15th November 2021 Daily Local Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

Daily Global, Regional & Local Rice E-Newsletter
15 th November ,2021 Vol 6 Issue 11
1|www.ricepluss.com , www.riceplusmagazine.blosgspot.com
www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com
mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com 92 321 3692874
Editorial Board Rice News Headlines…

 FG meets Customs as 566,000MT of India, Thailand rice arrive Benin Republic
Chief Editor  The Effect Of Avocado Cultivation On Climate. A Real Climate Catastrophe
 Hamlik Has Fueled In Mexico – Science
 Renewed activities of rice smugglers’ll jeopardize FG’s gains- Abubakar
Managing Editor  Government starts procuring Aman rice from farmers
 Abdul Sattar Shah  Rice prices are seen rising as transport cost spirals
 Rahmat Ullah  Researchers test tiny machine with global potential in Jackson
 Rozeen Shaukat Demonstration State Forest
 Researchers test tiny machine with global potential in Jackson
Demonstration State Forest
English Editor
 LANDBANK funds expansion of Nueva Ecija-based rice mill
 Maryam Editor
 Rice smuggling still in full swing — FG
 Legal Advisor  FG raises the alarm over increase in smuggled foreign rice
 Advocate Zaheer Minhas  Pakistan progressing by all accounts: Shaukat Tarin
 CIIE is unique, Pak-China trade volume may hit record high in 2021
Editorial Associates  Governor sees GSP plus status for another 10 years
 Admiral (R) Hamid Khalid  Traders for facilitating barter trade with Iran
 Javed Islam Agha  Country’s progress on rise: Tarin
 Zahid Baig(Business Recorder)  USA, China, UK remain top three destinations of Pakistani exports during
 Dr.Akhtar Hussain July-September 2021-22
 Dr.Fayyaz Ahmad Siddiqui  Country ‘fared better’ amid global inflation: PM
 DOST-FNRI: 1 of 6 PHL kids most affected by vitamin A deficiency
 Dr.Abdul Rasheed (UAF)
 Cellphone radiations adversely affect flora, says study
 Islam Akhtar Khan
 Expert advisor, sustainable farming and the rice farmer
 Need for crop diversification in Punjab – Need of the hour
Editorial Advisory Board  Mon Mack uses an ICE CUBE to reheat her leftover rice in the microwave
 Dr.Malik Mohammad Hashim  Govt provides more subsidy in September
Assistant Professor, Gomal  Expert advisor, sustainable farming and the rice farmer
University DIK  Ways to support Filipino farmers during—and beyond—the National Rice
 Dr.Hasina Gul Awareness Month
Assistant Director, Agriculture KPK  Rice prices: Hike due to shortage: Alagiyawanna
 Dr.Hidayat Ullah  The farmer is reaping the rice crop in his fields
Assistant Professor, University  Sufficient Wheat Stock Available, No Supply Issue: Fakhar Imam
of Swabi  CIIE offers opportunity for improved Pakistan-China trade: Pakistan
Ambassador
 Dr.Abdul Basir
 China remains Pakistan’s second largest export destination
Assistant Professor, University of
 Telangana: Paddy procurement delay makes farmers nervous
Swabi
 Facebook researchers found that one in eight users were crazy about apps,
 Zahid Mehmood damaging work, relationships, and sleep.
PSO,NIFA Peshawar
 Falak Naz Shah
Head Food Science & Technology
ART, Peshawar
Mouzas decline to 49,384 from 52,376 in the last 12

years
Shahzad Paracha
ISLAMABAD: Mouzas in Pakistan have declined to 49,384 from 52376 in the last 12 years.
As per details, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has revealed in its Mouza Census 2020 that
there are 49,384 mouzas all over Pakistan as compared to 52,376 in 2008.
Of these, 87 percent are rural and the remaining are either forest, unpopulated, partly urban or
urbanized whereas the total rural populated mouzas in the country are 44,576 which total 90
percent.
In addition, in rural areas within provinces and the federal capital, highest cultivated land is in
Punjab with 75 percent while lowest is in Sindh with 32 percent.
Similarly, highest non-cultivated land is in Sindh with 32 percent followed by Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 35 percent. However, the federal capital has the highest percentage of
rural land which is populated with 12 percent as compared to other Provinces.
The report mentioned that the major crops cultivated in rural areas of Pakistan are wheat, rice,
cotton, sugar cane and maize and it is found that cultivation of Wheat seems common in more
than 93 percent of rural areas and percentage of areas where sugarcane is cultivated has declined
The sugar cane cultivation areas in Pakistan have declined from 14,515 to 17,002 in 12 years.
The wheat cultivation has also declined from 43,700 to 41,165, Rice 19530 to 19454, cotton
15,748 to 15074, whereas maize cultivation areas have been increased to 22180 from 22045.
The second major crop varied in provinces, in Punjab it is rice with 66 percent, whereas in KP it
is Maize with 82 percent areas reporting its cultivation. Cotton is the second major crop
cultivated in Sindh & Balochistan. Cultivation of sugarcane is highest in Punjab with 48 percent
followed by Sindh with 44 percent; however, its cultivation is lowest in Balochistan with only 2
percent of areas reporting it.
It is pertinent to mention that in the federal capital, only wheat and maize are reported as major
cultivated crops.
Traditional Irrigation Sources
Tube wells are the major source of irrigation through which the majority of rural areas have been
cultivated partially or whole in Pakistan. 52 percent of the areas have reported tube wells as a
source of irrigation of land followed by canals with 49 percent; 28 percent of land is reported as
arid; however, this pattern varies among provinces
Depth of Water Table
The majority of depth of underground water in majority of rural areas is up to 100 feet however
there are stark differences in provinces, where in Punjab & Sindh more than 75 percent rural
areas have depth of underground water is up to 100 feet, however, in KP and Balochistan
majority rural areas have water depth of 101 feet.
Type of Housing Structures
In rural Pakistan still majority of houses built are Semi Pacca, however, the number of semi-
pakka houses are decreasing and bricked houses are increasing. Moreover, one third of the
houses are made of mud but this varyes among provinces.
It is observed that the material used for housing structures have wide variations among
provinces. Majority of housing structures in Punjab & Federal Capital are bricked with 59 & 87
percent respectively, while in Sindh & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa majority are Semi Pacca with 75
and 50 percent respectively. However, in Balochistan majority of housing structures i.e. 75
percent are mud made.
Type of Streets in Rural Areas
The majority, about 54 percent, of streets in rural areas in Pakistan are kacchi, while 17 percent
are metaled streets, depicting the need for work on enhancement of streets in rural areas.
This situation is worrisome among provinces as the majority of streets in rural areas are still dirt/
Kacchi and this percentage is highest in Balochistan with 91 percent, followed by Sindh with 78
percent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 71 percent. Punjab has reported the highest percentage of
bricked streets with 36 percent but still one third of streets are kacchi.
Toilet Facilities
It is observed that now the majority i.e. 74 percent of rural areas of rural Pakistan have toilets
inside houses as compared to 2008 where only 42 percent of areas have toilets inside houses.
There are large variations within provinces, Punjab has the highest percentage of areas with
indoor toilets, while still 74 percent of rural areas in Balochistan do not have facilities of toilets
inside houses. Toilets inside houses are universal in rural areas of Islamabad.
Sewerage System in Rural Areas
Majority of rural areas of Pakistan do not have concrete/ paved drains i.e. 59 percent and there is
no improvement in the situation since 2008. However, the percentages of mouzas where mostly
there are concrete/paved drains have been improved from 5 percent to 10 percent.
Health Facilities
Provision of Health Facilities for the rural population is a very important aspect as still 64
percent population is living in rural areas of Pakistan. It is found that from 10 to 12 percent of
rural areas have facilities like Hospital/dispensary, Basis Health Unit (BHU), and Rural Health
Centers (RHC) etc. inside the Mouzas.
It is worth mentioning here that the population of rural areas have to travel long distances to
reach the health facilities, however, average distances have reduced as compared to 2008. On
average the smallest distance is 13 km to reach BHU and 16 Km to reach RHC & Hospitals,
while the largest distance on average is 23 km to reach NGO dispensary, depicting need for
constructing better and affordable health facilities for rural areas in proximity.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/11/14/mouzas-decline-to-49384-from-52376-in-the-last-12-
years/
S.Korea's Rice Production Posts Double-digit Growth

In 2021
Umer Jamshaid
Mon 15th November 2021 | 02:40 PM
South Korea's rice production posted a double-digit growth this year, marking the
first increase in six years amid favorable weather conditions, statistical office data
showed Monday
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point

News - 15th Nov, 2021 ) --:South Korea's rice
production posted a double-digit growth this
year, marking the first increase in six years amid
favorable weather conditions, statistical office
data showed Monday.
The rice output totaled 3,882,000 tons in 2021,
up 10.7 percent from the previous year, according
to Statistics Korea. It was the first expansion in
six years since 2015.
The statistical agency said weather conditions were favorable to cultivate rice, a key
staple food for South Koreans, amid the proper rainfall and the longer duration of bright
sunshine.
The size of rice paddies across the country inched up 0.8 percent over the year to 732,477
hectares this year, helping raise the rice output.
Rice production per 100 square meters increased 9.8 percent to 530 kg in 2021.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/agriculture/skoreas-rice-production-posts-double-digit-1401315.html
KP Govt Trains 1 Lac Youth In IT Sector: Asad Umar

Sun 14th November 2021 | 06:41 PM
PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2021 ) :Federal Minister for
Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa government were trained 100,000 youth in IT sector which would further uplift
IT industry in country.
He said this while talking to media men during his visit to the concluding session of the two-day
Digital Youth Summit held here at local hotel on Sunday.
Accompanied by KP Minister for Science and Information Technology Atif
Khan, Federal Minister, Asad Umar said that in the last two years the export in the IT sector has
been three times increased due to investors' friendly policies introduced by the government.
"Pakistan is the 5th largest community in the world in the individual youth community, which is
a clear indication of progress of Pakistan in the IT sector," Asad Umar said.
The trust of the foreign investors have been further cemented and billions of Dollars investment
coming to Pakistan in the IT sector, he said while answering a question. Answering another
question, he said, 2.3 million jobs increased in 2018.
"There are a lot of development opportunities in agriculture in Pakistan and the government has
given due attention that is why the crops of wheat, rice, sugarcane have come up in record,"
Federal Minister Asad Umar said.
The government, he said, was focusing on the sectors which have opportunities for development
like agriculture, IT and tourism sectors. He said record harvest of wheat, rice and sugarcane
means the government is working on an appropriate line in the agriculture sector in the rural
areas and the farmers were getting benefit from such progress.
"However, in urban areas, there are opportunities in the construction sector and that is why a new
boom is witnessed in the construction sector and all those areas related to construction
industries," said Federal Minister Asad Umar.
The construction industry, he said, has grown exponentially due to the interest of the Prime
Minister, who himself is looking and monitoring the construction industries.
Federal Minister Asad Umar has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the history of Pakistan,
meaning the country is on the path of development.
"The Corona threat still exists and urged upon the people to get vaccinations to avert the threat.
"If the people do not get vaccinations, there will be danger of corona coming back," Asad
Umar said.
"PDM is like a seasonal disease, it will end as soon as the cold ends," Asad Umar said this while
answering a question in a laughing mood.
While appreciating the government of KP, he said, the provincial government is working on
connectivity and digital technology training. Training more than 100,000 in the
Informational Technology sector in the next one and half years would cost the government Rs
8 billion.
"There are many opportunities for national and international investors in the IT sector of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, which is very encouraging," Asad Umar said.
" Certainly, the development of the IT sector will boost the digital economy of the province and
events like the Digital Youth Summit are of utmost importance for innovative ideas in the
digital world," he added.
The youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have the talent to grow in the IT sector and providing digital
skills training to graduate and undergraduate youth would enable them to find employment, he
said.
Federal Minister Asad Umar and Shibli Faraz also paid visits to various sections and met with
the youth in the Digital Youth Summit.
The event was attended by a large number of national and international stakeholders and students
specializing in the IT sector
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/kp-govt-trains-1-lac-youth-in-it-sector-asad-1400786.html
Research, tech key to facing agri challenges

