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‘Fistful of rice’ helps women keep Bangladesh’s

Indigenous community afloat
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Indigenous women meet to donate their weekly portion of rice to a community food bank in Naogaon district, northern
Bangladesh. (Photo: Borendro Development Organization)
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Indigenous women meet to donate their weekly portion of rice to a community food bank in Naogaon district, northern
Bangladesh. (Photo: Borendro Development Organization)
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https://arab.news/cbutj
Updated 13 February 2022
SHEHAB SUMON
February 13, 202222:32
907
 Women set aside a fistful of rice from their cooking every day and sell it together,
allocating their income for joint investments
 They also lend money to community members with little or no interest, preventing them
from falling into debt
DHAKA: When Doli Barman founded the first food bank in Kawapara village in northern
Bangladesh two years ago, she wanted to make sure her community would be safe from hunger
in times of crisis.
The impoverished region in Niamotpur, Naogaon district, an area inhabited by some 6,000
members of landless Indigenous groups, has often suffered food emergencies.
The simple food bank idea, called Musti Chal (“a fistful of rice”), has already helped it stay
afloat during one of the biggest crises in recent years — the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
pandemic — and is now allowing local women to make small investments and become self-
sufficient.
“One of the main objectives of this food bank was to extend support to group members during
periods of crisis,” Barman told Arab News.
Musti Chal was established just months before Bangladesh went into its first COVID-19
lockdown in March 2020. In communities like Barman’s, which are dependent on daily wage
labor, pandemic-imposed closures deprived many of their livelihoods, increasing the country’s
poverty rate to over 40 percent from 20 percent before the outbreak.
“Our people were saved from starvation,” Barman said. “From the food bank, we lent rice to
community members, which they repaid later.”
In her village, the food bank is now run by 30 women. They set aside a fistful of rice from their
cooking every day. After a week, they collect all the spare rice and sell some of it. They save the
money they have earned and after some time invest it together into small projects like fish
farming and domestic animals, which generate further income.
They also lend money to community members with little or no interest, preventing them from
falling into debt by borrowing from loan sharks.
“This is how the food bank is serving the community. We want to grow together,” Barman said.
“Now that I have the food bank, I am much more confident than before. I used to feel quite
helpless whenever I fell into any crisis.”
With other members of Musti Chal, she has now managed to save around $250, which the
women want to allocate for investment. This week, she said, they are going to buy livestock to
rear.
In managing the food bank, Barman’s group received training from the Borendro Development
Organization, a local nongovernmental organization funded by the Manusher Jonno Foundation,
which helps uplift Indigenous communities in the region and has helped with the establishment
of similar food banks in other villages.
“Initially, we provided some training and logistics to participants for the management of the food
bank,” project coordinator Mohammed Anwar Hossain told Arab News. “Each group meets once
a week to review their achievements and discuss future plans. We have a plan to extend further
assistance to groups to increase the fund, which will help Indigenous people achieve financial
independence.”
In Chargasa Vutkuri, a village next to Barman’s, women are already planning expansion.
“Now we are planning to take a pond on lease for fish farming in the locality. There is also a
plan to buy cattle,” she said. “All our 25 members are now growing together as a big family. We
understand that the strength of togetherness will offer us a huge potential to grow.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2024026/world
Experts advise growing more low GI rice to

fight spurt in diabetes
Monday, 14 February 2022 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi

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‘Increasing shift to sedentary lifestyle driving up cases'
With sedentary lifestyle increasingly becoming the norm in India — more so in view of
the Covid-19 induced work-from-home trend — driving up the number of diabetes
cases, scientists from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition and ICAR-Indian Institute of
Rice Research have favoured large-scale cultivation of the low Glycemic Index (GI) rice
as a fit diet for diabetic people in the country.
Any variety of rice with less than 55 GI is considered diabetic-friendly, according to

scientists. A low GI diet helps curb cravings and prevent sugar levels from spiking,
reduces heart risks, and aids weight loss.
“Considering increased shift towards sedentary lifestyle in majority of the population,

necessary policy changes are to be made at various levels to increase the cultivation of
low-GI rice in the country,” lead author of the study, D Sanjeeva Rao from IIR said.
His colleagues J Aravind Kumar, V Ravindra Babu and R M Sundaram and Ananthan
and T Longvah, both from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition co-authored the study
published in the latest edition of journal Current Science.
Most rice varieties in India are of high GI, a food quality said to contribute to the health
problems surrounding high-calorie intake and dysregulated glucose metabolism.
Manipulation of GI through various approaches is considered to significantly help in the
fight against diabetes and related diseases.
The scientists also noted that paddy procured from the farmers is processed to milled
rice and sold in the market under various brand names, and often the varietal purity is
compromised.
Hence, they emphasized that it is equally important to indicate the original name of the
variety, GI value and available carbohydrate value on the label to translate the
advantages of this research to society.
The IIRR has already identified three rice varieties with low GI values which are
considered suitable for diabetic patients. These are Lalat (GI=53.17), BPT 5204
(GI=51.42) and Sampada (GI=51). Also, named the ‘Telangana Sona’, yet another low
GI rice variety has been developed by researchers at Professor Jayaprakash Telangana
State Agricultural University (PJTSAU).
India is known as the Diabetes capital of the world with above 77 million adults
suffering from diabetes, this number is expected to increase to 134 million by 2045.
According to the World Health Organisation, diabetes mellitus is considered as one of
the major causes of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower-limb
amputation.

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/pioneer-exclusive/experts-advise-growing-more-low-gi-rice-to-
fight-spurt-in-diabetes.html
Experts advise growing more low GI rice to

fight spurt in diabetes
Monday, 14 February 2022 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi

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T
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‘Increasing shift to sedentary lifestyle driving up cases'
With sedentary lifestyle increasingly becoming the norm in India — more so in view of
the Covid-19 induced work-from-home trend — driving up the number of diabetes
cases, scientists from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition and ICAR-Indian Institute of
Rice Research have favoured large-scale cultivation of the low Glycemic Index (GI) rice
as a fit diet for diabetic people in the country.
Any variety of rice with less than 55 GI is considered diabetic-friendly, according to

scientists. A low GI diet helps curb cravings and prevent sugar levels from spiking,
reduces heart risks, and aids weight loss.
“Considering increased shift towards sedentary lifestyle in majority of the population,

necessary policy changes are to be made at various levels to increase the cultivation of
low-GI rice in the country,” lead author of the study, D Sanjeeva Rao from IIR said.
His colleagues J Aravind Kumar, V Ravindra Babu and R M Sundaram and Ananthan
and T Longvah, both from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition co-authored the study
published in the latest edition of journal Current Science.
Most rice varieties in India are of high GI, a food quality said to contribute to the health
problems surrounding high-calorie intake and dysregulated glucose metabolism.
Manipulation of GI through various approaches is considered to significantly help in the
fight against diabetes and related diseases.
The scientists also noted that paddy procured from the farmers is processed to milled
rice and sold in the market under various brand names, and often the varietal purity is
compromised.
Hence, they emphasized that it is equally important to indicate the original name of the
variety, GI value and available carbohydrate value on the label to translate the
advantages of this research to society.
The IIRR has already identified three rice varieties with low GI values which are
considered suitable for diabetic patients. These are Lalat (GI=53.17), BPT 5204
(GI=51.42) and Sampada (GI=51). Also, named the ‘Telangana Sona’, yet another low
GI rice variety has been developed by researchers at Professor Jayaprakash Telangana
State Agricultural University (PJTSAU).
India is known as the Diabetes capital of the world with above 77 million adults
suffering from diabetes, this number is expected to increase to 134 million by 2045.
According to the World Health Organisation, diabetes mellitus is considered as one of
the major causes of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower-limb
amputation.

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/pioneer-exclusive/experts-advise-growing-more-low-gi-rice-to-
fight-spurt-in-diabetes.html
Endangered Salmon Find New

Home in Northern California Rice
Fields
sandiego19 hours ago
Jordan Colby, a researcher at UC Davis, counts salmon baby in a flooded paddy field in Robbins.
REUTERS / Nathan Frantino
In an experiment that has been going on for a decade, biologists are releasing hatchery salmon in
flooded rice fields in Northern California, seeking to replenish endangered fish species while at the
same time benefiting the farmers’ business model.
At a time when environmentalists are often confronted with farming companies in California’s water
wars, conservation scientists and rice farmers are working together to recover the Sacramento River
floodplain for salmon habitat.
Their work is terrifying. California wetlands have almost disappeared, turning farms and cities into
one of the great achievements of engineering or environmental crime of the 20th century.
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Now, for the cost and inconvenience of flooding their fields, rice farmers are gaining goodwill and
betting that a healthy salmon population will avoid new regulations to protect wildlife and maintain
adequate water flow.
In recent years, biologists have discovered that as rice straw decomposes in flooded fields, a broth
rich in fish food is created. They call it “soup soup”.
“Zooplankton is so big and so juicy, it’s like a minion fillet,” said Andrew Rypel, a professor of fish
ecology at University of California Davis and lead researcher on the project.
https://californianewstimes.com/endangered-salmon-find-new-home-in-northern-california-rice-
fields/689316/
China’s approval of
gene-edited crops
energizes researchers
Source
nature
China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers

3 hours ago
Scientists say newly published guidelines will spur research into crops
that have increased yields and greater resilience to climate change.
No foreign genesGene-edited crops are developed using technologies

such as CRISPR–Cas9 that can make small tweaks to DNA sequences.
They differ from crops obtained by genetic modification because this
typically involves the insertion of entire genes or DNA sequences from
other plant or animal species. However, until now, in China they have
come under the same legislation as that covering GM organisms.
Currently, it can take up to six years to get biosafety approval for a GM

crop in China. But researchers say the new guidelines — which lay out
the process for receiving a biosafety certificate for gene-edited crops —
could reduce the approval time to one to two years.
GM crops require extensive, large-scale field trials before they are

approved for use. The new guidelines stipulate that, for gene-edited
crops deemed to pose no environmental or food-safety risks,
developers need only provide laboratory data and conduct small-scale
field trials. headtopics.com
However, researchers say that some of the guidelines are ambiguous.

