is an indicator of the continuous degradation of the environment. It is important that we all come together to conserve this species so that the future generations too can grow up with fond memories of this humble but much loved feathered friend.

On the 3rd of May, the Koala Clancy foundation declared the day as the inaugural National Wild Koala Day. Celebrating #WildKoalaDay, Visit Victoria’s Twitter account was taken over by the spokeskoala of wild koalas in Melbourne- Koala Clancy, the most famous wild Koala in the world. Clancy, who has a charity named after him, interacted with animal lovers worldwide on this day which also happens to be his birthday. Over 100 twitter users were engaged in twitter dialogue, generating more than 400 tweets, through this activity and Animal Planet India was seen interacting with Clancy Koala, wishing him a happy birthday.

The purpose of this day is to celebrate wild Koalas in their natural habitat and increase awareness about of their species being vulnerable to extinction. The centres in Victoria have been proactively ensuring their survival in the wild.

Clancy Koala rose to fame as he broke various stereotypical myths associated with Koalas. Koalas in general have been listed by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) amongst the top 10 species worldwide most at risk of being endangered from climate change.

Visit Victoria created a wave of conversations amongst influencers by surprising them with Koala Toys and a note from Koala Clancy, inviting them for a this unique activity on Twitter. These influencers & wildlife enthusiasts were seen tweeting about #WildKoalaDay, resulting in 3.2 million Organic Impressions on Twitter and an engagement rate of 6.4%, reaching 0.2 million users.

“We are delighted to see the overwhelming response that we have received through our efforts to spread awareness on the issue of Koala extinction,” said Celia Ho, Regional Manager South and South East Asia – Visit Victoria. “Wildlife Tourism is an increasingly important aspect of travel today and we have seen more and more travellers coming in from India and around the world, to experience the wildlife here in Australia. We look forward to extending our continued support to the Koala Clancy Foundation in protecting these animals.”

Wild Koalas, which are only found in Australia, have been one of the major tourist attractions in the continent. They have been one of the most popular species even in the digital world. Using this very medium, the tourism board wishes to ensure a safe future for these species in their natural habitat, not just in captivity.

Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of ‘811 – Upload a Tree’ initiative wherein the Bank would plant a sapling in the name of the first 10,000 customers who download an 811 bank account from June 5, 2017 – World Environment Day.

The Bank has partnered with SankalpTaru Foundation to plant saplings in housing complexes across eight cities including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Under this initiative, the Bank would plant Neem, Jacaranda, Gulmohar, Sita-Ashok and Silver Oak saplings; preferably used for shade and medicinal purposes.

Mohan Shenoi, Chief Operating Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Banking is usually associated with a lot of paperwork. 811 – India’s first downloadable bank, changes this by offering a completely environment friendly, no paper and seamless experience which enables customers to open a savings bank account within 5 minutes. Taking this theme forward, we are launching 811 – Upload a Tree initiative, which seeks to involve our customers in making our society greener.”

Ambuj Chandna, Sr. EVP & Head – Retail Liabilities, Investment & Payments Products, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Each sapling will be named after the first 10,000 customers who open an 811 account from June 5, 2017 – World Environment Day. It will be geo-tagged to be viewed by customers on a dashboard provided by our NGO partner – SankalpTaru Foundation. In case of sapling mortality, it will be replaced by the NGO with a same aged plant for up to two years. Post conclusion of the NGO’s maintenance period, housing societies will look after the plants.”

The campaign was initiated in Gurugram’s New Colony, near Dasshera ground, on June 5, 2017, where Kotak employees and volunteers from SankalpTaru Foundation collaboratively planted saplings with residents of the housing complex.

Infra Ray Pillars and Smart Sensors to be installed at the riverine border with Bangaldesh at Sundarbans to prevent rampant infiltration and smuggling.

The BSF said that this is the technological answer to the growing problem of cross-border crimes and is part of the Centre’s plan to keep a tight vigil on the Indo-Bangla border following intelligence inputs that terrorists and anti-national elements are exploiting the unfenced areas and riverine borders.

Already installed, the devices would start operating once the monsoon was over.

A senior BSF official said that the project would be first launched in three-four kilometres along the border stretch. After observation till December, if everything goes well, the new system will be in place permanently by January, 2018.

According to BSF sources, the cost of the installation of the Infra-ray pillars per kilometre will be around Rs 25-30 lakh.

“The infra-ray pillars and smart sensors will be monitored through a satellite-based signal command system and will have night and fog operability tools. The sensor blips alert border guards,” the official said.

Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today launched a month-long plantation drive to mark Van Mahotsav. Van Mahotsav is usually observed in the first week of July every year and is celebrated on different days in different parts of India. The objective behind celebrating the Mahotsav is to keep local people involved in plantation drives and spread environmental awareness.