SAU VC tells New Age
Emran Hossain |
Published: 23:26, Nov 14,2021
Shahid Rashid Bhuiya

The multifaceted challenges that the future holds for agriculture in Bangladesh cannot be
overcome without the promotion of science and technology in the sector.
This observation was made by Shahid Rashid Bhuiyan, vice-chancellor of Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, in an interview to New Age on November 1.
Climate change has already affected the seasonal features in the country, causing a fall in the
yields of some crops and highlighting potential risks to other major agricultural sub-sectors such
as fisheries and livestock, he said.
The crises have emerged as the sector has long been struggling to sustain cultivations that have
turned unprofitable over time and as foods have turned unsafe for consumption due to years of
mismanagement in and neglect of the agriculture sector, he further said.
‗What is unfortunate is that the world looks unwilling to put things right,‘ said Shahid,
expressing his fear about carbon emission not ending soon with many countries still building
coal-based industries.
‗Only the love of people cannot save this planet. The leaders of states have to love it, too,‘ he
added.
People of Bangladesh, especially its poor farmers, are among the primary victims of climate
impacts, with frequent droughts, irregular heavy rains, cyclones and salinity affecting
agricultural activities in many ways.
Weather has become so unpredictable, particularly because of excessive heat, that growing wheat
is now difficult with a significant fall in its production over the past few years, said Shahid.
For instance, he explained, excessive heat affected wheat broadcasting this year, a relatively new
phenomenon, while high temperatures had hit wheat harvesting in the past few years.
The fall in wheat production amid a growing demand for the crop for processed foods and animal
feed caused the country‘s import of wheat and feed to go up, he said.
‗The impacts of climate change are many and diverse and solution of these lies in doing
research,‘ said the agriculture expert.
The realisation of scientists long ago that the shortcomings of depending on the seasonality for
growing crops has led to groundbreaking innovations enabling cultivation of many crops beyond
their known seasons, he noted.
‗Scientists have already developed salinity-tolerant paddy. The Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear
Agriculture has come up with a rice variety capable of surviving under water for 15 days at any
stage of its growth,‘ pointed out Shahid.
The general prediction about global warming causing sea-level rise and glacier melt is that it
would cause parts of Bangladesh to go under saline water.
This climate effect poses a fresh challenge to Bangladesh with its 160 million people, said
Shahid, adding that global warming also means more frequent erratic rains and floods.
Bangladesh is no stranger to floods and it was blessed with about 1,000 rice varieties that could
grow in deep water.
These rice varieties kept up with rising water level by any means, he said, adding that when the
water level became too high these varieties would pull their roots out of the soil and float, still
saving their grain from floods.
These varieties have largely been lost, though some are still cultivated in areas like Cumilla and
Kishoreganj, said Shahid.
10 | w w w . r i c e p l u s s . c o m , w w w . r i c e p l u s m a g a z i n e . b l o s g s p o t . c o m
‗Bangladesh boasted some 12,000 rice varieties but only 7,000–8,000 of these are preserved at
the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute,‘ mentioned Shahid.
Different varieties represent different characteristics attained over centuries and under different
climatic conditions, he said.
Scientists could develop existing varieties into new varieties in order to adapt to changes climate
change is bringing about.
‗But new varieties cannot be created without old varieties,‘ he said, adding that Bangladesh must
set up a ‗national plant genetic resources institute‘ immediately for preserving crop varieties,
among others.
‗We need a rich gene bank for adapting to climate change,‘ he added.
Salinity is another climate effect putting fresh-water fish production at stake, he said, urging
research to find salt-water fish species that can be farmed in salt-water ponds or ditches.
Apart from climate-change challenges, Bangladesh lacks basic agricultural imperatives such as
facilities to store crops, a safe-food processing industry and a safe-food supply chain, he further
observed.
The polishing of rice, which reduces the grain‘s protein content, by millers is primarily caused
by the lack of storage facilities as less protein content means longer shelf life, said Shahid.
He expressed a great hope in genetically modified technology as he believes that science will
keep changing the world towards benefiting humans.
‗Europe, which once was highly skeptical about the GM technology, is now leaning towards it,‘
he pointed out.
But increasing yield is not all about agriculture, he said, adding that agriculture extends beyond
production and involves transportation, marketing and processing.
But a food supply chain without mediators is still absent in the country, he further pointed out,
saying that the involvement of mediators pushes up prices of agricultural products by the
distance of every mile.
He also emphasises setting up scientific laboratories to study the impacts of agricultural inputs,
many of which have been used in the country for ages.
‗All possible food-contamination risks are present in Bangladesh,‘ said Shahid, as he attributed
the dearth of safe-food knowledge to the few safe-food graduates.
Over the years, the use of farming inputs has also affected soil health, indiscriminately killing
microorganisms that help trees intake food while insects are killed mindlessly too, said the
expert.
‗Insects and microorganisms are also inhabitants of the world. They, too, have the right to food
and reasons to exist for they have been living on the planet longer than humans have been,‘ said
Shahid.
Shahid believes that the main obstacle to creating knowledge-based educational institutions in
Bangladesh is largely those who run them.
‗The head of an educational institution should be an educationist or a researcher or a visionary,‘
he said.
Shahid emphasised the mechanisation of agriculture in order to raise its profitability.
‗Manual labour only makes agriculture costlier. Machineries will make farming rewarding and
we have to develop our own machines,‘ said Shahid.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/154686/research-tech-key-to-facing-agri-challenges
Rice grown from salt fields

By VCGPublished: Nov 14, 2021 09:53 PM
Two harvesters are busy collecting rice at dusk in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province on
November 13, 2021. The 1,500 mu (100 hectares) of rice fields were originally abandoned salt
fields. After cleaning up and leveling of the salt fields, the contractors began to plant wheat and
rice in 2019 and achieved a successful harvest. Photo: VCG
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1238943.shtml
Telangana: Bandi Sanjay Kumar to go on 2-day visit

to paddy procurement centres
Hans News Service | 14 Nov 2021 5:14 PM GMT
HIGHLIGHTS
State BJP is all set to walk the extra mile to take on the TRS government in the ongoing
fight between the two over the issue of paddy procurement.
Hyderabad: State BJP is all set to walk the extra mile to take on the TRS government in the
ongoing fight between the two over the issue of paddy procurement.
Accordingly, BJP State chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar decided to go on a two-day personal visit to
take stock of paddy procurement at various procurement centers in Nalgonda and Suryapet
districts.
Party State chief and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay on Sunday said he will visit procurement
centers on November 15 and 16 to interact with the farmers to take stock of the situation of
paddy procurement. According to him, Bandi will visit Arjalabavi IKP centre in Nalgonda rural
mandal, tour in Miryalaguda, Nereducharla and Gaddipalli areas and interact with farmers on
Monday.
He will stay overnight at Suryapet. And will proceed to Tirumalagiri, Tungaturthi, Devaruppala
and Janagam mandals on Tuesday. He will take stock of the problems faced by the farmers like
not getting minimum support price (MSP) and other issues. It may be mentioned here that
farmers in Nalgonda and Suryapeta have been protesting against the long delay in procurement
and non-functioning of several designated procurement centers. Besides, the delays forced them
to sell paddy at a price quoted by the rice millers, which is far less than the MSP.
Taking these issues under consideration, the State BJP chief has decided to personally visit the
procurement centers and to expose the problems and losses incurred by farmers to mount
pressure on the State government to protect the interests of the farmers.
https://www.thehansindia.com/telangana/telangana-bandi-sanjay-kumar-to-go-on-2-day-visit-to-paddy-
procurement-centres-715297
Netizens pay homage to 'Father of hybrid rice' Yuan

Longping as ashes placement ceremony held in C. China's
Changsha
By Global TimesPublished: Nov 15, 2021 03:54 PM
The ceremony to bury the ashes of the deceased "Father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping is held at a mausoleum in
Changsha, Hunan Province, on November 15. Photo: Chinanews.com
Six months after deceased "Father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping died of illness in May, a
ceremony to bury his ashes was held at a mausoleum in Changsha, Central China's Hunan
Province, on Monday, setting off a fresh wave of netizens paying homage to the pioneer of the
research and development of hybrid rice in China.
Escorted by a ceremonial team from the armed force, Yuan's ashes were placed at Tangren
Wanshouyuan mausoleum with the witness of his family members, students, researchers and
academicians.
Ears of rice that surrounded the tomb and two bowls of rice placed on the tomb lid were a
highlight of the ceremony. The bowls of rice were engraved with the phrase "May all have
enough to
eat."
The sentence "People are like seeds, to be a good seed" that Yuan used to say was also engraved
on a huge stone behind his portrait and tomb.
A video circulated online showed a national flag covering Yuan's cinerary casket before ashes
were laid to rest in the tomb.
Yuan died in Changsha on May 22 at the age of 91. He was the pioneer of the research and
development of hybrid rice in China and the first scientist in the world to successfully utilize the
heterosis of rice.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs expressed condolences over Yuan's death in May,
saying "Yuan's death was a great loss for China on issues related to agriculture, rural areas and
farmers."
The ceremony to bury the ashes of the deceased "Father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping is held at
a mausoleum in Changsha, Hunan Province, on November 15. Photo: Chinanews.com
The ceremony grabbed national headlines and swept across Chinese social media with netizens
flocking online to pay respect to Yuan. At least three trendy topics on Sina Weibo were related to
the ceremony. Each one has more than 80 million views as of press time.
"Farewell Papa Yuan, I will be a good seed!" a Sina Weibo user wrote. Yuan was hailed by
netizens as "a great man of our time," "the pride of the republic, the backbone of the nation and a
role model for every descendant of Chinese people!"
The news about Yuan's death was a major story on Chinese social media in May. Residents from
Changsha and other places lined up to offer flowers outside the funeral home in Changsha to bid
farewell to Yuan.
As for why it has taken six months to place ashes of Yuan after his death, an assistant of Yuan
surnamed Yang told the Beijing News that the government attached great importance to the final
resting place of the academician. Changsha and Jiangxi had expressed willingness to welcome
Yuan's ashes but after enough consideration, the Tangren Wanshouyuan mausoleum was
eventually chosen.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1238983.shtml
Call to devise strong banking system to facilitate rice