They apply to crops in which gene-editing technology is used to remove
genes or make single-nucleotide changes, but it is not clear whether
they also apply to crops that have had DNA sequences introduced from
other varieties of the same species.
“We will have to confirm whether these are allowed,” because it is

important to have clarity around the rules, says Chengcai Chu, a rice
geneticist at South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou.Already,
researchers are planning to focus more of their work on developing new
crops that will be valuable to farmers. For example, Jian-Kang Zhu, a
plant molecular biologist at the Southern University of Science and
Technology in Shenzhen, says he wants to develop gene-edited
varieties that have increased yields, resilience against climate change
and a better response to fertilizer.
Others are preparing applications for rice that is particularly aromatic,
and soya bean that has a high content of oleic fatty acids, which could
produce oil low in saturated fats.Resistance and growthGao’s powdery
mildew-resistant wheat could be one of the first to be approved. In 2014,
she and her team used gene editing to knock out a gene that make
wheat susceptible to the fungal disease, but found that these changes
also stunted the plant’s growth
2. However, one of their edited plants grew normally, and the

researchers found that this was due to deletion of a portion of
chromosome that meant the expression of a gene involved in sugar
production was not repressed.Since then, the researchers have been
able to remove that same portion of the chromosome, in addition to the
gene that makes the plant susceptible to powdery mildew, creating
fungus-resistant wheat varieties that don’t suffer from restricted growth.
headtopics.com
Strict EU ruling on gene-edited crops squeezes science“This is a very

comprehensive and beautifully done piece of work,” says Yinong Yang,
a plant biologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. It
also has broad implications for almost all flowering plants, he says,
because powdery mildew can infect some 10,000 plant species.
“It is really exciting work,” adds David Jackson, a plant geneticist at Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, although he cautions that the
data on how well the wheat grew were based on relatively few plants
largely grown in greenhouses and will need to be confirmed with larger
field trials.
Studies such as this are evidence of China’s strong track record of

research into gene-edited crops, and the new regulations “are set to see
China take full advantage of their academic lead”, says Penny
Hundleby, a plant scientist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.
Read more: nature »
Read more >>

https://headtopics.com/us/china-s-approval-of-gene-edited-crops-energizes-researchers-24068656
5 killed in fire at Japan rice cracker factory
AFP 13 Feb, 2022
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TOKYO: Five people have died in a blaze at a rice cracker factory in
Japan, police said Saturday, with firefighters working through the
night to extinguish the inferno.
Around 30 workers were on site when the fire broke out at the facility in
northern Niigata prefecture around midnight, local media reported. The cause
of the fire is unclear.
“We confirmed the death of four women between 60s and 70s and we also
found an unidentified body,” a police spokesman told AFP without giving
further details.
Public broadcaster NHK reported officers were working to identify the body as
one of the two missing male workers, with another hospitalised but conscious
after inhaling smoke.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40154068/5-killed-in-fire-at-japan-rice-cracker-factory
Cultivation of heterogeneous varieties affecting rice production

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Ghana consumes about 80,000 tonnes of rice per year
Mr. Abraham Dwuma Odoom, Chief Policy Agricultural Advisor at the John Agyekum Kuffour Foundation,
has identified the cultivation of heterogeneous rice varieties as one of the challenges of the production of
cereal in Ghana
He noted that local rice farmers mostly combined different types of varieties on the same field making it
very challenging for millers to go in for them.
Mr. Odoom, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on issues concerning rice production in the
country, said the rice sector also faced issues in the value chain keeping cost of production very high.
Thousands of bags of local rice harvested during the last farming season in the Northern Region have
remained in the warehouses and homes as farmers struggle to find buyers.
Some of the farmers said the major rice off-takers in the region stopped buying rice because prices of
imported rice had become lower due to the benchmark value discount.
Ghana consumes some 80,000 tonnes of rice per year and currently produces sufficient to satisfy half of
this demand with the main rice-growing regions being Volta, Northern, Upper East, and Upper West.
There are 239,340 hectares of land under cultivation of rice, with most of them being used for paddy rice
farming.
The Policy Advisor said there was the need for a regulatory body to monitor the activities of farmers to
ensure that they produced the type of rice the miller needed so that when the cereal was harvested, it
could easily be picked.
He suggested a contract system of farming, which he introduced in Nigeria, where farmers engaged
millers before production and harvesting.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bagbara Tanko, the Head of Public Relations, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said the
outcry of rice farmers and the Rice Millers Association about the benchmark value policy was legitimate.
He said the Ministry on its special rice initiative under the Planting for Food and Jobs, was putting
measures in place to address the food import reduction agenda of the government.
Mr. Tanko said the government was working on import substitution for rice and poultry and hoping Ghana
would be self-sufficient in rice production by 2023.
Consequently, improved varieties and substantial quantities of certified rice seeds are being made
available to farmers.
The Head of Public Relations commended the private sector for establishing rice mills across the country
to improve on the grains, indicating that the Ministry was complementing their efforts to ensure a good
harvest.
Mr. Tanko said the government had brought in some equipment and subsidised them for rice farming
communities to enhance their production.
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Cultivation-of-heterogeneous-varieties-
affecting-rice-production-1468039
Home States Odisha
State goes slow on paddy purchase, milled

rice delivery
In delivery of custom milled rice (CMR), the State is way behind last year’s
achievement.

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Published: 14th February 2022 09:29 AM | Last Updated: 14th February 2022 09:29
AM | A+A A-
Representational Image (Photo | Express)
By Bijoy Pradhan
Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the farmers are crying foul over delay in procurement of

paddy leading to lapse of tokens, the Odisha government is lagging behind in both
purchase of paddy under minimum support price system and delivery of custom
milled rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
In the ongoing kharif marketing season (KMS), the State

government agencies have procured 36.33 lakh tonne of paddy under the decentralised
procurement system as against 43.98 lakh tonne during the same period last year.
In the delivery of custom milled rice (CMR), the State is way behind last year’s
achievement. As per FCI procurement data, the State has so far delivered 12,313
tonne of custom milled rice to the Central agency against the last year’s figure of 4.56
lakh tonne.
However, the progress in milling rice for distribution under different food security
schemes is comparatively better than last year. The Odisha State Civil Supply
Corporation (OSCSC), the government agency mandated for paddy procurement and
supply of rice under public distribution, has received over 2.87 lakh tonne of rice
against 2.51 lakh tonne during the corresponding period last year. The total rice
procurement till end of January 2022 was 2.99 lakh tonne against 7 lakh tonne last
year.
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As the blame game over lifting of parboiled rice between the State and Centre
continues, the rice millers who are benefitting the most out of it are going slow as they
are not keen to supply raw rice to the FCI.
“We have sufficient stock of parboiled rice in our warehouse. As FCI refused to lift
parboiled rice from this kharif marketing season, there is hardly any space to
accommodate paddy and rice at the same time,” said a rice miller from Western
Odisha.
The Department of Food Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Food, had
intimated the State government on August 3, 2021 that the FCI will not lift parboiled
rice from Odisha from the next KMS (2021-22). The issue was raised by BJD MPs in
the Rajya Sabha last week.
The State government has targeted to procure 63 lakh tonne of paddy (nearly 42 lakh
tonne rice) in the kharif season and 14 lakh tonne paddy (around 10 lakh tonne rice) in
rabi season.
:https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2022/feb/14/state-goes-slow-on-paddypurchase-
milled-rice-delivery-2419184.htm
Scientists reveal that horchata water

is an aphrodisiac
February 11, 2022 by CA18
Scientists reveal that horchata water is an aphrodisiac
The horchata water It is one of the richest drinks and whose main compound,
the Valencian tiger nut, is a natural aphrodisiac. This was revealed by a study
carried out by a group of scientists from Valencia, Spain.
According to an investigation carried out by the Superior Council of Scientific

Investigations (CSIC) and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Valencia,
natural horchata is a vasodilator whose effects are aphrodisiac.
This effect, the study details, is thanks to the high content of natural arginine in
horchata, an amino acid that also helps the body generate protein and promotes
good physical performance.
Horchata dilates blood vessels
According to a report recently released by the Mayo Clinicand which dilates

blood vessels, which can bring great benefits to treat heart conditions and
erectile dysfunction.
But that’s not all, since according to the study, the Valencian tiger nut, the main
compound of horchata, is also a carrier of phospholipids that help eliminate bad
cholesterol and control diseases such as diabetes.
The tiger nut is an edible tuber considered a superfood for its properties and its
nutritional value. … There are documents written by Persian and Arab authors
where the tiger nut was already indicated for curative purposes due to its
digestive and antioxidant benefits.
What is horchata water?

It is a drink made from ground tiger nuts, which are mixed with water or milk,
sugar and lemon. In Mexico it is a refreshing drink that is usually prepared with
grains of rice soaked in water that are then ground to mix with sweetened water
and cinnamon.
Composition. In other places, what is known as horchata water is prepared,

mixing rice flour, white sugar, cinnamon, powdered milk, vanilla and, sometimes,
almonds, coconut and morro seeds, although the recipe may vary depending on
the region. and personal taste.
Follow us on Google news, Facebook Y Twitter to keep you informed.
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https://california18.com/scientists-reveal-that-horchata-water-is-an-aphrodisiac/3309672022/
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 INDIA
 MP: RESCUE OPERATION UNDERWAY TO SAVE LABOURERS TRAPPED IN KATNI CANAL
 222 views
 1 day ago
MP: Rescue operation underway to save labourers
trapped in Katni canal
73
Feb 13, 2022, 08:58AM ISTSource: ANI
Nine labourers got trapped after an under-construction canal at Sleemanabad in the Katni
district of Madhya Pradesh. Five out of nine labourers have been rescued by the team.
Rescue operation is currently underway by SDERF and District administration team to
save other labourers. Further details awaited.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/mp-rescue-operation-underway-to-save-labourers-
trapped-at-canal-in-katni/videoshow/89538104.cms
Upland rice cultivation allows
productive use of dry land:
minister
12th February 2022
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, observed the first harvest of upland rice in Tulang
Bawang Barat district in Lampung on Saturday (February 12, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-Special Photo)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Upland rice cultivation is one of the government's efforts to
make dry land productive and increase food availability, Coordinating Minister for
Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has informed.
After witnessing the first harvest of upland rice in Tulang Bawang Barat district,
Lampung province, Hartarto said he expected the optimization of upland rice
commodities in various regions.
"We appreciate the first harvest of upland rice that used technology and
conducted trials. Upland rice is expected to continue to provide positive results,
especially in food estates with limited water," he explained here on Saturday.
He also called upon local governments and all levels of society to build a more
competitive agriculture sector, upstream to downstream, with higher productivity.
It is hoped that farmers can use quality seeds and apply agricultural
mechanization to achieve food self-sufficiency and make a positive contribution
to the national economy, the minister said.
Related news: Govt sets unhusked rice production target at 55 million tons
Upland rice was one of the crops selected to realize the food consumption
program because it can be grown on dry land, Hartarto said. Its cultivation
presents a solution for utilizing ex-plantation land and can be suitable even in
areas with low rainfall, he added.
Many provinces in Indonesia have cultivated upland rice, including Lampung

province, he noted.
Based on Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, Lampung province produced

2,472,587 tons of dry unhusked rice (GKG) in 2021, accounting for 4.47 percent
of the national production of 55,269,619 tons of GKG, with productivity pegged at
50.40 Kw/Ha, he said.
In Tulang Bawang Barat district alone, rice production reached 30 thousand tons
of GKG in 2020, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the government's commitment to food security has been proven by

the agricultural sector that has been able to survive the pandemic, the minister
said. The agricultural sector supported the economy by growing 2.08 percent
(year on year) in the fourth quarter of 2021, he added.
Related news: Indonesia has the potential to export rice