The plantation drive was organised at Ram Lila Park, C. C Colony and Model Town early this morning. Environment Minister planted a sapling and also distributed saplings to local residents. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan advised people to plant native trees because they readily adapt to local climate, integrate into the eco-system.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its the most extensive warning on the risks of rising global temperatures.The panel released their report after three years of research and a week of intense debate between scientists and government officials at a meeting in South Korea.

The report says the world is now completely off track, heading towards increase of 3 degree Celsius.

The report pleads to keep the target of 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial level. And for this, the report suggests that rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society are required.

The report concludes by saying that though the target will be hugely expensive, but the window of opportunity remains open.

New Delhi :  Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) a statutory body under Ministry of Commerce, Government of India  will be showcasing India’s strength as major hub for organic food products, ingredients, commodities and processed food at the Three day Biofach India 2018, India’s leading trade fair for organic food to be held in New Delhi from October 25-27, 2018 at Hall No. 7, Pragati Maidan.

Biofach India 2018, the largest event of organic agriculture and organic food sector of India having the presence of entire organic agriculture and food fraternity from across the country is being organized jointly by the NurnbergMesse India and Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

More than 500 delegates  comprising of Exporters, processors, retail chain industry, certification bodies and producers from India and abroad will be participating in the Biofach 2018, the trade Fair-cum-Exhibition to discuss and have first hand feel of the Indian organic products including tea, spices, honey, basmati rice, coffee, cereals, dry fruits, vegetables, processed foods and medicinal plant.

The major highlight of the Biofach 2018 will be setting up of an Organic Theme Pavilion by APEDA having direct display of items and to provide direct business opportunity to India organic food product producers with visiting international buyers through B2B and B2S meets. APEDA is inviting and sponsoring more than 50 buyers from important importing countries for direct market linkages of producers with international trade.

Entire organic agriculture fraternity comprising of organic products exporters, retailers, traders, processors, ICS management bodies, certification bodies and certified organic farmer groups will be present at the Three day event showcasing wide variety of organic products being produced under National Programme for Organic Production  (NPOP) under  APEDA.

The demand for organic Agri products produced is on constant increase world wide as Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. As on 31st March 2018, total area under organic certification process (registered under National Programme for Organic Production) was 3.56 million Hectare (2017-18). This includes 1.78 million hectare (50%) cultivable area and another 1.78 million Hectare (50%) for wild harvest collection. Among all the states, Madhya Pradesh has covered largest area under organic certification followed by Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. During 2016, Sikkim had achieved a remarkable distinction of converting its entire cultivable land (more than 76000 ha) under organic certification.

India produced around 1.70 million MT (2017-18) of certified organic products which includes all varieties of food products namely Oil Seeds, Sugar cane, Cereals & Millets, Cotton, Pulses, Medicinal Plants, Tea, Fruits, Spices, Dry Fruits, Vegetables, Coffee etc. The production is not limited to the edible sector but also produces organic cotton fibre and functional food products.

Among different states Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In terms of commodities Oil seeds are the single largest category followed by Sugar crops, Cereals and Millets, Fibre crops, Pulses, Medicinal, Herbal and Aromatic plants and Spices and Condiments. The total volume of export during 2017-18 was 4.58 lakh MT. The organic food export realization was around INR 3453.48 crore (515.44 million USD). Organic products are exported to USA, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Japan.

 India exported organic products worth Rs. 34 billion (over $515 million) in 2017-18, from Rs. 24.77 billion in 2016-17. The major demands under the organic product category are for flax seeds, sesame and soybean; pulses such as Arhar (red gram), chana (pigeon pea); and rice, along with tea and medicinal plants. USA and European Union member-countries were the biggest buyers of organic products from There is a growing demand from Canada, Taiwan and South Korea in recent years, Germany is one of the biggest importers of Indian organic products. Now, many new countries are also taking interest.

Hyderabad : Organic Food is not 100% organic. We tested few samples and found for our utter surprise that except two to three percent, all the samples contained chemical residues shared Dr.K Keshavulu  – Director Telangana State Seed & Organic Certification Authority while participating in a Panel Discussion, “We are what we eat”, organised by city based Big Marketeers Consulting Service on the eve of “World Food Day” today.

H. Madhavi of Big Marketeers Consulting Service while welcome said, Panel Discussion is an endeavour to create awareness in public about “we are what we eat”. Food literacy is the most important aspect of life, she added.

Speaking further Dr. Keshavulu stated that unfortunately we don’t have clear cut regulations. We need to have regulations, similar to western countries.

Responding on how to identify right organic food, he said it was a million dollar question. The only way is to send samples for testing. But, it is very expensive and one sample test costs Rs 35 to 40 thousands, he quickly added. And it is also time consuming.  So we need government support to get testing affordable, Dr. Keshavulu told.