export to Iran
LAHORE: Rice Research & Development Board Punjab has recommended the government to devise
some strong banking...
Recorder Report 14 Nov 2021
LAHORE: Rice Research & Development Board Punjab has recommended the
government to devise some strong banking system to facilitate Pak-Iran rice export as
being proposed by the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).
The recommendation was given at the 20th meeting of the Board held recently at the Rice
Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku with Board's Chairman Shahzad Ali Malik in the chair.
It may be mentioned here that REAP in a recent meeting with the PM Advisor on Commerce had
requested to form a working group on issue of export to Iran as trade between two countries can
give a quantum jump to rice exports.
The meeting discussed rice crop situation in the province and it was told that area under
cultivation for 2021-22 is 6.7 percent higher than previous year while production is also being
tipped as higher as overall health of crop is satisfactory.
According to the minutes of the meeting, Chief Scientists (Rice) Muhammad Rafiq also said that
pest and disease attack remained under control during the current season. Rice Exporters
Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman Ali Hussam Asghar while addressing the meeting
announced attractive incentives for rice breeders for the development of new rice variety
acceptable to rice stakeholders.
However, Ali Hussam and Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) Chairman Shoukat Ali Chaddhar
showed concern regarding establishment of the centre of excellence of rice without
farmers/exporters consent under government's agri-transformation plan, the minutes added.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40133229/call-to-devise-strong-banking-system-to-facilitate-rice-
export-to-iran
Lords Bought: Are Foreign Money Trails Fuelling UK

Politics?
 14 Nov 2021
A growing slew of corruption accusations has beset the British Conservative Party under Boris
Johnson, relating first to so-called ‗Cash for Access‘, then ‗Cash for Honours‘ and finally ‗Cash
for Peerages‘, namely the granting of seats in the House of Lords to party donors.
Now, Sarawak Report has probed into further concerns that foreign funding and foreign
influences may have inevitably infiltrated this corrupted process, given the known ties of certain
donors who have been ennobled.
In one instance an individual connected to 1MDB and associated sovereign wealth funds in the
Middle East, Aamer Sarfraz, was recently ennobled through the alleged deal to promote party
vice treasurers who raise sufficient funds …. to be rapidly appointed co-chairman of the All
Party Parliamentary Group [APPG] on Sovereign Wealth Funds and vice-chairman of
the APPGs on both Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as Burma at the impressively young age
of 38.
£3 Million Price Tag Per Peerage

The revelations in a shocking report in last week‘s Sunday Times detailed how life peerages
have been accorded a price tag by conservative party managers, whereby prospective donors are
appointed to the list of party treasurers with a view to them raising at least £3 million pounds, the
sum known to guarantee a subsequent lordship sponsored by the party.
Lord Sarfraz was a party treasurer from 2018 – 2019, at which point he was granted a peerage.
According to the Sunday Times:
“wealthy benefactors appear to be guaranteed a peerage if they take on the temporary role as
the party treasurer and increase their own donations beyond £3 million. In the past two decades,
all 16 of the party‟s main treasurers — apart from the most recent, who stood down two months
ago having donated £3.8 million — have been offered a seat in the Lords.” [Sunday Times]
This revelation has come in the wake of a recent widely condemned personal intervention by
Boris Johnson to overturn a decision by the Honours Committee to reject a peerage for the
previously disgraced party treasurer Peter Cruddas (who had been caught up in an earlier ‗cash
for access‘ scandal).
Following the award of his peerage last December, thanks to Johnson‘s intervention, it was
revealed that Cruddas donated a further £500,000 to the Conservative Party. The scandal has
deepened as the Johnson government last week sought and failed to abolish the office of the
independent Standards Commissioner, who had punished a conservative MP for lobbying on
behalf of clients, and to replace it with a body the Conservatives could control.
The Youthful Lord Sarfraz

The row raises crucial questions, according to our research, about other recent appointments
including that of Lord Sarfraz who was granted a life peerage in September 2020 at the
astonishingly young age of 38 (making him the 3rd youngest peer in the UK) after being
nominated by Boris Johnson in his 2019 Dissolution Honours List.
Aarmer Sarfraz is said by colleagues to have only joined the party some two years prior to
becoming a Lord, during which he played the role of treasurer, in the manner described by the
Sunday Times.
The new lord boasts in his Wikipedia page that he remained a treasurer through the period of
the last election apparently contributing to the party‘s ‗historic win‘, after which he resigned the
role on receiving his peerage.
However, by contrast with other honours recipients following this route, the young Lord has only
officially donated a slender £122,500 to the Conservative party, in the period just from 2018.
Under the circumstances it prompts the question what therefore recommended Sarfraz for this
influential honour at such a very young age if he did not contribute more than a relatively small
amount compared to the others ennobled through this system of treasurers to the party and had
barely spent two years supporting the Conservative cause?
It seems unlikely to have been his service to British public life. Sarawak Report notes that the
same Wikipedia page and Sarfraz‘s own online presence is extremely sparse by comparison with
most prominent people who have gained the sort of recognition that would recommend a
peerage.
There is very little recorded in the way of life achievements or other activities of note, certainly
to do with Britain. His business career outlines a path tied closely to the job he got shortly after
leaving the LSE when he became employed in 2006 by the investment advisor, Electrum Group,
based in the United States.
Kaplan with MBZ (UAE Crown Prince )
Electrum is founded and run by the

American Israeli-connected
billionaire Thomas Kaplan, who
speculates in metal resources and
has adopted a highly political
stance in the Middle East having
set up a number of campaign
groups that support the coalition of
Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia
against Iran and its allies in the
region.
His ties to the UAE and the Abu

Dhabi Crown Prince are so
close that in one article for a local newspaper Kaplan described the Emirates and its leaders as
the:
“closest partners in more facets of my life than anyone else other than my wife”.
It was Sarawak Report that revealed that one of the key investors in Electrum Group was Jho
Low, who sunk $150 million of stolen cash from 1MDB fund into the project. The other major
investors were the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and the Kuwait Investment
Authority.
Kaplan also has a close association with the longstanding Tony Blair aide, Jonathan Powell, who
later acted as an advisor to Tony Blair Associates (TBA), the advisory business run by the
former prime minister then Special Envoy to the Middle East. TBA has also worked closely with
Mubadala.
Apart from his career working for Kaplan (as Managing Director of Electrum UK till 2015) there
is little in Lord Sarfraz‘s CV that would indicate any significant contribution to British public
life or public debate, save for an article recently published in Foreign Policy magazine from his
new position in the House of Lords.
The September article, entitled ―De-radicalising Western Foreign Policy‖ criticises what it
describes as „Radical pan-Arabism and radical Islamism‟ in the Middle East as well has what he
calls endless misconstrued and failed efforts to establish “radical Westernism”,
namely “western-style liberal democracy” in the region.
Presumably this reflects his political stance and focus in the House of Lords and as the newly
appointed Chair of the All Party Sovereign Wealth Fund Group, in that he would like to see a
change of emphasis in Britain‘s handling of the Middle East – away from human rights and
democracy issues, which he explains are not ‗cultural‘ to the region.
In which case it also reflects the over-all message of the family-run regimes such as Saudi
Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait which have funded so much of Thomas Kaplan‘s global
investments through, for example, Sarfraz‘s own former employer the Electrum Group.
In tandem with such sensitive pro-Saudi views in the wake of the Khashoggi murder and Yemen
war, several conservative sources have described the appointment as baffling given Sarfraz‘s
youth and inexperience. He has been described as a weak performer when it comes to speeches
and has personally donated far less than others to the party.
The matter has led to speculation that Sarfraz has been successful in raising funds or mobilising
influence from others, if not directly from himself. SR has learnt that, in line with the alleged
targets for the Vice Treasurer role, there is an understanding in Tory circles that Sarfraz indeed
achieved major contributions through his fundraising efforts, although these are not identified as
direct personal donations.
This raises the question as to whom he would have turned to raise such sums which appear to
have resulted in such an elevation and position of influence for himself?
Eco-Profile – A Global Do Gooder?
Lord Sarfraz‘s LinkedIn page
There is one segment of Lord Sarfraz‘s official profile that might appear to separate him from
Kaplan‘s business and interest orbit as an independent entrepreneur.
After leaving his role at Electrum in 2015, Sarfraz indicates he focused on his business Better
Grain Ltd, which he says he founded in 2011 and which continues till this day.
The company is designed, according to its extensive website, to enable tens of thousands of
small holder farmers in his native Pakistan and other emerging countries to reach the market
place.
Better Grain claims to work closely with 27,000 such farmers and to have delivered over £100
million of ―sustainably sourced food crops‖ to multi-national companies since its inception.
Sustainably sourced food from Better Grain?
In his profile in the House of Lords Sarfraz likewise details his business role as “the founder
of Better Grain, an agricultural technology business” that “works with tens of thousands of
smallholder farmers in Asia and uses technology to increase yields and incomes, while reducing
emissions and water usage”.
In fact, Better Grain itself, whilst headquartered in Britain with an extensive website, has been
little more than a recent shop window for Sarfraz. According to UK Companies House records,
Better Grain Limited was incorporated in 2016 and kept as a dormant holding company before
being dissolved in October 2019, just before the election.
Its directors, on the other hand, indicate Sarfraz‘s close continuing links with Thomas Kaplan‘s
network. Aside from Sarfraz they included Thomas Kaplan‘s key manager, Ali Reza Erfan, as
well as Hamid Jourabchi, known as the right-hand man of Kaplan‘s close friend and business
partner the billionaire Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza has meanwhile invested in a business in Pakistan founded by Sarfraz

in 2012, which he has not included in his UK House of Lords profile, namely the Mauritius
incorporated Indus Basin Holding.
Another director of the now defunct Better Grain Ltd, Varun Chandra, was from the same circle
although more associated with the Labour Party. Chandra previously worked for Tony Blair
Associates and negotiated a $65,000 a month fee for the former prime minister (whilst he was
Middle East envoy) to act as a consultant for PetroSaudi – money that once again turned out to
have been stolen from 1MDB.
Kaplan‘s own connections to Tony Blair‘s circle are well known having forged a close friendship
at Oxford University with Jonathan Powell.
A separate company Better Grain UK was set up in June 2019 that appeared to dispense with
these associations just as Sarfraz was preparing to enter into the House of Lords. This company
is directed and owned only by himself and also operates as a dormant company.
Indeed the UK headquarters address on the extensive Better Grain website – 96 Kensington High
Street – is no more than a meeting facility, which offers six floors of “design-led hot-desk
lounges, pods, private offices, one man offices and penthouse office suites” along with the usual
mail box and message taking services.
Indus Basin Holding