Related news: BPS sees rice production at 31.63 mln tons in 2020
https://en.antaranews.com/news/214965/upland-rice-cultivation-allows-productive-use-of-dry-land-
minister
Tampines Blk 146 vertical farm

successfully grows & harvests
made-in-S'pore rice
First time Temasek rice is being grown in an urban farm situated in a
residential area.
Zhangxin Zheng | February 12, 2022, 03:32 PM

Events
Future-Ready Postgrad Fair 2022

19 February 2022 - 19 February 2022
Online
Growing rice the traditional paddy field way requires a lot of water and land,
and is dependent on weather conditions.
So, it comes as a pleasant surprise to many to find out that rice can actually
be grown in Singapore.
What's more, the use of paddy fields are not even required, as rice here can
be grown on a vertical farm mounted to the wall of Block 146 Tampines
Avenue 5.
Photo by Zheng Zhangxin.
Rice harvesting at Tampines HDB estate

On Feb. 12 morning, Tampines GRC Members of Parliament attended the
rice harvesting ceremony at the block.
The MPs threshed the rice to loosen out the rice grains from the stalks at the
ceremony to signify a bountiful Year of the Tiger.
The variant of rice grown at the vertical high-tech farm at Block 146 is the
Temasek Rice.
They were initiated in the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory green house
before being transplanted to the vertical farm in October 2021.
Prior to growing rice at the block, the laboratory conducted trials and
optimised technologies to grow the rice at an experimental vertical farming
structure in Lim Chu Kang.
Vertical high-tech farm

The six-storey vertical farm at Block 146 is managed by local company
Netatech, which specialises in using micro-drip technology and rainwater
harvesting to reduce the resources needed to grow food crops.
The farm grows rice at the top floor, while the other floors are occupied by
vegetables, such as naibai and Hong Kong kai lan.
Netatech uses precision drip irrigation to water the rice and this method
reduces the amount of water needed to grow rice significantly.
Growing 1kg of rice in a paddy field requires 2,500 litres of water, as

compared to 750 litres of water for the same amount of rice using the
precision drip irrigation method, Daniel Wong, the director of technology at
Netatech said.
Rice stalks at Blk 146 vertical farm before harvest. Photo courtesy of
Netatech.
Rice stalks ready for harvest. Photo by Zheng Zhangxin.

Mothership understands that it takes about four months to grow each batch of

Temasek rice at the Block 146 vertical farm in Tampines.
The vegetables typically take two to four weeks to be ready for harvest.
While the rice is used for research and development purposes only for now,
the vegetables grown at Block 146 are distributed to residents who gain
credits to redeem these free and fresh vegetables after contributing their food
waste to the black soldier fly facility at Tampines Park.
A total of 165kg of vegetables are produced each month, and this can feed
around 100 families of four.
The initiative at Tampines Block 146 contributes to national efforts of

achieving the "30-by-30" goal, which is to meet 30 per cent of nutritional
needs of the population by 2030 through local food production.
Masagos Zulkifli, the Minister for Social and Family Development, told the
media that the success of this farm has garnered interest from residents in
other areas.
To replicate such an infrastructure at other HDB blocks, the town council will
have to ensure there is sufficient space to house such infrastructure and it will
not become a form of disamentiy to the residents, such as blocking the view
that they enjoy or intruding into their privacy, Masagos added.
More about the Temasek rice

The Temasek rice is a semi-dwarf variety that can tolerate drought better than
other rice variants. It can thrive for two weeks without water.
It is also disease resistant and relatively high yield.

While the Temasek rice does not taste like Thailand fragrant rice, the texture
was described to be in between typical white rice and brown rice, according
to Lim Hock Chuan, the Chief Executive of Temasek Foundation Liveability.
The Temasek rice has been sold in Indonesia since 2016 and can be found in
some supermarkets in Singapore, such as Redmart and Amazon.sg.
https://mothership.sg/2022/02/tampines-vertical-farm-rice/
Export of 14 items to Kabul allowed in rupee

APPPublished February 12, 2022 - Updated 2 days ago

1
Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood is presented a memento at the launch of the State Life
Insurance Corporation of Pakistan’s digital portal and a mobile application on the eve of its golden
jubilee. — PID
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has allowed export settlement of 14 items to Afghanistan in local

currency.
The export of poultry and products, meat, cement, pharmaceutical, textiles, fruits, vegetables,
salt, rice and surgical instruments to the crisis-hit neighbouring country can be settled in
Pakistani rupees, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood announced on his official Twitter
account on Friday.
The adviser said that queries have been received regarding export to Afghanistan in Pakistani
rupees. “We would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan; MOC [Ministry of
Commerce] has allowed export settlement of 14 items in Pakistan’s local currency,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the adviser in Karachi launched the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan’s
digital portal and a mobile application on the eve of its golden jubilee.
Addressing the golden jubilee ceremony, the adviser said these new facilities will help provide
better insurance services to Pakistanis within and outside the country.
Appreciating the SLIC’s profit growth despite Covid shocks, the adviser hoped that the state-
owned insurance company would pursue futuristic policy and would focus more on innovations
to become a leader in the services sector, which was fast growing in the world.
He, however, emphasised that SLIC with other two state-run insurance companies National
Insurance Corporation Ltd and Pakistan Insurance Corporation Ltd should ensure a competitive
atmosphere for further growth of this sector.
As a country, he said, in the past due attention and support were not given to exports especially
of services. But now, with better policies of the government, the services sector exports had
significantly increased. The information technology sector had a big stake in services exports
with 50pc growth, he added.
For this financial year, the target for IT exports had been set at $3.7bn and for non-IT services
including insurance, shipping line and consultancy the target was $7.5bn. During the last fiscal
year, the textile exports went up to $21bn against the $15bn of the previous year.
He mentioned that besides going for value-addition and innovation in the textile sector, the
country needed to develop non-traditional export sectors including the services sector for
sustained growth in the exports.
“We are depending more on textiles. We should be forward-looking and focus on the services
sector and other non-traditional sectors,” he asserted, adding that it is encouraging the textile
exports have significantly grown during the last couple of years, but textile did bring only
foreign exchange whereas IT exports earned respect for the country along with money.
Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022

1
Read more
SBP urged to allow trade in cash with Afghanistan
Govt move to facilitate trade with Afghanistan
Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan decline by over 25pc
On DawnNews
‫ فلمیں جن کو ایک بار ضرور دیکھیں‬E‫ذہن گھما دینے والی وہ بہترین‬

‫ فیض احمد فیض کو یاد کریں‬،‫ٓائیں‬
‫ کھڑکیاں جو ہیٹر یا اے سی کی ضرورت ختم کردیں‬E‫اسمارٹ‬

Comments (1) Closed
https://www.dawn.com/news/1674619
Pakistan allows exports to Afghanistan in

rupees
Experts welcome development, saying it will help gain access to Afghan markets
Usman HanifFebruary 12, 2022

Trucks loaded with supplies wait to cross into Afghanistan at the Friendship Gate crossing point, in the Pakistan-
Afghanistan border town of Chaman. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
In a bid to streamline regional connectivity and trade, Pakistan has
allowed traders the export settlement of 14 items with Afghanistan
in local currency.
The items included poultry, meat, cement, pharmaceutical products, textile,
fruits, vegetables, salt, rice, surgical instruments, etc, revealed Adviser to
Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood.
On his official Twitter handle, the adviser on Friday mentioned that the
Ministry of Commerce had been receiving queries about exports to
Afghanistan in Pakistani rupee.
“We would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan, the Ministry of
Commerce has allowed export settlement of 14 items in Pakistani rupee,”
Dawood added.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP)
President Ismail Suttar appreciated the development and said that it would
pave the way for gaining access to Afghanistan’s markets again.
“In the past, we lost Afghan markets to the Indians, however, it is our turn
now to take the advantage,” he remarked.
Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) officials also viewed the move as a positive
initiative taken by the Commerce Division to facilitate bilateral trade.
Border areas of both countries would reap benefits of the new development,
after the issuance of Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 176(1)2022 by the
ministry, PBF Vice President Ahmad Jawad told The Express Tribune.
In the past, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan was facing
severe hurdles, he recalled and added that regional trade and connectivity was
crucial for achieving the much-required economic progress.
“We must focus on boosting regional trade,” he remarked, adding that
Afghanistan carried a huge export potential for Pakistan.
In that regard, Pakistan should also hold trade shows in different cities of
Afghanistan, Jawad underlined.
He was of the view that if Pakistan failed to tap markets of the neighbouring
country, then other countries would grab the opportunity.
Elaborating, he cited the example of China, as the country was extending
assistance to Afghanistan and planning to make inroads into its markets.
A simple mechanism for export settlement in local currency should be notified
by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on priority, in order to lift Pakistan’s
exports to the neighbouring country to match earlier levels, Jawad
emphasised.
Arif Habib Commodities CEO Ahsan Mehanti said that the bilateral trade
facilitation arrangement came when the country needed to fetch US dollars
through exports to pay for imports.
“Pakistan is running trade deficit in dollars and agreements to fetch export
revenue in rupees may not be helpful in funding the deficit,” he said.
“Similar arrangements need to be made with China to pay for our imports in
rupees to ease pressure before approaching other nations for the same
mechanism.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2343131/pakistan-allows-exports-to-afghanistan-in-rupees
Champions of humanity
From the NewspaperPublished February 12, 2022 - Updated 2 days ago