We need to encourage pesticides free farming. Though we are self sufficient in producing food grains which we are also exporting, but, we produce insufficient millets and pulses, which are good for health. So we must encourage farming community to produce these crops more, informed Dr. Keshavulu.

Moderating the discussion, Suresh Kamireddy, Group Managing Director, KLCP Holdings Pvt Ltd said while we have hunger oneside, excessive usage of food the other side. And we waste a lot of food too. Anything excessive is poisonous. Food is no exception. We are what we eat. This excessive consumption of food is leading to lifestyle diseases.

We need to eat to live. And we shouldn’t be living to eat. We should eat balanced diet said another panellist Dr. Rajender Reddy – Former Director Telangana Dept of AYUSH

Sharing her thoughts on the subject, Nutritionist, Sridevi Jasti said six out of ten are victims of lifestyle diseases. Over eating is taking the toll. There is a strong reason why our ancestors followed a practice called fasting during festive times. It is good to give break sometimes, she added. We must eat as close to natural foods as possible to eliminate chronic diseases, she informed.

We are not born with bad or good habits. We make them. Cultivate good and healthy eating habits she told.

Adding his views on the subject Dr.GBK Rao – Chairman & Managing Director Pragati Group said people from all over the world gather nutritional products from trees including fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, bark. Trees are good source of food. From 1000 trees per person in India, we are reduced to the nation with just 28 trees per person. US has 716 trees.

There are only 35 billion trees in India to shade a population of 1.3 billion.

Russia has 4,461, Brazil 1,494, Canada has 8,953, China 102 trees per person informed Rao.

New Delhi (APN Bureau): Prof. MS Swaminathan, chief architect of India’s Green Revolution will get the World Agriculture Prize this year. The global Jury of the 1st World Agriculture Prize announced this here yesterday.  Professor MS Swaminathan, the most influential agriculturist and environmentalist of our times who spearheaded the green revolution movement in India has been instrumental in leading India towards food security. Recognized worldwide for his basic and applied research in genetics, cytogenetics, radiation and chemical mutagenesis, food and biodiversity conservation, MS Swaminathan has been hailed by the United Nations Environment Program as “The Father of Economic Ecology” owing to his commitment towards the ever-green revolution movement in agriculture. Professor M S Swaminathan has been acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India, the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations, as “a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction.”

The Award will be present by Hon’ble Vice President of India at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi at a special session, named “Swaminathan Global Dialogue on Climate Change and Food Security” on Oct 26, 2018 organised by Indian Council of food and Agriculture (ICFA). The Jury of the World Agriculture Prize consisted of 11 names, including four names from India; Mr. Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group, Secretary – Food processing, Secretary – DARE and DG – ICAR, Chairman, NABARD. Session will start at 11am. The global names included Director General, IFPRI, Washington DC, Director general, ILRI, Nairobi, Director General, Biodiversity International, Rome, Director General, Chairman, Association of International  Research centers in Agriculture, KL, former President, Mauritius, Ms. Ameenah Faqim, former PM, Niger, Mr. I. Mayaki, and Secretary General, AARDO, H.E. Mr. WH Sreihin among others.

World Agriculture Prize has been instituted by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture with the vision to recognize the individuals, who have served the humanity through agriculture. The World Agriculture Award @ 1,00,000 USD to be presented annually to an individual or institution, importantly from Asian, African or Latin American countries, who played seminal role in transforming agriculture globally and saving the humanity from the curse of hunger.     Indian Council of Food and Agriculture awards the 1st World Agriculture Prize to Professor Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan (M.S.) Swaminathan in recognition of his long and devoted services to the cause of agriculture and nutrition security, environment conservation and global agriculture, who remains continuous source of inspiration to farmers and scientists around the world, and who took India from the bondage of ‘Ship to Mouth’ existence to the freedom of ‘Right to Food’ through home grown food.

Dr. M.J. Khan, Chairman, Indian Council of Food and Agriculture said “Agriculture has been key to Indian economy and GDP but pertaining to ever changing climate a sustainable solution has to devise for world to evolve and prosper. Bringing reforms in the agriculture sector Can be done with technological advances. Professor Swaminathan work can contribute to develop such solutions and help India’s more than half of population to prosper which is depending on agriculture.” He added that with the launch of this prize, India will catch the attention and imagination of the world especially the developing countries, which will look up to India for leadership towards finding solution to their food and agriculture security and environmental sustainability.

New Delhi :Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) a statutory body under Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has stressed on the need of bridging the existing gap between Ministry of commerce and Ministry of commerce to further boost agri exports from the country.