Research by Sarawak Report indicates that Better Grain bases its public profile on Sarfraz‘s
business and established family interests back in Pakistan where his father is an influential
retired Admiral with high connections in the government and the country‘s powerful military
establishment.
These have been gathered under the Mauritius registered Indus Basin Holding set up by Sarfraz
in 2012, which is focused on acquiring investments particularly in the distribution of the massive
cultivation of rice in the threatened Indus Delta region. Once again the connections to his then
employer, Thomas Kaplan, have been identified.
Bringing foreign investors into Pakistan rice production
An Intelligence Online article published 2019 entitled ―Thomas Kaplan, the billionaire pushing
Abu Dhabi’s interests in the Middle East” states:
“Lorne Thyssen, together with Thomas Kaplan, sought out agricultural projects in akistan in
the late s through his Monaco family office, Augustus Management, which is managed by
his right- hand man, former Cr dit Suisse marketing director Hamid Jourabchi. Thyssen invested
in Indus Basin Holding (IBH), a fund that specialises in Southeast Asian agricultural projects,
and then in Better Grain. These companies were set up by Aamer A. Sarfraz and Ali Reza Erfan,
both Kaplan‟s business partners within the Electrum Group.” [Intelligence Online, 2019]
Although Lord Sarfraz makes no mention of his association with Indus Basin Holding in his UK
profiles, Tony Blair‘s political ally David Miliband has acted as a consultant to Indus Basin
Holding.
The other major original investor in Indus Basin Holding (IBH) was another billionaire
American entrepreneur, Tim Draper. Lord Sarfraz‘s latest position on his CV is stated to being as
Venture Partner in Draper Associates, appointed 2019.
Original 2012 investors were Kaplan‘s co-investor Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza and Tim Draper
The prime acquisition of IBH was in a major existing Pakistani concern named Rice
Partners which now brands its activities together with Better Grain and claims to produce
‗sustainable rice‘.
Rice Partners states a close association with the Uncle Ben rice brand owned by the Mars food
company and Indus Basin Holdings has cited USAID as a ‗partner‘ along with Mars and other
companies.
Although the Indus Basin Holding website is no longer available online (as of last year) Sarawak
Report has viewed its older postings. Should anyone be in doubt as to how embedded this
venture funded enterprise is in the Pakistani establishment, the stated key team members in IBH
include several influential local figures, for example, Rao Ahmed Raza in charge of Government
Relations. He is described as a retired Director of the Intelligence Bureau with “vast experience
in interrogation and investigation, and of field work as a team leader in the areas of security
planning, administration, coordination with government”.
Another director is Brigadier Farooq Afzal, stated to be responsible for the day-to-day
operational oversight of IBH‘s businesses. According to the IBH site “In his 31-year military
career, Brigadier Afzal served in numerous roles, including as akistan‟s Defence Attache in
Afghanistan”.
Furthermore, Indus Basin Holdings (set up when Aamer Sarfraz was in his twenties) plainly
states its close connections to the Fazaldad Institute, which is the philanthropy arm of Aamer‘s
wealthy and influential father Naeem Sarfraz, a former admiral and then shipping entrepreneur
who boasts numerous roles in Pakistani public life, including leading on a government backed
initiative to develop the waterways of the Indus basin.
The foundation states its focus on human rights and education to “counter extremism and
terrorism.
FHRI‟s [Fazaldad Human Rights Institute] effort towards spreading moderation and tolerance
along with human rights has been acclaimed as a unique and effective tool to counter extremism
and terrorism in the Muslim world.
These predominantly Middle Eastern and Pakistani preoccupations and objectives, connected as
they are to high level politics and figures from abroad, plus foreign entrepreneurship, networking
and resource competition, once more raises the question as to why Lord Sarfraz has been
elevated to a lifelong position in British political life at such a young age?
Better Grain claims major human and environmental achievements, most of which seem
entwined in the CSR efforts of Rice Partners run by Mars Foods, frequently in tandem with the
Pakistani Government. The Sarfraz family have plainly combined these laudable efforts with
personal entrepreneurship and their political aspirations.
More to the point, given the present Cash for Lordships scandal, the Sarfraz family‘s primary
political interests appear to be embedded in their entrepreneurship together with their associates
in the Middle East and Pakistan – a platform that Lord Sarfraz is now promoting in the UK
Parliament to the further benefit of his core business contacts and investors, such as Thomas
Kaplan and connected sovereign wealth funds.
How Sarfraz was therefore recommended for a Lordship and if he indeed channelled over £2
million into the party during his position as vice treasurer, as indicated by sources and by the
Sunday Times investigation is relevant, given British life peers are expected to view the world
from the perspective of what benefits Britain and its values, which Lord Sarfraz has so recently
dismissed as “Western Radicalism” in the context of the Middle East.
So far, according to the Sunday Times, Sarfraz has failed to answer repeated enquiries as to how
he obtained his Lordship and whether, and if so from where, he has channelled donations having
donated £125,000 from his personal funds?
Lord Sarfraz has equally declined to answer Sarawak Report‘s request for him to comment on
whether his ennoblement was connected to foreign influence or foreign funding.
Honourable Members For The Middle East?

Lord Sarfraz is not the only Kaplan connected politician to have got caught up in the present
debate on standards and access capitalism in the Conservative Party. The leading Brexiteer,
Daniel Kawczynski, has also acknowledged he is on a retainer of £6,000 a month as an advisor
to Electrum – the accumulated total of his earnings is £280,000 so far, according to a party
source.
Hosted on visits by Saudi Arabia whilst

employed by Thomas Kaplan
Kawczynski who is of Polish heritage and heads

the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poland has
repeatedly revealed an extensive interest in the
Middle East where he has travelled as a guest
of the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
He has intervened to support Saudi

Arabia against sanctions by the UK government
in the wake of the Jamal Kasshoggi murder and
over the war on Yemen, saying in one interview:
―I have been battling against extraordinary

ignorance and prejudice against Saudi Arabia for
many years, and that includes ignorance and prejudice from British M s.”
So enthusiastic is his support for the ‗misunderstood‘ desert Kingdom that he has been dubbed as
the Honourable Member for Saudi Arabia by one newspaper. He has been referred to the
Standards Commissioner for matters such as attacking the Saudi political enemy Qatar at a
conference, having been paid £15,000 by Qatar‘s pro-Saudi opposition group. His register of
interests declares numerous visits to Saudi Arabia paid by the Foreign Ministry.
Sources in the Conservative party have told Sarawak Report that Kawczynski has been building
on his Middle East contacts assiduously in recent months and years with a professed ambition to
make it to the position of Foreign Secretary by the next election.
https://www.sarawakreport.org/2021/11/lords-bought-are-foreign-money-trails-fuelling-uk-
politics/
Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets could save you

money – new research
November 13, 2021
By Marco Springmann, University of Oxford and The Conversation
We used the price data on both global and regional items to calculate the average cost of different food
groups – including rice, fruits and vegetables, legumes and fish – by country. (File Photo: Anna
Pelzer/Unsplash)
Many people are choosing to make the switch to plant-based diets for many reasons – including
as a way of cutting their climate footprint or to be healthier.
Yet there‘s long been the notion that plant-based diets are inherently more expensive than
following a more traditional omnivore diet – which is why some people may be hesitant to make
the switch. But it turns out that this isn‘t entirely accurate. In fact, the recent research my
colleagues and I published in Lancet Planetary Health found that eating a healthier and more
sustainable diet (such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or flexitarian) could actually slash up to a
third off your food bill if you live in a high income country – like the UK, the US or Europe.
To conduct our study, we used data from the World Bank, which regularly collects information
on the prices of many different items to estimate the purchasing power of different countries as a
way of calculating their gross domestic product (GDP). For food items, they collected data on
over 460 products from markets around the world. These items ranged from global products –
such as widely available rice brands – to regional products unique only to certain countries.
We used the price data on both global and regional items to calculate the average cost of
different food groups – including rice, fruits and vegetables, legumes and fish – by country. To
calculate the total cost of diets and cost changes, we then paired the price data with information
on current food demand and waste from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations and with recommendations for dietary patterns that can be healthier and more
sustainable than current diets – such as flexitarian, pescatarian, vegetarian and vegan. This told
us how much a person might spend on average to follow different diets.
Affordability
The results of our analysis came as a bit of a surprise. If you look solely at the costs of the
ingredients, a vegan diet actually costs a third less than the current ―western‖ diets with high
amounts of meat and dairy that many people consume in high income countries like the UK.
Vegetarian diets clock in at a similar value, while people following flexitarian diets saved on
average 14%. Only pescatarian diets – which include a higher proportion of fish and seafood –
can sometimes cost 2% more than current diets.
To put it into perspective, we estimate that the typical western diet costs about US$50 per week
per person (£37). In comparison, flexitarian diets cost are around $42 per person per week,
vegetarian diets as low as $34, and vegan diets as low as $33. That means, over the course of a
year, you could save almost $900 per person by switching to a more plant-based diet.
The important thing to keep in mind here is that the data we used refers to the costs of basic
ingredients – such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and so on. We didn‘t include ready-made meals,
take-aways, or highly processed foods such as plant-based burgers. That means, if you want to
realise these savings, go for minimally processed foods and try out some new recipes. That‘s not
only better for your wallet, but will in most cases also healthier and more sustainable than diets
based on highly processed foods.
Things were a bit more complicated, however, when looking at low income countries, such as
sub-Saharan Africa. There, typical diets consist mainly of starchy foods. We found that
although following vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or pescatarian diets were a quarter cheaper than
following a western diet high in meat and dairy, these dietary patterns were still at least a third
more expensive to follow than the high-starch diets that are currently consumed in low income
countries.
Affording to follow a healthy and sustainable diet in low income countries is clearly a challenge.
This is why our study also looked at how we could bring costs down. We found that when
economic development in poor regions was paired with efforts to reduce food waste and
introduce health and climate-friendly food pricing, it was possible to make sustainable diets cost-
competitive in low income countries within a decade.
Transitioning towards healthier and more sustainable diets is urgently needed to

prevent dangerous levels of climate change, and to tackle the health burden of poor diets.
Our study shows that, given the right political support, healthy and sustainable diets can also be
affordable, not only in high-income countries but everywhere.
Marco Springmann, Senior Researcher, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of
Food, University of Oxford
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read
the original article.
https://canadianinquirer.net/2021/11/13/vegan-vegetarian-and-flexitarian-diets-could-save-you-money-
new-research/
Ministry of Consumer Affairs to Stress on Importance of Fortified