THE current situation in Afghanistan is more horrific than before. People

are moving to take inhumane decisions, and according to certain media
reports, some are selling their children and others are selling their own
kidneys for the sake of survival. Afghanistan is undergoing a long, cold
and hungry winter. Families are living under the sky, eating plants and
burning plastic to stay warm.
To make it worse, the government has no cash system in place so it can only
have food-for-work arrangements in place. Labourers are receiving bags of
rice and flour for a day’s work. Wheat and rice are being provided by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s efforts to help the Afghans are appreciable, but the United States,
claiming to be the champion of humanity and human rights, has frozen about
$9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank even as millions of
lives are in serious danger.
There is a dire need to rescue the vulnerable people of Afghanistan. The world,
especially those who claim to be the leaders in human rights, should come
forward to help them. Food is more important for living than any other thing.
An empty stomach demands food, not education or freedom.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1674657/champions-of-humanity
Govt allows export of 14 items in local

currency: Razak Dawood
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APP
FEBRUARY 12, 2022
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on
Friday said that the Ministry of Commerce had allowed export settlement of 14 items in
local currency of Pakistan Rupee. The ministry has allowed export settlement of 14
items in local currency of the Pakistani Rupee, which includes poultry and products,
meat, cement, pharmaceutical, textiles, fruits, vegetables, salt, rice and surgical
instruments, the adviser said this on his official Twitter account. The adviser said that
queries had been received regarding export to Afghanistan in Pakistan Rupee (Rs). “We
would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan; MOC has allowed export
settlement of 14 items in Pakistan’s local currency,” he
https://dailytimes.com.pk/884391/govt-allows-export-of-14-items-in-local-currency-razak-dawood/
Govt Allow Export Of 14 Items In
Local Currency: Razak Dawood
Published February 11, 2022 | 05:11 PM
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on
Friday said the Ministry of Commerce has allowed export settlement of 14 items in
local currency of Pakistan Rupee
ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Feb, 2022 ) :Adviser
to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Friday
said the Ministry of Commerce has allowed export settlement of 14 items in
local Currency of Pakistan Rupee.
The ministry has allowed export settlement of 14 items in local currency
of Pakistan Rupee, which includes poultry and products, meat, cement,
pharmaceutical, textiles, fruits, vegetables, salt, rice and surgical instruments, the
adviser said this on his official twitter account.
The adviser said that queries have been received regarding export
to Afghanistan in Pakistan Rupee (Rs).
"We would like to clarify that to ease exports to Afghanistan; MOC has allowed
export settlement of 14 items in Pakistan's local currency," he said.
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Related Topics
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/govt-allow-export-of-14-items-in-local-curren-1467962.html
Rice feeds the world, now