“An integrated approach and better cooperation is needed among the two union ministries for boosting agriculture production and trade increase export of organic food products as well as  to double Agri-exports to US  $60 billion by 2022 from current US $38 billion” said  Paban K Borthakur, Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA),while speaking at a technical session India organic-From Niche market to main stream organised at ongoing Three day ‘Biofach India ‘ an organic trade fair.

APEDA under Union Ministry of Commerce has been to develop and promote the export of various agricultural commodities and provides a platform to showcase India’s quality produce to the global market. APEDA is also the secretariat for National Programme for Organic production, which provides an institutional support for Accreditation of certification agencies and surveillance and monitoring of organic certification process.

APEDA plays pivotal role in developing the database of the mandated products, markets, services, and distribution of related information to exporters. The authority extends financial assistance under its Agriculture and promotion Plan Scheme for various components like Market Development, Infrastructure Development and Quality Development

India’s domestic agricultural policies are largely aimed at food security and price stabilization and often put export restrictions to control food inflation.

Union Minister of commerce Suresh Prabhu while  inaugurating the Organic Trade show had said that Ministry of Commerce had drafted An Agriculture export policy advocated promoting export-oriented clusters and agriculture export zones (AEZs. This will work as key to ensure surplus produce with standard physical and quality parameters which meet export demands.

India exported organic products worth USD 515 million (INR 3453 crore) in the year 2017-18, From USD 370 million (INR 2727 CRORE)  in the year  2016-17  thus  Registering an increase of 39 per cent . The total volume of export during 2017-18 was 4.58 lakh Metric Tonne,

The organic food export realization was around INR 3453 crore (515 million USD). Organic products are exported to countries such as USA, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Japan.

 People around the globe are getting more conscious of what they are eating. They are switching to organic products as they do not want chemicals in their food. Compared to the overall agriculture export, the share of organic products is less. But the rate of growth is quite impressive.

The major demands under the organic product category are for Oil seeds, Cereals & Millets, Sugar, Fruit juice concentrates, Tea, Spices, Pulses, Dry fruits, Medicinal plant products etc. Though USA, European Union member countries and Canada were the biggest buyers of organic products, many new countries like Israel, Vietnam, Mexico are also taking interest recently. The equivalency granted by European Commission and Switzerland for unprocessed plant products and the conformity assessment granted by USDA has played pivotal role in increased export to these countries.

Major highlight of the Boifach which concluded here today was display of organic products from north East states which is coming up as hub of Indian organic farm products. A variety of organic crops from these states include tea, Joha rice and lemon from Assam, large cardamom and ginger from Sikkim, king chillis from Manipur, sugarcane, cowpea and paddy from Mizoram, passion fruit from Meghalaya and pineapples from Tripura.

Delhi: Not just in high risk patients, tiny particles of air pollution can also increase the risk of stroke in younger and healthy population by damaging the inner lining of their veins and arteries.

About 15 million people a year suffer a stroke worldwide. Nearly six million die, and five million are left with permanent disabilities, such as loss of sight and speech, paralysis and confusion.

Earlier it was thought that air pollution increases the risk of stroke for elderly and sick but studies have found that even seemingly healthy young adults are also at risk who are usually have less prevalence of such neurological problems.

It was estimated that number of fragments of dead cells in the bloodstream increased with increased levels of pollution. ^[2] Result suggested that polluted environment promote stroke incidences more pervasively and at earlier stage than previously thought.

As per WHO report about 34% stroke deaths occur due to pollution .

Dr Praveen Gupta Director Neurology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, says “With the current scenario, the situation is getting worse. Many patients of young age group are coming in who suffer from stroke. We get around 2-3 new young patients almost every month. The number of young stroke patients has almost doubled as compared to last few years. Studies suggest that major risk factors like air pollution and smoking increases stroke incidences both in the short term and long term,”

Dr. Vinay Goyal, Professor, Department of  Nuerology, AIIMS says” Pollution is one of the exploding factor for increasing the stroke risk  in people living in polluted regions like Delhi/NCR. High level of PM 2.5 level in the air increase risk of cardiovascular mortality.  Internationally studies have linked relation between pollution and stroke risk, In India situation can be more dangerous. Side effects pollution are like Volcano waiting to explode. If we don’t take Care now. It will be impossible to handle it later “

Experts concern about the fact that quality of air in Delhi/NCR is already very toxic with change in weather condition. With such high rates of pollution, rates of strokes will only increase unless strict actions are taken.

Emphasizing on the importance of awareness about major risk factors associated with stroke, many experts advocated population based approaches to prevention. Every year, on October 29^th, World Stroke Day is observed to underscore the serious nature of stroke cases and raise awareness about the condition and associated risk factor to control the burden of stroke.

There is a need of collaborative action from government, healthcare community and NGOs to come together on common platform and devise strategies to reduce risk factors and control the rates of stroke.