Rice with Azadi Ka Amrit ... - Latest Tweet by Prasar
Bharati News Services
The latest Tweet by Prasar Bharati News Services states, 'Ministry of Consumer Affairs to stress
on importance of Fortified Rice with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Link: ...'
Team LatestlyNov 14, 2021 03:20 PM IST
(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from
social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is
embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not
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responsibility or liability for the same.)
https://www.latestly.com/socially/india/news/ministry-of-consumer-affairs-to-stress-on-importance-of-
fortified-rice-with-azadi-ka-amrit-latest-tweet-by-prasar-bharati-news-services-30536
Participatory rice variety evaluation programme

conducted in Lakhimpur
A two day participatory rice variety evaluation programme was organized by Regional Agricultural
Research Station (RARS) By : Sentinel Digital Desk |
14 Nov 2021 9:07 AM 3 A CORRESPONDENT LAKHIMPUR:
A two day participatory rice variety evaluation programme was organized by Regional Agricultural
Research Station (RARS), North Lakhimpur under Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project
(APART) at the Crop Cafeteria of the Institution on Friday and Saturday. The programme on Friday
started with a welcome address by RARS Chief Scientist Dr. Prabal Saikia.
Project Scientist Dr. Dhiren Chowdhury discussed main objectives of the programme which was followed
by a brief discussion on the selection and evaluation of rice varieties by International Rice Research
Specialist Dr. R. Priyadarshi. Principal Scientist, Dr. T. C. Mahanta, Junior Scientist, Dr. Y. Das, Dr.
N.K. Gogoi, Bibha Ozah, APART Project Scientist (AAU) Jutika Das, Abhilisha Mudoi, APART Project
Associate Porismita Dutta and Research Technician Champak Saikia also took part in the programme.
Notably, Crop Cafeteria is a replicated trial of different (traditional, prevalent or newly introduced) rice
varieties at a particular place to enable the stakeholders, farmers to select a suited rice variety of their
preference in a particular region or agro-climatic zone.
In the cafeteria, the rice varieties are raised in such a manner that all the varieties have synchronous
flowering or matured at the same time. The synchronous maturity is achieved by staggered nursery
sowing. Each variety was raised in multiple replications and put to uniform agronomic practices. 24
variety including Semi Deep Water Rice (SDWR), Deep Water Rice (DWR), Stress Tolerant Rice Variety
(STRV), Local Popular Variety (LPV) and Premium Quality Rice (PQR) varieties with three replications
of each variety making it to a total of 72 plots were established in the cafeteria field. The main focus of
the programme was on-spot varietal evaluation by different stakeholders such as private seed growers,
extension functionaries, farmers, farmer producer companies, rice millers, scientists, DoA-ATMA and
other government officials.
These varietal selections by the stakeholders were based on important yield parameters such as grain type,
quality and other crop characteristics and it also focused on creating awareness about different STRVs
and PQR varieties among different stakeholders for its faster adoption. The programme included an
evaluation of varieties by the farmers present. A total of 25 farmers from different locations were present
in the programme. They were given four different colour tags for positive and negative voting to the male
and female participants. The farmers voted based on the phenotypic characters which resulted in variety
Panchanan amongst SDWRs, Bahadur Sub-1 amongst STRVs, CR Dhan 909 amongst PQRs and Numoli
amongst High yielding Variety as the best varieties.
The overall votes for CR Dhan 909 were recorded highest which is a semi dwarf variety with strong
aroma, good cooking quality, no lodging problem and suitable for rice flakes and confectionery products.
The variety is moderately resistant to major diseases and pest having a duration of 140-145 days with 4.5-
5.5t/ha. All these characteristics led CR Dhan 909 to get the highest number of votes. The programme
was appreciated by everyone present and was concluded by a vote of thanks by Porismita Dutta. The
second day programme on Saturday continued with several scientists, extension functionaries
participating in critical evaluation of the rice varieties.
https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/assam-news/participatory-rice-variety-
evaluation-programme-conducted-in-lakhimpur-563100
Union Minister Kishan Reddy Takes Exception To

TRS' Dharnas Over Paddy Procurement
Union Minister Kishan Reddy takes exception to TRS' dharnas over paddy procurement
Written By
Press Trust Of India
Hyderabad, Nov 13 (PTI): Taking exception to the ruling TRS in Telangana holding dharnas
against the BJP and the NDA government at the Centre for its alleged refusal to procure paddy in
the 'yasangi' (summer) crop, BJP leader and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday asked
how can the NDA government be called anti-farmer when it has increased heavily rice
procurement from the State since assuming office in 2014.
Observing that the Centre has spent Rs 26,641 crore during 2020-21 on rice procurement in
Telangana while the amount spent in 2014 was Rs 3,404 crore, Reddy asked how can the Modi
government be criticised.
Why is the ruling TRS holding dharnas, asked Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism.
Referring to BJP's victory in the recent Huzurabad Assembly constituency bypoll, he said," Are
you doing dharnas against Huzurabad people." Reddy's criticism against the TRS came in the
wake of an ongoing war of words between the two parties over rice procurement.
The TRS organised protests across the State on Friday against the BJP and the NDA
government's alleged refusal to procure paddy from the State during the coming summer crop.
Saying that the Centre reimburses to the State the paddy procurement, he wondered as to why the
TRS organised dharnas. Agreement is also in place between the State and the Centre, he said.
Asked if the farmers can take up paddy cultivation in the summer season, he said the State
should discuss with the Centre as per the agreement on procurement.
Noting that farmers only produce paddy and that it was converted as raw rice or parboiled rice in
rice mills, he said the State government should speak to the millers since it does the procurement.
Referring to TRS' allegation that no medical college has come to the State, he said AIIMS has
been sanctioned for Telangana. He claimed that proposals were not received from the State when
Centre sought to establish medical colleges in 2019.
Meanwhile, TRS Working President and State Minister K T Rama Rao alleged that many State
issues have been pending with the Centre during the last seven-and-a-half-years and that his
party would follow up on them and also protest, if need be.
He cited the example of TRS' protests on Friday over paddy procurement.
Rama Rao, who spoke to reporters on awards received by the State government from the Centre
on subjects concerning municipal administration, said the State received appreciation on various
occasions but not funds.
He found fault also with the attitude of defence officials over closure of roads and others in the
city during the protests, which allegedly inconvenienced citizens. PTI SJR NVG NVG
(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline
may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/union-minister-kishan-reddy-takes-exception-
to-trs-dharnas-over-paddy-procurement.html
Benin Republic to partner Kebbi Labana Rice Mills

By Khadijat Saidu, Birnin Kebbi. On Nov 13, 2021
IT would be recalled that the idea of the partnership was facilitated by the Federal Government
after it selected Labana Rice Mills among rice mills proposed for the planned Nigerian rice
exportation to African countries, in view of its high capacity and product quality.
While addressing the delegation from Benin Republic, the General Manager of Labana, Alhaji
Abdullahi Idris Zuru who led the company‘s team, informed the visitors that the company has a
16-tonne per hour capacity.
According to him, ―The rice mill has been upgraded to 20-tonne per hour while another brand
new 20-tonne per hour capacity will be ready for commissioning early next year and will then
require 400,000 metric tonnes of rice for sustainable production annually‖.The delegation,
accompanied by the Chairman of Labana Rice Mills, Alhaji Abubakar Abba Adamu, visited the
10,000-hectare Labana Rice Farms in Bagudo Local Government Area to assess the company‘s
capacity. The Republic of Benin and Labana Rice Mills of Kebbi State, Nigeria, have
commenced A three-man government delegation from Benin Republic visited Kebbi State for the
meeting with both the board of directors and management of Labana Rice Mills, to formulate
modalities for the proposed collaboration bilateral discussions over the possibility of
collaboration on large scale production of rice.
Speaking to newsmen after the inspection, the Director General of Benin Agency for
Agricultural Development, Mr Jean Gbeto Dansou, said with 40 tonnes per hour capacity rice
mills and 10,000 hectares rice farm, the government of Benin Republic are ready to go into
partnership with the company for mutual benefit.
- Advertisement -
He said: ―With what we saw, the proposal for providing 30,000 hectares of farm land to Labana
along Malaviel and Karimama boundary areas in Benin Republic will be deliberated upon when
we return home and thereafter, we shall invite you for the memorandum of understanding.‖
The delegation from Benin Rebublic include: the Deputy Ambassador of Benin Republic to
Nigeria, Mr. Alfred Akossoun; the Director General of Benin Agency for Agricultural
Development, Mr Jean Gbeto Dansou; and a member of Benin National Assembly, Isaa Saley
Salfou.
https://thenationonlineng.net/benin-republic-to-partner-kebbi-labana-rice-mills/
Pakistan wants Afghanistan’s assets unfrozen
S.Muddasir Ali Shah
13 Nov 2021 - 10:55
PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan says it will favourably consider the Taliban government‘s
request for allowing the transportation of wheat from India through the country for humanitarian
reasons.
Prime Minister Imran Khan held out the assurance at a meeting with a Taliban delegation headed
by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Islamabad.
The Prime Minister‘s Office (PMO) said Muttaqi, currently in Pakistan on a three-day visit, was
accompanied by the acting ministers of finance and industry as well as others.
Khan promised Pakistan would help the Afghans overcome the challenges being faced by the
neighbouring country, a statement from his office said.
He underlined the importance of a peaceful, stable, sovereign, prosperous and connected

Afghanistan for Pakistan and the region at large.
Security, resolute counter-terrorism actions, respect for the rights of all Afghans and governance
inclusivity would contribute to Afghanistan‘s stability, he believed.
Khan hoped the interim Taliban government would continue to constructively engage the
international community and taking positive measures to address the prevailing challenges.
The premier added: ―Pakistan has been consistently calling for provision of immediate
humanitarian relief for Afghanistan.‖
Khan went on to stress the need for the immediate release of Afghanistan‘s frozen assets and
facilitating banking transactions to prevent an economic meltdown.
On bilateral relations, Khan reiterated Islamabad‘s resolve to stand by the Afghan people by
extending all possible support, including humanitarian assistance in-kind, to withstand the
coming winter season.
In addition to the assistance already extended, he said, Pakistan would provide essential food
items including wheat and rice and emergency medical supplies for Afghanistan.
https://pajhwok.com/2021/11/13/pakistan-wants-afghanistans-assets-unfrozen/
M Imran Khan greenlights transportation of India's

wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan
PM speaking to the special representatives and envoys of Troika Plus countries. Screen grab
from Twitter/Prime Minister's Office tweet.
 PM Imran Khan highlights the importance of stability in Afghanistan for