more than ever
February 11, 2022
Jesica Kincaid, Senior Manager, International Trade Policy, USA Rice, argues that rice
feeds the world, now more than ever
Rice has been produced throughout the world for thousands of years, and today it is a staple
food for more than 3.5 billion people. The United States, while newer to the rice game than
some other exporters, produces several varieties of nutritious, high-quality, and delicious rice.
While approximately half of the rice produced in the U.S. is consumed there, the other half is
exported around the globe including providing food to the world’s hungry. The U.S. rice
industry is proud to participate in international food assistance programmes that help feed,
nourish and educate those in need.
Increasing need for international assistance
Numerous man-made and natural disasters as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have
only increased the need for such assistance. Two years into the pandemic, the World Food
Programme reports (1) that global and national economic disruptions caused by subsequent
waves of the virus have resulted in an estimated 97 million more people living in poverty in 2021
compared to 2019, leaving tens of millions more people hungry and malnourished.
As a result, in 2020 and 2021, the U.S. rice industry saw record years for international food
assistance deliveries. With the development and ever-expanding use of fortified rice, rice
contributes to improving food security by not only fighting hunger but also acute malnutrition.
Fortified rice is rice that is traditionally grown and milled, and following the milling process, a
nutrient premix that is specified to the dietary needs of the recipient population is added as
a coating or as an extruded kernel, without substantial additional cost.
In addition to being nutritious, rice has a long shelf life, is easy to prepare, fits into the diets of
many different ethnic groups, and is one of the least allergenic foods, making it a perfect fit for
assistance programmes.
Rice usage in international food assistance has been growing not only in terms of volume, but
also in the diversity of the programmes in which it is utilised.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has two principal international assistance
programmes: Food for Progress, a monetisation development programme that sells U.S. grown
commodities in the recipient country and then uses that cash to create economic and agricultural
programmes within the country; and McGovern-Dole Food for Education, a global school
feeding programme and a primary user of fortified rice.
A third programme is Food for Peace, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s
(USAID) emergency feeding programme which works to create a world free of hunger and
poverty.
Given that it is a global staple, rice has seen increased use across all three of these government
assistance programmes. Recently, more than 100,000MT of U.S.- grown milled rice was
monetised in West Africa to support the cashew and sesame industries in several countries in the
region.
As for fortified rice, it is the most utilised commodity in McGovern-Dole, having been awarded
for all 2022 school feeding projects. USAID also recognises the value of fortified rice for the
people it serves, having increased volumes over the past few years and with the eventual goal of
having all rice used in its programmes be fortified.
The U.S. rice industry
In addition to the privilege of helping those in need, the U.S. rice industry also prides itself on its
sustainable farming practices, having made substantial changes over the past 30 years that led to
numerous environmental benefits.
Some of these benefits include a 52% decrease in water use, a 41% decrease in greenhouse
gas emissions, and a 39% increase in land use efficiency. U.S. rice farms, 96% of which are
family-owned, contribute to a safe and strong supply chain for the well-being of all through
sustainable practices and being good stewards of the land.
On a global level, rice production has hit record levels for the last several years, with another
record projected for the 2021/22 crop year and global stocks maintaining their highest levels in
history.
For rice consumers around the world, whether they are able to purchase rice at their local grocery
stores or need assistance to feed themselves and their families, the U.S. rice industry is there to
answer the call.
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/sustainable-rice/129439/
15 Types Of Rice And How To Perfectly Cook Them
kuvona/Shutterstock
BY KRISTEN CARLI/FEB. 11, 2022 5:02 PM EST
Rice is one of our favorite types of food. We don't care how you prepare this grain. We love it in any
way, shape, or form. And yet, rice sometimes gets a bad rap in the health community for being too high
in carbohydrates. But let's face it, your body needs carbs. The carbs you eat might as well be the type
that is packed with fiber and nutrients, as opposed to the tasty, yet less healthy carbohydrate
alternatives that come from your neighborhood bakery.
From American to Thai to Spanish, rice is the foundation of many beloved, traditional cuisines. We are
talking about sushi, stir-fries, pilaf, risotto, arancini, and paella. You've surely encountered a few
different varieties of rice in your day as well — after all, there are some 40,000 types of rice in the world
today (via Bon Appétit) — but you might not be an expert in cooking rice properly, let alone in preparing
a rice dish from scratch in your own kitchen.
Well look no further. This handy guide will walk you through 15 different types of rice and how to
perfectly cook each of them. Get those rice recipes ready, we're about to make you a professional in the
rice cooking world. Keep reading to become an expert in cooking some of the most well-known rice
types out there. Don't worry about having leftover rice ever again either; there are plenty of uses for
that as well.
Jasmine Rice
pukao/Shutterstock
Jasmine rice is a type of rice not uncommon to many kitchens; it's often prepared as rice on the side,
used as a base in curries and in stews, or sautéed with vegetables in stir-fries.
Grown typically in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, jasmine rice comes in various colors, including
white, brown, red, purple, and black (via A Couple Cooks). It's also referred to as Thai fragrant rice,
known for its subtle buttery flavor. Jasmine rice is most often seen in its white rice form, but the rice is
also available as a whole-grain variety, with its brown version offering twice as much fiber content: 2
grams to 1 (via Healthline). Jasmine rice can be used in many different recipes, including dirty rice — a
seasoned beef and rice dish.
To cook this type of rice on the stovetop, add 1 ½ cup of water to 1 cup of jasmine rice, cover, and then
simmer for 15 minutes (per Mahatma Rice).
Basmati Rice
StockImageFactory.com/Shutterstock
Basmati rice is a bit longer than jasmine rice and is similarly known for its aroma. India and Pakistan
were the first countries to cultivate this type of rice, with India accounting for about 65% of the world's
production today, according to Bon Appétit.
Basmati rice has a low to medium glycemic index, which means that it is fairly slow to digest and does
not cause the typical blood sugar spike you may see from other types of rice (via Tilda). It also is
exceptional because it contains all the essential amino acids that make up protein, in addition to a good
amount of folate. Tilda notes that Basmati gets better with age, which means you can store it in your
pantry for a long time and the floral notes will become even more prominent as time passes.
To cook basmati rice, bring 1 ¾ quarter cups of water and 1 cup of rice to a boil on the stovetop, then
lower to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes (via Mahatma Rice).
Wild Rice
Anna_Pustynnikova/Shutterstock
Wild rice is notable because of its fiber content, which is about three times more than that of white rice
(per Healthline). As most Americans do not consume enough fiber in an average day, adding wild rice to
your diet may be a great way to increase your overall intake of fiber. Additionally, a study published in
the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that wild rice had 30 times more antioxidant
activity than white rice. This is excellent news for wild rice eaters, as antioxidants are a natural
neutralizer of cell-damaging free radicals in the body.
To cook wild rice on the stovetop, add 4 cups of water and 1 cup of wild rice to a small saucepan. Bring
this mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the wild rice to
cook for 45 minutes (per Allrecipes).
Sushi Rice
Nishihama/Shutterstock
Sushi rice is a Japanese short grain rice, and in true, authentic Japanese cuisine, only sushi rice is used to
make sushi (via Just One Cookbook). This type of rice is not used in any other dishes.
To make sushi rice, you season the rice with a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and kombu. You start
with 3 ½ cups of uncooked white short grain rice and 1 ½ cups of water. Add this combination to a rice
cooker and place the piece of kombu on top. Cook until the rice is done. Then remove and stir in the
seasoned rice vinegar. If you are planning on keeping this sushi rice for a few hours until using, be sure
to cover with a damp towel. Then when ready, form into sushi rolls, such as in this recipe for spicy crab
salad sushi rolls. Serve your sushi up with chopsticks, or not (if you are a real pro).
Long Grain Rice
Soho A Studio/Shutterstock
Long grain rice is an overarching umbrella term. This type of rice includes both jasmine and basmati rice,
as well as other types of rice that grow in a similarly long fashion (up to five times its width). When long
grain rice is cooked properly, the lower starch content in it results in cooked rice that is dry and fluffy
(via Bon Appétit). This texture makes long grain rice an excellent choice for mixed dishes such as salads
or vegetable rice concoctions. The Kitchn notes, however, that this type of rice, because of how its
kernels stay separate after cooking, is not an ideal type of rice for sushi or risotto.
To cook long grain rice, add 1 ½ cups of water and 1 cup of long grain rice to a small saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 18-20 minutes.
Brown Rice
Jr images/Shutterstock
Brown rice is widely touted for its health benefits. This whole-grain rice is rich in fiber and antioxidants,
and research suggests that brown rice consumption can lead to more managed blood sugar control as
well as a lower risk of heart disease (per Healthline and U.S. News & World Report).
Because of its reputation for being a healthful alternative to white rice, it's become more common these
days to find brown rice offered on restaurant menus as well, and for all types of cuisine, too — even
Asian (via Szechuan House). Brown rice is actually white rice before the rice is "polished" at the mills;
brown rice simply is rice that retains the kernel's bran layers (via USA Rice).
If you are making brown rice at home, boil 1 cup of water and 2 cups of brown rice. Lower this mixture
to a simmer and cover for about 45 minutes (via Love and Lemons).
Arborio Rice
Dmitrii Ivanov/Shutterstock
Arborio rice is most frequently used in Italian risotto recipes and so you will often only find it called for in
such dishes. Because this rice does not go under as much milling as most other types of rice, what
remains is more starch. This high starch content provides the perfect texture for luscious and creamy
risotto, per The Spruce Eats.
Because this type of rice is typically used in risottos, we would not recommend that you boil it with
water on the stovetop. Instead, it is recommended to cook this type of rice slowly over medium heat.
Risotto is a labor of love that involves constant stirring ... and we mean constant stirring. Most risotto
recipes involve stirring for a minimum of 20 minutes. It's worth it, though, we promise. Consider this
your arm workout for the day. Name another workout that results in a delicious dinner. We'll wait!
Red Cargo Rice
Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock
Red cargo rice is probably one type of long grain rice that you are not familiar with. This type of rice is
common in Thai and Vietnamese dishes like com do or kow mun pboo. Per What to Cook Today, red
cargo rice's red coloring is an indication of its phytonutrient content. The red colors found in the rice, or
any red produce for that matter, come from the anthocyanin, a type of antioxidant. Red cargo rice is also
known for its high fiber content and its nutty aroma.
To cook red cargo rice, add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of red cargo rice to a small saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid and continue to simmer
for 45 minutes. Serve the finished rice alongside some chicken tom kha soup for the ultimate Thai
dinner.
Black Rice
mimi-TOKYO/Shutterstock
Black rice is sometimes referred to as purple rice or forbidden rice. This type of rice is common in Asian
dishes. Black rice, like red cargo rice, has a very bright coloring, and as we saw with the red cargo rice,
where there is color, there are phytonutrients — specifically anthocyanin (via Healthline).
According to EatingWell, black rice offers more protein than white rice and even more than brown rice.
Further, one serving of black rice can provide you with 4% of one's daily fiber needs and 6% of your
recommended iron intake. The texture of this type of rice is most often described as "chewy."
To cook black rice, add 2 ¼ cups of water and 1 cup of black rice to a saucepan. Bring the rice mixture to
a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan and continue to simmer for 30 minutes (via Feasting at
Home).
Rosematta Rice
Sen Alfred/Shutterstock
Rosematta rice, aka Kerala rice (named after the district in India in which it is grown), is likely another
type of rice that you haven't heard of. This type of rice, which is high in vitamin A, vitamin B, and
magnesium, is also, similar to other whole grains, fairly high in fiber (via StyleCraze). The rice is served as
is, as well as used as an ingredient in dishes like unniyappam and aravana payasam.
To cook rosematta rice, you'll want to refer to the way in which you cook your pasta. Instead of a
balanced ratio of water to rice like how we would cook other types of rice, rosematta rice gets dumped
into a large pot of boiling water (an exact amount is not necessary). Allow the red parboiled rice to boil
for at least 45 minutes, though it can take up to an hour. Once cooked, drain the entire pot so that only
the rice remains (via Simple Indian Recipes).
Thai Black Sticky Rice
Nungning20/Shutterstock
Thai black sticky rice is also referred to as black glutinous rice. You can thank the phytonutrient
anthocyanin again for the vibrant black color. Thai black sticky rice is not only high in antioxidants but
also known for its relatively high manganese content (via SFGate).
The extra starch content in Thai black rice is the reason for its sticky texture once cooked. This allows it
to be the perfect addition to specialty sushi rolls and other decorative dishes. Similar to other black
foods, such as blackcurrants, the color of Thai black sticky rice is more purple than actual black. You may
even think someone added food dye, but rest assured this is the natural shade of the rice.
To cook Thai black sticky rice, add 2 ¼ cups of water and 1 cup of Thai black sticky rice to a small
saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and continue to
simmer for 45 minutes (via EatingWell).
Thai Sticky Rice
masa44/Shutterstock
Thai sticky rice, meanwhile, is the white rice version of Thai black sticky rice. This type of rice is referred
to as glutinous rice or sometimes sweet rice, according to Serious Eats. Thai sticky rice is a great
complement to dishes like Thai chicken red curry or massaman beef curry.
Cooking this type of rice is a little bit different than with its black counterpart. Per Inquiring Chef, you
will want to make sure you soak the dried rice for at least four hours (and up to 10 hours) before
cooking it. Add a thin-holed colander to a large pot of water, where the water is just touching the
bottom of the colander. Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot with a lid. Allow the rice to steam
covered for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and flip the rice in one fell swoop, like a pancake. Then
return the lid to the pot and continue to steam for 10 more minutes.
Kalijira Rice
Scoop Pohotography/Shutterstock
Did you know that you were in the presence of royalty? Kalijira rice, also known as govinda bhog or baby
basmati, is sometimes referred to as the "prince of rice" in its native Bangladesh, according to
FineCooking. This type of rice flexes its versatility in a variety of South Asian dishes, from a side of pilaf
(thanks to its ability to puff and separate) to a creamy rice pudding in milk.
Given that this rice is not as common as some of the other types of rice listed here, if you were to ever
make a recipe that calls for Kalijira rice and you can't find it, basmati rice makes for a quick substitute. To
cook this princely rice, add 1 ⅓ quarters cup of water and 1 cup of Kalijira rice to a saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for eight minutes (via TINY Kalijira).
Carnaroli Rice
Picture Partners/Shutterstock
While you might be more familiar with Arborio rice for risotto, Carnaroli rice is another popular type of
rice used in such dishes. In fact, if you can believe it, Carnaroli rice is even more starchy than Arborio
rice, making it the preferred rice to use in Italian kitchens (via The Kitchn).
A short-grain rice, Carnaroli is another rice on our list with a royal nickname, the "king of Italian rices."
This rice, whose history dates back to the early 20th century, is grown today in the Italian provinces of
Novara, Vercelli, and Pavia (via Taste Atlas).
Because it is another risotto rice, there is not a recommended ratio of water to rice for cooking. Instead,
you will stir this rice continuously, gradually adding warm broth (per The Infinite Kitchen). Just like
Arborio rice, you will feel like the stirring will never end, but rest assured, after around 20 minutes, you
will be enjoying a delightful, velvety risotto dish.
Bomba Rice
Alexander Prokopenko/Shutterstock
Bomba rice is a Spanish rice traditionally used to make the Valencian dish paella. Interestingly, the rice
expands in width instead of length, as opposed to most other types of rice. This makes bomba rice the
perfect texture to absorb the flavorful tomato sauce of paella. What's more, bomba rice was first
cultivated near Valencia, Spain, making it the clear choice for this famous local dish (via MAMA ÍA).
Note that in a pinch, you could actually substitute Arborio rice for bomba rice, as the rice types cook up
similarly, expanding in a wide manner. Most grocery stores these days, though, will carry bomba rice on
their shelves — its reach has indeed grown far beyond southeastern Spain.
To cook up a batch of bomba rice, add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of bomba rice to a medium saucepan.
Bring this mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for
only 15 minutes (via Vintage Kitchen).
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NEXT UP
6 Quinoa Recipes Your Guests Will Fall In Love With
BY BRANDON RICH/DEC. 9, 2021 2:55 PM EST
Whether you are organizing dinner or hosting folks for an extended stay, keeping quality recipes on
hand for meals, snacks, and desserts means less time being stressed and busy, more time being present
with others. These quinoa recipes make hosting guests a joyful, easy, and flavorful experience. Ancient
grains are diverse. They can be a strong supporting ingredient or a hearty main attraction. These recipes
suggest many ways of using quinoa, and they all have something in common: Cooking any of them will
delight your gluten-free family, create tastes your friends will crave, and satisfy the neighbors with
nutritious nosh.
The scope of these recipes cover a full-day schedule. From quick-grab energy bars at breakfast to
decadent chocolate chip cooks as a late-night snack. There are grain bowls and salads rooted in the
flavors of three different continents, midday morsels for picnics and escapades, and a quinoa dinner
stuffing as well. It's time to dig in!
1. Quinoa cranberry energy bars
Tasting Table
Let's start with the most (important?) forgotten meal of the day: breakfast. Preparing these quinoa
cranberry bars can serve overnight houseguests with a continental option for breakfast or also as a pick-
me-up during afternoon coffee. A mix of almonds and almond butter, quinoa, oats, honey, and dried
berries makes 10 bars. Several spices add a seasonal warmth to them once cooled.
Batch baking is a great way to have snacks on hand, and the whole process takes less than an hour. The
only prep required is mixing the ingredients, and the only thing easier than cooking this Tasting Table
recipe is eating it.
2. Thai quinoa salad
Tasting Table
Pro runner and cookbook authors Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky shared their recipe for Thai
quinoa salad with Tasting Table a while back, but it remains as hot today as it was when "Run Fast. Cook
Fast. Eat Slow." was published.
The Thai-inspired quinoa recipe calls for big bursts of flavor from lime, green onion, and spicy peppers
(jalapeno or Serrano or none at all). Mint, cilantro, and basil bring in vital herbaceous notes (and
nutrients). Mix it all with fish sauce and pre-shredded bits of cabbage and carrots. Serve chilled.
With only 10 minutes of prep needed to cook the grains and shred the veggies, you'll have plenty of time
to spend with friends.
3. California grain bowl
Tasting Table
The California grain bowl from here at Tasting Table is the first recipe clocking over 30-minutes, thanks
to the grounding addition of roasted Hasselback zucchini and cobb corn. As the quinoa cooks the garden
goods can roast and your guests can get involved with slicing avocados or tomatoes.
The salad is finished with the zing of radish and arugula, then tossed in a turmeric-lime dressing that's so
West Coast you might start singing "Good Vibrations". The variety of produce packed into this quinoa
recipe boosts it from a lunch salad to a dinner main for your gluten-free or vegan visitors.
4. Quinoa veggie burgers
Tasting Table
Tasting Table's veggie burger is a highly qualified main course. With matzo meal, mushrooms, carrots,
and corn, it's a patty full of food that you can sink your teeth into. There are broccoli florets and onions
and lemon juice — a real "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of thing.
This recipe will delight your grain-free or sans-meat dinner guests. Amazingly, the substitution of an egg
replacement is all that is needed to make it vegan too. Full flavors arrive between a fluffy brioche bun.
5. Stuffed Korean chicken (samgyetang)
cool885/Shutterstock
Samgyetang sets up fresh seasonal greens and mushrooms as a brothy bath for poached chicken. Earthy
ginseng, with dates, and chestnut melds into a garlic quinoa stuffing that fills the bird. Prep is fairly
extensive at two hours, but the outcome of unique and homely flavors highlights quinoa in such a
unique way.
The recipe wants a 3½-pound chicken for the dish, which can feed four. Consider double batching to
feed a larger collection of guests, or increasing the quantity of the quinoa garlic filling. A tired old
quinoa-stuffed bell pepper has nothing on the honest Korean flavors provided by Danny Bowien and
Youngmi Mayer of Mission Chinese Food.
6. Quinoa chocolate chip cookies
Tasting Table
Loaded chocolate chip cookies are a classic dessert option anytime. However the non-classic addition of
pecans and cherries will give your guests something to crave all the time. There's no small amount of
chopped dark chocolate and brown butter in the dough of these cookies, plus they are topped with a
dusting of sea salt. It's a contrasting combination that's softened by puffed quinoa. The batch bakes 30
cookies. That's plenty of sweet treats to share with visitors, as well as plenty to keep for yourself.
RECOMMENDED
THIS IS THE ONLY SALMON PATTY RECIPE YOU'LL EVER MAKE AGAIN
PUT SALT IN THE CORNERS OF YOUR HOME, THE RESULTS ARE SURPRISING
IF IT SEEMS LIKE PAULA DEEN HAS DISAPPEARED, HERE'S WHY
WE'VE FOUND THE MOST DELICIOUS STORE-BOUGHT CINNAMON ROLL
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15 Types Of Rice And How To Perfectly Cook Them
kuvona/Shutterstock
BY KRISTEN CARLI/FEB. 11, 2022 5:02 PM EST
Rice is one of our favorite types of food. We don't care how you prepare this grain. We love it in any
way, shape, or form. And yet, rice sometimes gets a bad rap in the health community for being too high
in carbohydrates. But let's face it, your body needs carbs. The carbs you eat might as well be the type
that is packed with fiber and nutrients, as opposed to the tasty, yet less healthy carbohydrate
alternatives that come from your neighborhood bakery.
From American to Thai to Spanish, rice is the foundation of many beloved, traditional cuisines. We are
talking about sushi, stir-fries, pilaf, risotto, arancini, and paella. You've surely encountered a few
different varieties of rice in your day as well — after all, there are some 40,000 types of rice in the world
today (via Bon Appétit) — but you might not be an expert in cooking rice properly, let alone in preparing
a rice dish from scratch in your own kitchen.
Well look no further. This handy guide will walk you through 15 different types of rice and how to
perfectly cook each of them. Get those rice recipes ready, we're about to make you a professional in the
rice cooking world. Keep reading to become an expert in cooking some of the most well-known rice
types out there. Don't worry about having leftover rice ever again either; there are plenty of uses for
that as well.
Jasmine Rice
pukao/Shutterstock
Jasmine rice is a type of rice not uncommon to many kitchens; it's often prepared as rice on the side,
used as a base in curries and in stews, or sautéed with vegetables in stir-fries.
Grown typically in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, jasmine rice comes in various colors, including
white, brown, red, purple, and black (via A Couple Cooks). It's also referred to as Thai fragrant rice,
known for its subtle buttery flavor. Jasmine rice is most often seen in its white rice form, but the rice is
also available as a whole-grain variety, with its brown version offering twice as much fiber content: 2
grams to 1 (via Healthline). Jasmine rice can be used in many different recipes, including dirty rice — a
seasoned beef and rice dish.
To cook this type of rice on the stovetop, add 1 ½ cup of water to 1 cup of jasmine rice, cover, and then
simmer for 15 minutes (per Mahatma Rice).
Basmati Rice
StockImageFactory.com/Shutterstock
Basmati rice is a bit longer than jasmine rice and is similarly known for its aroma. India and Pakistan
were the first countries to cultivate this type of rice, with India accounting for about 65% of the world's
production today, according to Bon Appétit.
Basmati rice has a low to medium glycemic index, which means that it is fairly slow to digest and does
not cause the typical blood sugar spike you may see from other types of rice (via Tilda). It also is
exceptional because it contains all the essential amino acids that make up protein, in addition to a good
amount of folate. Tilda notes that Basmati gets better with age, which means you can store it in your
pantry for a long time and the floral notes will become even more prominent as time passes.
To cook basmati rice, bring 1 ¾ quarter cups of water and 1 cup of rice to a boil on the stovetop, then
lower to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes (via Mahatma Rice).
Wild Rice
Anna_Pustynnikova/Shutterstock
Wild rice is notable because of its fiber content, which is about three times more than that of white rice
(per Healthline). As most Americans do not consume enough fiber in an average day, adding wild rice to
your diet may be a great way to increase your overall intake of fiber. Additionally, a study published in
the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that wild rice had 30 times more antioxidant
activity than white rice. This is excellent news for wild rice eaters, as antioxidants are a natural
neutralizer of cell-damaging free radicals in the body.
To cook wild rice on the stovetop, add 4 cups of water and 1 cup of wild rice to a small saucepan. Bring
this mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the wild rice to
cook for 45 minutes (per Allrecipes).
Sushi Rice
Nishihama/Shutterstock
Sushi rice is a Japanese short grain rice, and in true, authentic Japanese cuisine, only sushi rice is used to
make sushi (via Just One Cookbook). This type of rice is not used in any other dishes.
To make sushi rice, you season the rice with a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and kombu. You start
with 3 ½ cups of uncooked white short grain rice and 1 ½ cups of water. Add this combination to a rice
cooker and place the piece of kombu on top. Cook until the rice is done. Then remove and stir in the
seasoned rice vinegar. If you are planning on keeping this sushi rice for a few hours until using, be sure
to cover with a damp towel. Then when ready, form into sushi rolls, such as in this recipe for spicy crab
salad sushi rolls. Serve your sushi up with chopsticks, or not (if you are a real pro).
Long Grain Rice
Soho A Studio/Shutterstock
Long grain rice is an overarching umbrella term. This type of rice includes both jasmine and basmati rice,
as well as other types of rice that grow in a similarly long fashion (up to five times its width). When long
grain rice is cooked properly, the lower starch content in it results in cooked rice that is dry and fluffy
(via Bon Appétit). This texture makes long grain rice an excellent choice for mixed dishes such as salads
or vegetable rice concoctions. The Kitchn notes, however, that this type of rice, because of how its
kernels stay separate after cooking, is not an ideal type of rice for sushi or risotto.
To cook long grain rice, add 1 ½ cups of water and 1 cup of long grain rice to a small saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 18-20 minutes.
Brown Rice
Jr images/Shutterstock
Brown rice is widely touted for its health benefits. This whole-grain rice is rich in fiber and antioxidants,
and research suggests that brown rice consumption can lead to more managed blood sugar control as
well as a lower risk of heart disease (per Healthline and U.S. News & World Report).
Because of its reputation for being a healthful alternative to white rice, it's become more common these
days to find brown rice offered on restaurant menus as well, and for all types of cuisine, too — even
Asian (via Szechuan House). Brown rice is actually white rice before the rice is "polished" at the mills;
brown rice simply is rice that retains the kernel's bran layers (via USA Rice).
If you are making brown rice at home, boil 1 cup of water and 2 cups of brown rice. Lower this mixture
to a simmer and cover for about 45 minutes (via Love and Lemons).
Arborio Rice
Dmitrii Ivanov/Shutterstock
Arborio rice is most frequently used in Italian risotto recipes and so you will often only find it called for in
such dishes. Because this rice does not go under as much milling as most other types of rice, what
remains is more starch. This high starch content provides the perfect texture for luscious and creamy
risotto, per The Spruce Eats.
Because this type of rice is typically used in risottos, we would not recommend that you boil it with
water on the stovetop. Instead, it is recommended to cook this type of rice slowly over medium heat.
Risotto is a labor of love that involves constant stirring ... and we mean constant stirring. Most risotto
recipes involve stirring for a minimum of 20 minutes. It's worth it, though, we promise. Consider this
your arm workout for the day. Name another workout that results in a delicious dinner. We'll wait!
Red Cargo Rice

Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock
Red cargo rice is probably one type of long grain rice that you are not familiar with. This type of rice is
common in Thai and Vietnamese dishes like com do or kow mun pboo. Per What to Cook Today, red
cargo rice's red coloring is an indication of its phytonutrient content. The red colors found in the rice, or
any red produce for that matter, come from the anthocyanin, a type of antioxidant. Red cargo rice is also
known for its high fiber content and its nutty aroma.
To cook red cargo rice, add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of red cargo rice to a small saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid and continue to simmer
for 45 minutes. Serve the finished rice alongside some chicken tom kha soup for the ultimate Thai
dinner.
Black Rice
mimi-TOKYO/Shutterstock
Black rice is sometimes referred to as purple rice or forbidden rice. This type of rice is common in Asian
dishes. Black rice, like red cargo rice, has a very bright coloring, and as we saw with the red cargo rice,
where there is color, there are phytonutrients — specifically anthocyanin (via Healthline).
According to EatingWell, black rice offers more protein than white rice and even more than brown rice.
Further, one serving of black rice can provide you with 4% of one's daily fiber needs and 6% of your
recommended iron intake. The texture of this type of rice is most often described as "chewy."
To cook black rice, add 2 ¼ cups of water and 1 cup of black rice to a saucepan. Bring the rice mixture to
a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan and continue to simmer for 30 minutes (via Feasting at
Home).
Rosematta Rice
Sen Alfred/Shutterstock
Rosematta rice, aka Kerala rice (named after the district in India in which it is grown), is likely another
type of rice that you haven't heard of. This type of rice, which is high in vitamin A, vitamin B, and
magnesium, is also, similar to other whole grains, fairly high in fiber (via StyleCraze). The rice is served as
is, as well as used as an ingredient in dishes like unniyappam and aravana payasam.
To cook rosematta rice, you'll want to refer to the way in which you cook your pasta. Instead of a
balanced ratio of water to rice like how we would cook other types of rice, rosematta rice gets dumped
into a large pot of boiling water (an exact amount is not necessary). Allow the red parboiled rice to boil
for at least 45 minutes, though it can take up to an hour. Once cooked, drain the entire pot so that only
the rice remains (via Simple Indian Recipes).
Thai Black Sticky Rice
Thai black sticky rice is also referred to as black glutinous rice. You can thank the phytonutrient
anthocyanin again for the vibrant black color. Thai black sticky rice is not only high in antioxidants but
also known for its relatively high manganese content (via SFGate).
The extra starch content in Thai black rice is the reason for its sticky texture once cooked. This allows it
to be the perfect addition to specialty sushi rolls and other decorative dishes. Similar to other black
foods, such as blackcurrants, the color of Thai black sticky rice is more purple than actual black. You may
even think someone added food dye, but rest assured this is the natural shade of the rice.
To cook Thai black sticky rice, add 2 ¼ cups of water and 1 cup of Thai black sticky rice to a small
saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and continue to
simmer for 45 minutes (via EatingWell).
Thai Sticky Rice
masa44/Shutterstock
Thai sticky rice, meanwhile, is the white rice version of Thai black sticky rice. This type of rice is referred
to as glutinous rice or sometimes sweet rice, according to Serious Eats. Thai sticky rice is a great
complement to dishes like Thai chicken red curry or massaman beef curry.
Cooking this type of rice is a little bit different than with its black counterpart. Per Inquiring Chef, you
will want to make sure you soak the dried rice for at least four hours (and up to 10 hours) before
cooking it. Add a thin-holed colander to a large pot of water, where the water is just touching the
bottom of the colander. Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot with a lid. Allow the rice to steam
covered for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and flip the rice in one fell swoop, like a pancake. Then
return the lid to the pot and continue to steam for 10 more minutes.
Kalijira Rice
Scoop Pohotography/Shutterstock
Did you know that you were in the presence of royalty? Kalijira rice, also known as govinda bhog or baby
basmati, is sometimes referred to as the "prince of rice" in its native Bangladesh, according to
FineCooking. This type of rice flexes its versatility in a variety of South Asian dishes, from a side of pilaf
(thanks to its ability to puff and separate) to a creamy rice pudding in milk.
Given that this rice is not as common as some of the other types of rice listed here, if you were to ever
make a recipe that calls for Kalijira rice and you can't find it, basmati rice makes for a quick substitute. To
cook this princely rice, add 1 ⅓ quarters cup of water and 1 cup of Kalijira rice to a saucepan. Bring this
mixture to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for eight minutes (via TINY Kalijira).
Carnaroli Rice
Picture Partners/Shutterstock
While you might be more familiar with Arborio rice for risotto, Carnaroli rice is another popular type of
rice used in such dishes. In fact, if you can believe it, Carnaroli rice is even more starchy than Arborio
rice, making it the preferred rice to use in Italian kitchens (via The Kitchn).
A short-grain rice, Carnaroli is another rice on our list with a royal nickname, the "king of Italian rices."
This rice, whose history dates back to the early 20th century, is grown today in the Italian provinces of
Novara, Vercelli, and Pavia (via Taste Atlas).
Because it is another risotto rice, there is not a recommended ratio of water to rice for cooking. Instead,
you will stir this rice continuously, gradually adding warm broth (per The Infinite Kitchen). Just like
Arborio rice, you will feel like the stirring will never end, but rest assured, after around 20 minutes, you
will be enjoying a delightful, velvety risotto dish.
Bomba Rice
Alexander Prokopenko/Shutterstock
Bomba rice is a Spanish rice traditionally used to make the Valencian dish paella. Interestingly, the rice
expands in width instead of length, as opposed to most other types of rice. This makes bomba rice the
perfect texture to absorb the flavorful tomato sauce of paella. What's more, bomba rice was first
cultivated near Valencia, Spain, making it the clear choice for this famous local dish (via MAMA ÍA).
Note that in a pinch, you could actually substitute Arborio rice for bomba rice, as the rice types cook up
similarly, expanding in a wide manner. Most grocery stores these days, though, will carry bomba rice on
their shelves — its reach has indeed grown far beyond southeastern Spain.
To cook up a batch of bomba rice, add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of bomba rice to a medium saucepan.
Bring this mixture to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for
only 15 minutes (via Vintage Kitchen).
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BY BRANDON RICH/DEC. 9, 2021 2:55 PM EST
Whether you are organizing dinner or hosting folks for an extended stay, keeping quality recipes on
hand for meals, snacks, and desserts means less time being stressed and busy, more time being present
with others. These quinoa recipes make hosting guests a joyful, easy, and flavorful experience. Ancient
grains are diverse. They can be a strong supporting ingredient or a hearty main attraction. These recipes
suggest many ways of using quinoa, and they all have something in common: Cooking any of them will
delight your gluten-free family, create tastes your friends will crave, and satisfy the neighbors with
nutritious nosh.
The scope of these recipes cover a full-day schedule. From quick-grab energy bars at breakfast to
decadent chocolate chip cooks as a late-night snack. There are grain bowls and salads rooted in the
flavors of three different continents, midday morsels for picnics and escapades, and a quinoa dinner
stuffing as well. It's time to dig in!
1. Quinoa cranberry energy bars
Tasting Table
Let's start with the most (important?) forgotten meal of the day: breakfast. Preparing these quinoa
cranberry bars can serve overnight houseguests with a continental option for breakfast or also as a pick-
me-up during afternoon coffee. A mix of almonds and almond butter, quinoa, oats, honey, and dried
berries makes 10 bars. Several spices add a seasonal warmth to them once cooled.
Batch baking is a great way to have snacks on hand, and the whole process takes less than an hour. The
only prep required is mixing the ingredients, and the only thing easier than cooking this Tasting Table
recipe is eating it.
2. Thai quinoa salad
Tasting Table
Pro runner and cookbook authors Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky shared their recipe for Thai
quinoa salad with Tasting Table a while back, but it remains as hot today as it was when "Run Fast. Cook
Fast. Eat Slow." was published.
The Thai-inspired quinoa recipe calls for big bursts of flavor from lime, green onion, and spicy peppers
(jalapeno or Serrano or none at all). Mint, cilantro, and basil bring in vital herbaceous notes (and
nutrients). Mix it all with fish sauce and pre-shredded bits of cabbage and carrots. Serve chilled.
With only 10 minutes of prep needed to cook the grains and shred the veggies, you'll have plenty of time
to spend with friends.
3. California grain bowl
Tasting Table
The California grain bowl from here at Tasting Table is the first recipe clocking over 30-minutes, thanks
to the grounding addition of roasted Hasselback zucchini and cobb corn. As the quinoa cooks the garden
goods can roast and your guests can get involved with slicing avocados or tomatoes.
The salad is finished with the zing of radish and arugula, then tossed in a turmeric-lime dressing that's so
West Coast you might start singing "Good Vibrations". The variety of produce packed into this quinoa
recipe boosts it from a lunch salad to a dinner main for your gluten-free or vegan visitors.
4. Quinoa veggie burgers
Tasting Table
Tasting Table's veggie burger is a highly qualified main course. With matzo meal, mushrooms, carrots,
and corn, it's a patty full of food that you can sink your teeth into. There are broccoli florets and onions
and lemon juice — a real "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of thing.
This recipe will delight your grain-free or sans-meat dinner guests. Amazingly, the substitution of an egg
replacement is all that is needed to make it vegan too. Full flavors arrive between a fluffy brioche bun.
5. Stuffed Korean chicken (samgyetang)
cool885/Shutterstock
Samgyetang sets up fresh seasonal greens and mushrooms as a brothy bath for poached chicken. Earthy
ginseng, with dates, and chestnut melds into a garlic quinoa stuffing that fills the bird. Prep is fairly
extensive at two hours, but the outcome of unique and homely flavors highlights quinoa in such a
unique way.
The recipe wants a 3½-pound chicken for the dish, which can feed four. Consider double batching to
feed a larger collection of guests, or increasing the quantity of the quinoa garlic filling. A tired old
quinoa-stuffed bell pepper has nothing on the honest Korean flavors provided by Danny Bowien and
Youngmi Mayer of Mission Chinese Food.
6. Quinoa chocolate chip cookies
Tasting Table
Loaded chocolate chip cookies are a classic dessert option anytime. However the non-classic addition of
pecans and cherries will give your guests something to crave all the time. There's no small amount of
chopped dark chocolate and brown butter in the dough of these cookies, plus they are topped with a
dusting of sea salt. It's a contrasting combination that's softened by puffed quinoa. The batch bakes 30
cookies. That's plenty of sweet treats to share with visitors, as well as plenty to keep for yourself.
RECOMMENDED
THIS IS THE ONLY SALMON PATTY RECIPE YOU'LL EVER MAKE AGAIN
PUT SALT IN THE CORNERS OF YOUR HOME, THE RESULTS ARE SURPRISING
IF IT SEEMS LIKE PAULA DEEN HAS DISAPPEARED, HERE'S WHY
WE'VE FOUND THE MOST DELICIOUS STORE-BOUGHT CINNAMON ROLL
NEXT UP
The Best Substitutes for Bread Crumbs
Here are 7 other ingredients that work just as well
BY DELIA MOONEY/UPDATED: JAN. 6, 2022 11:20 AM EST

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to make meat loaf or fried chicken cutlets but
didn't have any bread crumbs on hand? Before you give up on those dinner dreams, check your pantry.
There are plenty of substitutions you likely already have on hand that work just as well. Plus, it's a good
excuse to do a little experimenting and/or pantry cleaning.
Give these ingredients a try next time you run out of bread crumbs (or even when you just want to mix
things up).
① Nuts and Seeds
Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and chia and flax seeds are all suitable replacements for bread crumbs.
And the food processor is your best option to transform them into a powdery consistency. Nut flours
burn quicker than bread crumbs, so keep an eye on dinner while it's cooking.
② Crackers
Spalnic/Shutterstock
Growing up, my mom used Ritz crackers as the stuffing for baked shrimp, so don't be afraid to throw a
few crackers into your next baked cod or meat loaf. Crush them in a plastic bag or blitz them in the food
processor, and never look back.
③ Pretzels
Turn those salty snacks into your new favorite breading by pulsing them in the food processor or
crushing them up in a large Ziploc bag. These work particularly well in pretzel-crusted fried shrimp and
pretzel-crusted chicken bites. Mustard optional.
④ Chips
Spalnic/Shutterstock
Potato chips are one of the most underused snacks in the kitchen when it comes to cooking. They're
crispy, salty and provide the perfect amount of crunch. You can also play around with flavors, because
who doesn't want pickle-flavored chip-crusted chicken tenders? Lightly crush them in a sealed bag or
toss them in the food processor.
⑤ Quinoa
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Quinoa lends a fun texture to chicken when used as a breading and is a great binding ingredient for
recipes such as meat loaf, meatballs and crab cakes. Make sure to cook the quinoa first according to its
package's directions.
⑥ Cereal
Anton Starikov/Shutterstock
Sure, cereal is great for breakfast, but it's time to take the staple from bowl to plate. Choose a cereal
that's not too sweet, like Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or Rice Chex. Throw it in the food processor or crush
it up in a plastic bag, and use them to make cornflake-crusted halibut.
⑦ Shredded Coconut
Nataly Studio/Shutterstock
Using unsweetened shredded coconut to coat chicken and fish adds texture and a hint of sweetness to
dishes. You can use the shredded coconut as is, or you can crush it up into smaller pieces in a food
processor or with a knife.
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Read More: https://www.tastingtable.com/644327/quinoa-recipes-your-guests-will-fall-in-love-with/?