regional security in meetings.
 Urges world to provide immediate assistance to avert the humanitarian crisis
and economic collapse in Afghanistan.
 Assures all possible efforts to support for Afghanistan on Pakistan's behalf.
Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan would consider Afghanistan's request
to allow the "transportation of wheat offered by India through Pakistan" especially on
humanitarian grounds.
The statement comes during a meeting with the delegation of interim Afghan ministers led
by Acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, on Friday.
The Afghan delegation and special representatives and envoys of Troika Plus countries
separately called on PM Imran Khan on the sidelines of Troika Plus meeting.
"The Prime Minister conveyed the message that in the current context Pakistan would
favourably consider the request by Afghan brothers for transportation of wheat of fered by
India through Pakistan on exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes and as per modalities
to be worked out," read a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Twitter.
During the meeting with Muttaqi, PM Imran Khan reaffirmed the Afghan ministers of
Pakistan's support for Afghanistan and its people to help them beat the challenges faced by
the country.
He said that Pakistan has been consistently calling for the provision of immediate
humanitarian relief for Afghanistan as well as the release of its frozen assets and facilitation
of banking transactions to prevent an economic meltdown.
"PM Imran Khan reiterated Pakistan‘s resolve to stand by the Afghan people by extending
all possible support including humanitarian assistance-in-kind to withstand the coming
winter season."
He said that Pakistan would provide essential food items, including wheat and rice,
emergency medical supplies, and shelter items to the Afghan people in addition to the
assistance already extended.
Moreover, PM Imran Khan stressed the vital importance of a peaceful, stable, sovereign,
prosperous and connected Afghanistan for Pakistan and the region.
He told the Afghan delegation that relentless efforts for maintaining security, resolute
counter-terrorism actions, respect for citizens' rights, inclusivity in governance and politic
would contribute to the country's stability.
The prime minister hoped that the interim Afghan government will continue to
constructively engage the international community and will keep on taking positive
measures to address the prevailing challenges.
The premier also stressed how both countries needed to work together to facilitate
movement of people, trade, transit, and regional connectivity to achieve progress and
prosperity in the region.
Troika Plus countries' envoys meet PM Imran Khan
Meanwhile, the special representatives and envoys of China, Russian Federation, United
States and Pakistan met the prime minister separately.
During the meeting, PM Imran Khan congratulated the Troika Plus representatives on the
success of group's meeting on Afghanistan.
PM Imran Khan reiterated the importance of peace and stability in Afghanistan for the
regional security and prosperity .
He said he had ―consistently stressed that there was no military solution in Afghanistan.‖
Saying that Pakistan had all along supported an inclusive political settlement, PM Imran
Khan urged the international community to have a pragmatic approach and constructive
engagement towards Afghanistan to address mutual concerns and promote common interests
of Troika Plus countries.
He also laid a strong emphasis on provision of immediate humanitarian assistance and

economic support to Afghanistan to avert humanitarian crisis and economic collapse.
PM Imran Khan ―hoped that the international community would recognize the gravity of the
situation and take urgent measures including release of frozen assets to help alleviate the
sufferings of Afghan people‖ as he highlighted the role of Troika Plus in this context.
The ninth meeting of Troika Plus, hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad on Friday was attended
by Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan‘s special representative for Afghanistan,
Thomas West, the State Department‘s special representative and deputy assistant secretary
for Afghanistan, Russia‘s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov and Chinese special
envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, at the Foreign Office.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/381801-afghan-fm-troika-plus-countries-envoys-meet-pm-imran-khan-
on-sidelines-of-meeting
Next president should junk failed economic

orthodoxies
Read Next
ps across Europe anew
By Marlen Ronquillo
November 14, 2021
MANY times, you get the sinking feeling that our current economic policies are a rerun, with
minor 21st century tweaks, of the horror picture show in Chile in the 1970s and the 1980s, when
the government was led by a general-cum-coup plotter who overthrew the legitimately elected
president, Salvador Allende, in September1973. On top of suppression of basic freedoms and its
overall brutality, the bloody reign of strongman Augusto Pinochet and his ruling junta made
Chile the laboratory for a set of economic policies overseen by a group of Chilean technocrats
collectively called the "Chicago Boys."
The economics department of the University of Chicago was then famous for its free-market
zealotry and as a generous host to the two leading lights of conservative, anti-Keynesian
economics of that period — Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger. The university, under the
guidance of Friedman and Harberger, trained most of the Chilean technocrats, tasked by
Pinochet to "reform" the country's economy through heavy doses of market fundamentalism. The
boy band gained a second life as the "Washington Consensus." The main planks were
deregulation, liberalization, privatization and all the feverish dreams of Ayn Rand and her
libertarian cult followers. Simply put, reckless opening and minimal state intervention in
economic affairs.
Pinochet gave his free-market fundamentalists a free hand in running Chile's economy, and for a
brief period, the Chicago Boys indeed steered Chile to a regime of tenuous growth. But as a
well-researched, data-backed study done by Orlando Letelier on the Chilean economy under
Pinochet and his merry band of market fundamentalists noted, you cannot really apply free-
market zealotry to a deeply unequal economy. One winner would emerge — the capitalist class,
which during Pinochet's time were a few corporations that owned much of Chile's economy
through an interlocking web.
Letelier, Chile's former ambassador to Washington and former foreign affairs minister, in 1975
said the brutal wages of ill-advised market fundamentalism unraveled. GDP (gross domestic
product) contracted by 14.3 percent and unemployment soared to 18 percent in the Santiago
metropolitan area and 22 percent in most parts of the country. There was widespread suffering
among ordinary Chileans as inflation surged to an all-time high of 375 percent in 1974 and 341
percent in1975. By 1975, Chile had one of the highest external debts in the world. It was one of
the most unequal economies, too, with a great divide separating a small class of the super
wealthy and the great, suffering masses below.
Letelier, then a fellow at a policy institute, was assassinated in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21,
1976, for his criticism of the Pinochet regime.
When we examine our current fixation with free-market fundamentalism, we are eminently
reminded of the disastrous stewardship by the Chicago Boys of the Chilean economy in the
1970s and the 1980s. Setting upon is an unsettling sense of déjà vu. Are we not following the
same path to regression?
The centerpiece legislation put in place by the Duterte administration to counter the Covid-19
economic scarring, attract investments, boost growth and generate employment supposedly on a
massive scale was the Create (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Act,
which cut corporate income tax to 25 percent, and which would soon bring the CIT to a historic
low of 20 percent.
The servile House of Representatives passed a dubious resolution on lifting the economic sectors
protected under the 60-40 equity provision in the Constitution, also to open these protected
sectors and attract more investments.
Despite these real and symbolic gestures, despite the vain efforts to portray the country as one
open to business, the Philippines remains a regional laggard in attracting foreign direct
investments. The answer is all too clear: discerning investors direct their monies into countries
with good governance, skilled workforce and a culture/environment of innovation, all of which
the Philippines utterly lacks.
Duterte govt 'exceeds expectations'
To fight inflation, using both the tools of legislation and executive orders, Congress lifted
quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports and opened the country to equally reckless and
free-for-all rice importation, which in the last 10 months of 2019 moved 3.1 million metric tons
of imported rice into the country. That made us the country with just over 100 million people the
world's top rice importer. The Rice Tariffication Law, according to the Federation of Free
Farmers, benefitted two sectors — importers and traders — and bludgeoned small rice farmers.
There was only marginal relief to rice consumers.
A pork shortage caused by African swine fever, a hog epidemic now tamed in hard-hit areas of
the world, China primarily, elicited the usual knee-jerk, unthinking reaction from the Duterte
administration, which imposed tariff cuts for easy movement of cheap pork into the country.
Pork tariff cuts and pork dumps into our ports had the same impact as the reckless rice imports,
seeing importers/traders gaining windfall profits with very little benefits to consumers and
something close to a death sentence imposed on local hog raisers. A total of 200,000 metric tons
in fish imports is scheduled between October 2021 and March 2022, a lethal blow to the local
fishery sector.
Tax cuts, tariff cuts, exuberant opening up of protected economic sectors are all policy relics
from the heyday of the Chicago Boys and the Washington Consensus. All have been adopted
giddily and without question by a weak and noncompetitive economy whose main exports are its
determined people now vastly spread in the global diaspora. If you take away from the broader
economy the output from overseas Filipino workers that easily makes up 10 percent of GDP, we
will easily drop into the worst-performing economy in the world.
The next president should carry out a Great Reset or a Great Rethinking of our key economic
policies. Among the candidates in the May 2022 elections, those who will most likely embrace
the discredited orthodoxies are the leading lights of the Duterte-Marcos Axis. Ka Leody de
Guzman will most definitely archive the discredited orthodoxies and usher in policy game-
changers.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/11/14/opinion/columns/next-president-should-junk-failed-
economic-orthodoxies/1822151
Gordon Ramsay on chefs being the world’s worst

eaters
By CM Guest ColumnistNovember 13, 20211 Comment250
the blackened steak with kimchi from Ramsay in 10 by Gordon Ramsay, published by Hodder & Stoughton, out
14th October, £25. Hodder & Stoughton/Jamie Orlando-Smith/PA.
By Ella Walker
In a bizarre turn of events, Gordon Ramsay spent lockdown being yelled at, rather than doing the
yelling. ―I had my daughters filming, shouting, screaming and kicking my ass,‖ says the 54-year-
old merrily over Zoom.
The Scottish-born chef, who splits his time between LA and the UK, used the pandemic-induced
pause to get creative and reassess. He started cooking live at the weekends on Instagram, all the
while being heckled by his kids who would fine him – in honour of the NHS – every time a dish
took more than 10 minutes to throw together. And instead of winding him up, the buzz of it
echoed the adrenaline he was missing and would usually access in his professional kitchens,
which ―I didn‘t have while the restaurants were closed,‖ he adds.
He‘s now turned those Instagram lives into a cookbook, Ramsay In 10 – a collection of swift,
resourceful recipes that give an insight into how the Ramsays cook at home. ―I know everyone
thinks, ‗Oh it‘s easy for you, 10 minutes…‘‖ he admits, but argues it‘s all in the prep. You don‘t
need three Michelin stars and ―the most expensive Japanese knives to chop your carrot or finely
dice your onion – grate the f****** thing; use a box grater and grate it! Things get done
quicker.‖
Ramsay just wants people cooking, and is typically no-nonsense about it, right down to a section
at the front called ‗What this book expects of you‘, which includes directions like ‗Read the
recipe‘.
―I‘m an assertive guy, so there‘s no bulls*** there,‖ says Ramsay. ―I just tell the truth, and some
people say, ‗Well, ok, that‘s a bit harsh‘ – then don‘t f******* ask me if you don‘t want to hear
it.‖
Ramsay spent his 20s working 18-hour shifts with Marco Pierre White at legendary London
restaurant Harveys. ―The only thing we‘d have on the way home in the taxi – because we could
eat before we fell asleep in the back of that thing – was a Lucozade and a Mars Bar. And that
was that, because the last thing you can do at that time of night, is eat,‖ he says, voice aglow with
misspent youth.
―You don‘t really eat before service,‖ Ramsay adds. ―Any chef would be lying if they told you
[they did], because you can‘t fill up. You need to stay agile; you need to stay on your toes, and
you need to have that hunger to constantly perfect – so we‘re the world‘s worst eaters.‖
Blackened Steak with Kimchi Fried Rice and Pickled Radish

Serves 2
1tbsp hoisin sauce
1tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 x 175g (6oz) bavette (flank) steaks
Vegetable oil, for frying
140g (scant 1 cup) kimchi, from a jar, plus 1tbsp of the juice
250g (1 1/3 cups) cooked jasmine or basmati rice
2 spring onions (scallions)
2 eggs
6 breakfast radishes or 5cm (2 inch) piece of daikon radish
2tbsp black sesame seeds or nigella seeds
1tsp chopped chilli, from a jar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place a griddle pan over a high heat.
Put the hoisin and soy sauce into a bowl and mix
together. Add the steak and stir to coat.
When the griddle is smoking hot, drizzle over a little oil

and cook the steaks for two to three minutes.
Meanwhile, place a large, non-stick frying pan over a

medium heat and add a little oil. While the oil is heating,
roughly chop the kimchi, then add it to the pan. Add the
rice and stir to combine.
Slice the spring onions, reserving the green tops for

serving, and add to the pan with the rice and kimchi.
Flip the steaks over and cook for a further two to three
minutes.
Place a second non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a little oil. When hot, crack in
the eggs and fry for two minutes, until the whites are firm and beginning to crisp around the
edges.
Finely grate the radishes into a bowl. Season with salt, then stir in the kimchi juice.
Divide the hot rice between two bowls. Put a fried egg on top and sprinkle with the sesame
seeds, followed by salt and pepper. Finely slice the steaks across the grain and place alongside
the rice.
Sprinkle over the chopped chilli and reserved spring onion greens before serving with the radish
salad on the side.
mini cinnamon doughnuts from Ramsay in 10 by Gordon Ramsay, published by Hodder &
Stoughton, out 14th October, £25. Hodder & Stoughton/Jamie Orlando-Smith/PA.
Mini Cinnamon Doughnuts with Chilli Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Serves 4
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
250g (1 cup) ricotta cheese
2 eggs
60g (scant 3tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar, plus
2–3tbsp for dusting
125g (½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
2tsp baking powder
Few drops of vanilla extract
1tsp ground cinnamon
Zest of 1 orange
For the chilli chocolate dipping sauce:
50g (2oz) dark chocolate
30g (¼ stick) butter
100ml (scant ½ cup) double (heavy) cream
100g (1 cup + 2tsp) caster (superfine) sugar
2tbsp honey
2tsp chipotle paste
½tsp sea salt
Pour a 6–8cm depth of vegetable oil into a wide saucepan and place over a medium–high heat
until it reaches 180C.
Put the ricotta into a food mixer or bowl and add the eggs, caster sugar, flour, baking powder and
vanilla extract. Beat until everything is combined.
Using two clean tablespoons, form the dough into eight walnut-sized balls.
Now make the dipping sauce: break the chocolate into small pieces and put into a small
saucepan. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, then place over a low–medium heat and allow
everything to melt, stirring regularly.
When the oil is up to temperature, add half the dough balls to the pan and cook for two to three
minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and
drain on kitchen paper (paper towel). Cook the remaining balls in the same way.
Meanwhile, put the dusting sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl and mix together. Add the
doughnuts and toss to coat.
Transfer them to a serving dish, grate over the orange zest and serve with the warm chocolate
sauce
https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/11/13/gordon-ramsay-on-chefs-being-the-worlds-worst-eaters/
Kishan Reddy slams Telangana govt says centre ready

to procure paddy
Slamming the TRS government, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the
centre would procure entire paddy produced in the state.
ANI| Posted by Sumaya Junaid Ahmed | Updated: 15th November 2021 7:47 am
IST
Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy (Photo: Siasat.com)
Hyderabad: Slamming the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana, Union
Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said that the Centre would procure entire Kharif (summer
or monsoon crop) paddy produced in the state.
Speaking to ANI, Reddy said, ―The Centre never said that it would not procure paddy in
Telangana. Is any farmer in Telangana producing boiled rice? Boiled rice is prepared by the rice
millers. The Center has been saying that boiled rice should be reduced in stages.‖
Earlier on Friday, the ruling TRS party staged a protest across the state demanding the central
government to buy paddy harvest grown by farmers of the state.
The Union Minister further said that the Central Government has decided to celebrate
Birsamunda Jayanti on November 15 as National Tribal Day.
―We are giving Rs 15 crore to the Tribal Museum in the state. We have already released Rs. 1
Crore to the Tribal Museum. Sammakka Saralamma Jatara will be held in February next year.
Saralamma Jatara will be funded by the Center,‖ he added
https://www.siasat.com/kishan-reddy-slams-telangana-govt-says-centre-ready-to-procure-paddy-2224878
KCR made agreement with Centre to procure paddy,

says Kishan Reddy
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | NARENDER PULLOOR
PublishedNov 14, 2021, 12:00 am IST
UpdatedNov 14, 2021, 7:00 am IST
Kishan Reddy made it clear that the Central government never asked to halt paddy procurement in states
Union minister G. Kishan Reddy speaking at a media conference here at the BJP state unit office
on Saturday. (Photo:DC)
HYDERABAD: Union minister for tourism, culture and development of northeastern region G.
Kishan Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had made an agreement with the
Central government to decrease the procurement of boiled rice from Telangana state. Defaming
the Central government and terrorising the paddy farmers, Rao instigated dharnas across the
state, he criticised.
Speaking at a media conference here at the BJP state unit office on Saturday, Kishan Reddy
made it clear that the Central government never asked to halt paddy procurement in states. In
view of surplus stocks of boiled rice in the country, the union government suggested states to
decrease procurement of boiled rice, he said. ―Boiled rice is not the problem of farmers, it will be
sorted out by the rice millers,‖ he said.
Replying to a question, Kishan Reddy said the BJP staged protests demanding that the TRS
government procure paddy. ―Agriculture is subject of the state and the Central government do
not have infrastructure in the states,‖ he explained. Farmers could understand the political
interests of the TRS over paddy procurement, he said.
In Punjab, farmers sowed paddy and wheat in two seasons and the Central government procured
the entire paddy of one season, he explained. The TRS government was misleading farmers that
Centre was procuring the entire paddy in Punjab and ignoring Telangana, he said. On lies, the
government could not survive forever, he said. ―The Central government is ready to provide 8.5
per cent interest on paddy procurement investment and supply gunny bags,‖ he said.
Kishan Reddy suggested Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to set aside egos and work for the
development of the state and concentrate on job recruitment, three-acres land for Dalits etc. ―I
always stick to factual information, but minister T. Harish Rao blamed me on AIIMS at
Bibinagar,‖ he said. The state government should respond to communiqués from the Central
government, he said.
The union minister said the Tribals Day would be celebrated on November 15 on the occasion of
Birsa Munda birth anniversary. Rs 1 crore was released for tribal museum and funds would be
allocated for biannual jatara of Sammakka and Saralamma in February 2022, he explained. BJP
senior leaders Ravindra Naik, Pradeep Kumar, Prakash Reddy, Sunita Reddy and others were
present.
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/131121/trs-govt-cant-survive-on-lies-says-
kishan-reddy.html
Himachal’s Women Farmers Received Award for

Conserving Traditional Rice
Ayushi Raina Updated 12 November, 2021 1:57 PM IST Published on 12 November, 2021 12:20
PM IST
Red Rice on Table
Union Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar conferred the Plant Genome Saviour
Award to women farmers from Rohru who were crucial in producing and conserving red rice,
popularly known as chhohartu, in New Delhi on Thursday.
The esteemed award comes with a monetary prize of ten lakh rupees, a citation, and a souvenir.
Varsha Sharma, president of the Rohru Red Rice Farmers' Society, and members Leela Vati,
Dipna Mehta, and Meena Kumari collected the prize. They were accompanied by Chaudhary
Sarwan Kumar of the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (HPAU), Palampur, Dr. Ajai
Srivastava, scientist in-charge of the rice and wheat research station, and Jubbal subject matter
specialist Ram Krishan.
Professor HK Chaudhary, vice-chancellor of HPAU, greeted the farmers and praised the
scientists for their accomplishment.
According to him, HPAU assisted in the registration of the traditional red rice variety with
the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Authority (PPVFRA) and was crucial in
the formation of a community of red rice growers.
The Plant Genome Saviour Award is India's highest award given to farmers for their
contributions contributions to plant variety conservation and development.
According to Chaudhary, red rice is grown over an area of 1,000 hectares in villages like Peja,
Masli, Jangla, Daboli, and Kaloti in Rohru subdivision's Chhohara valley, on the banks of
the Pabbar River, at altitudes ranging from 1,300m to 2100m. It's classified as Japonica red rice.
The nutritionally superior red kernelled Chhohartu rice fetches a higher price, is rich
in iron and zinc, as well as several trace elements and vitamins, and in addition has significant
antioxidant capabilities.
Locals think that the surplus water of thick consistency decanted after cooking red rice is good
for pregnant women.
https://krishijagran.com/agriculture-world/himachal-s-women-farmers-received-award-for-conserving-
traditional-rice
We are ready to buy raw rice as agreed upon‘

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 13, 2021 22:33 IST
SHARE ARTI CLE
State govt. on vicious campaign against Centre: Kishan
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy strongly rebuffed the
allegations made against the Centre by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and other
Ministers on procurement of paddy from farmers stating that there was no truth in it. He
said the Chief Minister and his Ministers were on a vicious campaign against Centre
and creating wrong impression among farmers for reasons best know to them.
―We have never said that we will not procure rice from the state. We have already
entered into an agreement with the State government to procure about 40 lakh matric
tonnes of rice. Again the State government said about 90 lakh matric tonnes of paddy
was being grown in the State and hence there was a need to increase it. Later they said
that with ‗eye survey‘ it seems the cultivation has increased to 108 lakh matric tonnes.
In 2014-15, the Centre has procured ₹ 3,404 crore worth of rice from Telangana
whereas it was increased to ₹26,641 crore in 2020-21. How can the Ministers allege
that the Centre is against farmers in the state?‖ questioned Mr. Kishan Reddy while
speaking to reporters here on Saturday. He said there was no clarity for the State
government on in the area of paddy and it had unnecessarily roping in farmers in the
issue.
―Farmers will grow only paddy and it was the responsibility of the State government to
procure, mill and hand it over to the centre. I want to clarify that farmers will grow only
paddy and are milling it as parboiled or raw rice will be with millers. The State
Government should speak with millers and settle the issue. For the past three years we
have been repeatedly saying that there was a large stock of boiled rice and we could
procure no more. We will decide what to do with the stock piled up,‖ said Mr. Kishan
Reddy adding that the entire expenditure to procure paddy would be borne by the
Centre and even 8.5 per cent interest would also be paid to State.
The Union Minister also wondered why the issue was raked up only after the results of
Huzurabad by-election results and what was the issue when the Centre was ready to
buy raw rice as agreed upon.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/were-ready-to-buy-raw-rice-as-agreed-upon-
says-kishan/article3747880
EG Collector advises farmers not to resort to

distress sale of paddy
Kakinada, Nov 13 (UNI) East Godavari Collector Chevuri Harikiran hason Saturday advised the farmers
not to resort to distress sale of their khariff paddy but supply the same to Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK)
availing the minimum support price fixed by the government.
Interacting with the farmers during his visit to the Rythu Bharosa Kendram at Yedida village of Mandapet
mandal on Saturday, paddy purchasing through RBKs was commenced and the farmers instead of falling
a prey in the hands of middlemen supply the paddy only to RBKs at the MSP.`
A target of purchasing 10 lakh tonnes of paddy through 1018 RBKs during this khariff season was fixed.
Two and half crore gunny bags are required for paddy purchasing as such they would be secured from the
rice millers and kept in the RBKs.
The rice millers would be paid user charges for the gunny bags supplied. Similarly for the hamalis Rs 25
per quintal was fixed as the charge. The farmers have to obtain coupons after getting their paddy quality
checked at the RBKs‘ he added.
Referring to the crop damaged due in the past few days' rains, he said, enumeration would be done and
the farmers would be extended the insurance and the input subsidy soon.
The decision would be taken on purchasing of the discolored paddy based on the government's orders, he
added.
Joint Collector Keerti Chekuri, Joint director agriculture N Vijayakumar, DM civil supplies
Lakshmireddy, District supply officer Prasadarao, RDO Sindhu Subrahmanyam, Tahsildar Rajeswerarao
were among those who accompanied the collector during the visit .
UNI XC KNR ACL2007
Ending rice-wheat monopoly can ease Delhi woes

Kushagra Dixit / TNN / Updated: Nov 13, 2021, 05:36 IST
A major problem for the farmers is an assured market for maize like rice has
LUDHIANA/PATIALA: Most of the fields along the

road to Jalaldiwal village, 42km from Ludhiana, are
ashen black, some still smoking. Amid such sombre
scenes of farm fires, one runs into a hillock of sunny
bales of straw. Tractors loaded with this paddy stubble
line up before busy men who unload, pull, push and
sort the bales. Dr Harminder Singh Sidhu, a 54-year-
old farmer who also runs an agri help centre, inspects
the quality of straw and shouts out instructions to his workers.
―We are collecting hay bales from over a thousand acres in 33 villages. It will be processed into fodder,‖
smiles Sidhu. ―We have been doing this for five years and encouraging farmers in Punjab not to burn the
harvest remains. It has been slow, but there is progress.‖
Sidhu is among the few farmers who are trying to veer away from the annual practice of burning the
remnants of the rice plants for the pollution this causes. Apart from processing it into fodder, he is also
trying to get plywood factories to use stubble as raw material. However, eradicating a decades-old
practice will take time and given that Punjab is one of the biggest rice producing states of India, merely
managing the stubble will not be enough to address the issue of air pollution caused by farm fires.
Alongside mechanical and chemical innovations, like the IARI decomposer, experts are also working on
ways to reduce the creation of stubble. A solution earlier attempted now appears both promising and
challenging: breaking the rice-wheat monopoly through crop diversification.
Agriculture scientists in Punjab are trying to push maize as a substation for rice in the belief that lesser
rice means lesser stubble. The package comes with major economic and climatic benefits, the prime
reasons why the diversification is being talked about. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
(CIMMYT), the state agriculture department and others are experimenting with this at 116 farms in
Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar and Rupnagar.
―Diversification is one of the two futuristic ways to reduce the emissions, the other being carbon credits,‖
said Dr M L Jat, principal scientist, CIMMYT. ―For this, the rice-to-wheat-to-rice cycle has to be
broken.‖ Scientists have discovered that wheat yields an extra two quintals per acre if sown after maize.
As a bonus, the farmers can grow moong bean in the interregnum of 60-65 days between wheat
harvesting and maize sowing.
The challenge however is to persuade and convince the sceptic farmers. ―A major problem for the farmers
is an assured market for maize like rice has,‖ revealed Jat. ―Last year, the support price for maize was Rs
2,000 per quintal but what farmers actually got was around Rs 1,200. We need to guarantee a price for
farmers to take to crop diversification.‖
Describing any further investment in Punjab‘s rice sector as ‗digging your own grave‘, Jat pointed out the
twin disadvantages of rice cultivation. While stubble burning makes air unbreathable in the National
Capital Region, the water table in Punjab is being fast depleted. Rice is so water intensive that producing
a kilo of it consumes as much as 75 times the water that a kilo of maize requires. And yet, Punjab has
around three million hectares under rice cultivation and just 109,000 hectares under maize.
However, improving Delhi‘s air quality is not the ultimate objective of crop diversification. Agri officials
insist it is an economic need for the monetary burden it imposes on the state and central governments. B S
Sidhu, Punjab‘s director of agriculture, said, ―For the cultivation of one hectare of paddy, the central
government spends Rs 72,000 and the state government Rs 8,000 to maintain the power and irrigation
infrastructure. An equivalent amount is invested by the farmers.‖ He said rice cultivation had to be
trimmed to two million hectares for sustenance and 1.6 million hectares ideally. ―This is doable, but it
tough due to several policy issue. We need the Centre to do more at the policy level,‖ Sidhu told TOI.
However, despite the desirability for crop diversification, capping rice production can be tricky.
―Experimenting with paddy is risky because of periodical droughts and the central government has
regularly advised us not to fiddle with rice,‖ said Sidhu. ―We actually thought of diversification in 1987, a
drought year. There were dry years also in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2014, and at such times, the country
needs food grains like rice.‖
Carbon credit is the other possible solution to farm fires. In a first attempt of the type, Grown Indigo, a
company based on sustainable agriculture, the state agriculture department and CIMMYT are engaged in
giving around a thousand farmers in four Punjab district carbon credits, a market-linked unit with a value
of Rs 700-1,200.
Explaining the concept, Dr Usha Barwale, executive director and chairperson, Grow Indigo, said, ―There
are certain agriculture practices that a farmer must undertake, such as converting from planting seedlings
to direct rice seed in the paddies or using machines like Happy Seeders or shifting from rice to maize.
After an audit, the credit is calculated in terms of tapping of CO2 equivalent and the farmer will be
incentivised.‖
While direct seed planting instead of seedlings reduce methane emissions, the Happy Seeder mixes
carbon in the soil and the rice-to-maize shift opens up window for a third, nitrogen-fixing crops like
legumes. Such quantifications are equated in carbon credits and charged in monetary terms from major
carbon-producing industries like oil to be passed on to the farmers.
Mechanical management of stubble has proved difficult to implement. ―We have given cooperatives and
farmers‘ societies 15,000 Happy Seeders, 18,000 Super Seeders and 504 balers since 2018,‖ claimed M
Kalia, joint director and nodal officer for stubble management, Punjab government. Yet, this is not
enough for 12 lakh farmers and 4.2 million hectares. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/ending-rice-
wheat-monopoly-can-ease-delhi-woes/articleshow/87674744.cms
Kishan Reddy slams Telangana govt, says Centre

ready to procure paddy
By ANI | Published: November 14, 2021 04:12 AM2021-11-14T04:12:40+5:302021-11-
14T04:20:18+5:30
Slamming the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana, Union

Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said that the Centre would procure entire
Kharif (summer or monsoon crop) paddy produced in the state.
Kishan Reddy slams Telangana govt, says Centre ready to procure paddy
Slamming the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana, Union Minister G
Kishan Reddy on Saturday said that the Centre would procure entire Kharif (summer or monsoon
crop) paddy produced in the state.
Speaking to ANI, Reddy said, "The Centre never said that it would not procure paddy in
Telangana. Is any farmer in Telangana producing boiled rice? Boiled rice is prepared by the rice
millers. The Center has been saying that boiled rice should be reduced in stages."
Earlier on Friday, the ruling TRS party staged a protest across the state demanding the central
government to buy paddy harvest grown by farmers of the state.
The Union Minister further said that the Central Government has decided to celebrate
Birsamunda Jayanti on November 15 as National Tribal Day.
"We are giving Rs 15 crore to the Tribal Museum in the state. We have already released Rs. 1
Crore to the Tribal Museum. Sammakka Saralamma Jatara will be held in February next year.
Saralamma Jatara will be funded by the Center," he added.

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15th November 2021 Daily Local Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter

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Daily Global, Regional & Local Rice E-Newsletter

15 th November ,2021 Vol 6 Issue 11

Editorial Board Rice News Headlines…

Mouzas decline to 49,384 from 52,376 in the last 12

Similarly, highest non-cultivated land is in Sindh with 32 percent followed by Khyber

Traditional Irrigation Sources

Depth of Water Table

Type of Housing Structures

Type of Streets in Rural Areas

Sewerage System in Rural Areas

S.Korea's Rice Production Posts Double-digit Growth

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point

KP Govt Trains 1 Lac Youth In IT Sector: Asad Umar

Research, tech key to facing agri challenges

Shahid Rashid Bhuiya

Rice grown from salt fields

Telangana: Bandi Sanjay Kumar to go on 2-day visit

Netizens pay homage to 'Father of hybrid rice' Yuan

Call to devise strong banking system to facilitate rice

Recorder Report 14 Nov 2021

Lords Bought: Are Foreign Money Trails Fuelling UK

£3 Million Price Tag Per Peerage

The Youthful Lord Sarfraz

Kaplan with MBZ (UAE Crown Prince )

Electrum is founded and run by the

His ties to the UAE and the Abu

Eco-Profile – A Global Do Gooder?

Lord Sarfraz‘s LinkedIn page

Sustainably sourced food from Better Grain?

Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza has meanwhile invested in a business in Pakistan founded by Sarfraz

Indus Basin Holding

Bringing foreign investors into Pakistan rice production

Honourable Members For The Middle East?

Hosted on visits by Saudi Arabia whilst

Kawczynski who is of Polish heritage and heads

He has intervened to support Saudi

―I have been battling against extraordinary

Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets could save you

By Marco Springmann, University of Oxford and The Conversation

Transitioning towards healthier and more sustainable diets is urgently needed to

Ministry of Consumer Affairs to Stress on Importance of Fortified

Team LatestlyNov 14, 2021 03:20 PM IST

Participatory rice variety evaluation programme

14 Nov 2021 9:07 AM 3 A CORRESPONDENT LAKHIMPUR:

Union Minister Kishan Reddy Takes Exception To

Press Trust Of India

Benin Republic to partner Kebbi Labana Rice Mills

Pakistan wants Afghanistan’s assets unfrozen

S.Muddasir Ali Shah

13 Nov 2021 - 10:55

He underlined the importance of a peaceful, stable, sovereign, prosperous and connected

M Imran Khan greenlights transportation of India's

 PM Imran Khan highlights the importance of stability in Afghanistan for

Troika Plus countries' envoys meet PM Imran Khan

He also laid a strong emphasis on provision of immediate humanitarian assistance and

Next president should junk failed economic

ps across Europe anew

November 14, 2021

collectively called the "Chicago Boys."

through an interlocking web.

wealthy and the great, suffering masses below.

1976, for his criticism of the Pinochet regime.

same path to regression?

sectors and attract more investments.