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Rice feeds the world, now

more than ever
February 11, 2022
Jesica Kincaid, Senior Manager, International Trade Policy, USA Rice, argues that rice
feeds the world, now more than ever
Rice has been produced throughout the world for thousands of years, and today it is a staple
food for more than 3.5 billion people. The United States, while newer to the rice game than
some other exporters, produces several varieties of nutritious, high-quality, and delicious rice.
While approximately half of the rice produced in the U.S. is consumed there, the other half is
exported around the globe including providing food to the world’s hungry. The U.S. rice
industry is proud to participate in international food assistance programmes that help feed,
nourish and educate those in need.
Increasing need for international assistance
Numerous man-made and natural disasters as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have
only increased the need for such assistance. Two years into the pandemic, the World Food
Programme reports (1) that global and national economic disruptions caused by subsequent
waves of the virus have resulted in an estimated 97 million more people living in poverty in 2021
compared to 2019, leaving tens of millions more people hungry and malnourished.
As a result, in 2020 and 2021, the U.S. rice industry saw record years for international food
assistance deliveries. With the development and ever-expanding use of fortified rice, rice
contributes to improving food security by not only fighting hunger but also acute malnutrition.
Fortified rice is rice that is traditionally grown and milled, and following the milling process, a
nutrient premix that is specified to the dietary needs of the recipient population is added as
a coating or as an extruded kernel, without substantial additional cost.
In addition to being nutritious, rice has a long shelf life, is easy to prepare, fits into the diets of
many different ethnic groups, and is one of the least allergenic foods, making it a perfect fit for
assistance programmes.
Rice usage in international food assistance has been growing not only in terms of volume, but
also in the diversity of the programmes in which it is utilised.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has two principal international assistance
programmes: Food for Progress, a monetisation development programme that sells U.S. grown
commodities in the recipient country and then uses that cash to create economic and agricultural
programmes within the country; and McGovern-Dole Food for Education, a global school
feeding programme and a primary user of fortified rice.
A third programme is Food for Peace, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s
(USAID) emergency feeding programme which works to create a world free of hunger and
poverty.
Given that it is a global staple, rice has seen increased use across all three of these government
assistance programmes. Recently, more than 100,000MT of U.S.- grown milled rice was
monetised in West Africa to support the cashew and sesame industries in several countries in the
region.
As for fortified rice, it is the most utilised commodity in McGovern-Dole, having been awarded
for all 2022 school feeding projects. USAID also recognises the value of fortified rice for the
people it serves, having increased volumes over the past few years and with the eventual goal of
having all rice used in its programmes be fortified.
The U.S. rice industry
In addition to the privilege of helping those in need, the U.S. rice industry also prides itself on its
sustainable farming practices, having made substantial changes over the past 30 years that led to
numerous environmental benefits.
Some of these benefits include a 52% decrease in water use, a 41% decrease in greenhouse
gas emissions, and a 39% increase in land use efficiency. U.S. rice farms, 96% of which are
family-owned, contribute to a safe and strong supply chain for the well-being of all through
sustainable practices and being good stewards of the land.
On a global level, rice production has hit record levels for the last several years, with another
record projected for the 2021/22 crop year and global stocks maintaining their highest levels in
history.
For rice consumers around the world, whether they are able to purchase rice at their local grocery
stores or need assistance to feed themselves and their families, the U.S. rice industry is there to
answer the call.
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/sustainable-rice/129439/
Scientists reveal that horchata water

is an aphrodisiac
February 11, 2022 by CA18

The horchata water It is one of the richest drinks and whose main compound,
the Valencian tiger nut, is a natural aphrodisiac. This was revealed by a study
carried out by a group of scientists from Valencia, Spain.
According to an investigation carried out by the Superior Council of Scientific

Investigations (CSIC) and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Valencia,
natural horchata is a vasodilator whose effects are aphrodisiac.
This effect, the study details, is thanks to the high content of natural arginine in
horchata, an amino acid that also helps the body generate protein and promotes
good physical performance.
Horchata dilates blood vessels
According to a report recently released by the Mayo Clinicand which dilates

blood vessels, which can bring great benefits to treat heart conditions and
erectile dysfunction.
But that’s not all, since according to the study, the Valencian tiger nut, the main
compound of horchata, is also a carrier of phospholipids that help eliminate bad
cholesterol and control diseases such as diabetes.
The tiger nut is an edible tuber considered a superfood for its properties and its
nutritional value. … There are documents written by Persian and Arab authors
where the tiger nut was already indicated for curative purposes due to its
digestive and antioxidant benefits.
What is horchata water?

It is a drink made from ground tiger nuts, which are mixed with water or milk,
sugar and lemon. In Mexico it is a refreshing drink that is usually prepared with
grains of rice soaked in water that are then ground to mix with sweetened water
and cinnamon.
Composition. In other places, what is known as horchata water is prepared,

mixing rice flour, white sugar, cinnamon, powdered milk, vanilla and, sometimes,
almonds, coconut and morro seeds, although the recipe may vary depending on
the region. and personal taste.
Follow us on Google news, Facebook Y Twitter to keep you informed.
Share this:
https://california18.com/scientists-reveal-that-horchata-water-is-an-aphrodisiac/3309672022/
High yields of rare earth elements

recovered from mine, e-waste
MINING.COM Staff Writer | February 11, 2022 | 6:06 am News USA Rare Earth
The flash Joule heating process implies heating fly ash and other materials to 3,000 degrees Celsius
in a second. (Image by the James Tour Lab, courtesy of Rice University).
A chemistry lab at Rice University has successfully extracted valuable rare

earth elements from waste at yields high enough to resolve issues for
manufacturers while boosting their profits.
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, the researchers behind

the development explain that their flash Joule heating process, introduced
several years ago to produce graphene from any solid carbon source, has
now been applied to three sources of rare earth elements — coal fly ash,
bauxite residue and electronic waste — to recover rare earth metals.
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Microscopic glass spheres found in coal
fly ash contain rare earth elements that could be recycled rather than buried in landfills. (Image by the Tour Lab,
courtesy of Rice University).
While industrial extraction from these wastes commonly involves leaching with
strong acid, a time-consuming, non-green process, the Rice lab heats fly ash
and other materials (combined with carbon black to enhance conductivity) to
about 3,000 degrees Celsius in a second. The process turns the waste into
highly soluble “activated REE species.”
According to James Tour, senior author of the study, treating fly ash by flash
Joule heating breaks the glass that encases these elements and converts
REE phosphates to metal oxides that dissolve much more easily.
The new process also yields more product by using a much milder 0.1-molar
concentration of hydrochloric acid instead than the 15-molar concentration of
nitric acid used in existing industrial processes to extract the materials.
In experiments led by postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the paper

Bing Deng, the researchers found flash Joule heating coal fly ash (CFA) more
than doubled the yield of most of the rare earth elements using very mild acid
compared to leaching untreated CFA in strong acids.
“The strategy is general for various wastes,” Bing said. “We proved that the
REE recovery yields were improved from coal fly ash, bauxite residue and
electronic wastes by the same activation process.”
Related: Recycling plant aims to turn US coal country into rare earth

powerhouse
For Bing, the generality of the process makes it especially promising, as
millions of tonnes of bauxite residue and electronic waste are produced every
year.
“The US used to mine rare earth elements, but you get a lot of radioactive
elements as well,” Tour said. “You’re not allowed to reinject the water, and it
has to be disposed of, which is expensive and problematic.”
On the day the US did away with all rare earth mining, the foreign sources
raised their price tenfold. Our process tells the country that we’re no longer
dependent on environmentally detrimental mining or foreign sources for rare
earth elements.”
https://www.mining.com/high-yields-of-rare-earth-elements-recovered-from-mine-e-waste/
Local 4's Bernie Smilovitz is exploring Chinese cuisine in Metro Detroit as we cheer on Team
USA in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This time, we're enjoying a beef rice noodle dish at
New Mandarin Garden in Farmington Hills.
LOCAL NEWS
Great Wok of China: Sampling a beef

rice noodle dish at New Mandarin
Garden
Published: February 11, 2022, 9:17 AM
Tags: Local News, Food, Farmington Hills, Great Wok Of China, New Mandarin

Garden, Beijing
Local 4's Bernie Smilovitz is exploring Chinese cuisine in Metro Detroit as we cheer on
Team USA in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This time, we're enjoying a beef rice
noodle dish at New Mandarin Garden in Farmington Hills.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/video/local-news/2022/02/11/great-wok-of-china-sampling-a-beef-
rice-noodle-dish-at-new-mandarin-garden/
Nepal: How farming nation became net food

importer
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Kathmandu Post file photo
Nepal’s food import bills have risen dramatically over the past two decades.
5:45 pm, February 11, 2022
The Kathmandu Post via Asia News NetworkTwenty years ago in 2001,
Nepal used to buy $11.84 million worth of food and farm products annually from
its next door neighbor India.
By 2021, the food import bill had ballooned by 78-fold to nearly $1 billion as
Nepalis splurged their remittance income.
Over the past few years, the scale of food imports, particularly from India, has
turned into a full-blown emergency, which experts say is a potential threat to
national security.
“Obviously, the import figure for food is scary. It not only points to a growing
dependency trend, but also signals a potential threat to food security,” trade
expert Purushottam Ojha told the Post.
“For a country like Nepal, a foreign exchange crisis can unfold anytime.
Remittances, which fund consumption, can drop too. How will you pay for food
when you don’t produce it? It’s an emerging threat.”
“We have already seen the 2015 blockade when India cut off our supply of fuel,
for which we are totally dependent on imports,” added Ojha.
Experts say the peril of relying on imports is being exhibited in Sri Lanka, which
depends on imported essential goods, but is struggling to pay for them due to its
weak export performance after tourism collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the statistics of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products

Export Development Authority, India’s apex export trade promotion body,
exports of agro food products to Nepal totaled $938,317,826 (Rs112.59 billion) in
fiscal year 2020-21, which ended on March 31, 2021.
Food imports from India soared by a staggering 39% year-on-year in 2020-21,

the highest growth on record, as Nepal imposed the first coronavirus lockdown
on March 24, 2020.
Imports swelled during the first stay-home order because farmers were prevented
from taking their produce to market. Rama Shankar Kushwaha and other farmers
of Birgunj were beaten for violating the lockdown as they were headed for the
market because traders stopped coming to their farms to buy their harvests like
before.
Nepali farmers watched their vegetables rot in the fields while convoys of 15-20
trucks laden with fresh produce from India crossed the border daily and raced to
the bazaars. The four-month-long lockdown ended in July 2020.
That was only during the lockdown.
“Over the years, Nepal’s exports have been in free fall while imports have
skyrocketed, which is deeply worrying,” said Ojha, who is also a former
commerce secretary. “As Nepal failed to substitute imports, it became a net food
importer in recent decades.”
In countries like Nepal, which buy a lot of their food needs from abroad, a food
crisis could be closer than imagined.
A breakdown in the supply chain could result in a year of hyperinflation — when

prices increase rapidly and go out of control, economists warn.
Nepal’s largest food import is rice.
“Obviously, it’s rice. We did not change our eating habits. Now, even in the
villages, people are buying food because it’s easily available if you have money,”
said agro economist Krishna Prasad Pant. “We are in an import trap because we
are exporting our manpower.”
The Indian government’s trade statistics show that the largest export to Nepal
among food items is non-basmati rice.
Nepal is the second-largest importer of Indian non-basmati rice after Benin, a

West African country.
Rice imports totaled a staggering $402.91 million, including basmati rice worth
$6.90 million. In terms of quantity, Nepal bought 1.29 million tons of rice.
Two decades ago, rice imports amounted to 8,025 tons, worth $1.74 million.
According to a research paper titled “Nepal’s growing dependency on food
imports: A threat to national sovereignty and ways forward,” importing some
agricultural commodities to meet the domestic demand has become a common
practice in a globalized economy; however, it can be a serious issue when exports
from the country remain stagnant or decline while the imports jump at an
alarming rate.
This increases the country’s dependency on foreign countries and could

potentially create nonmilitary threats to national security and sovereignty.
And there is a new import trend now.
Indian government statistics show that Nepal is also becoming dependent on

processed agricultural goods at a fast rate. Imports of processed food in 2020-21
reached 101,391 tons, a ten-fold jump over the previous year.
Nepal is in the sixth position for India’s overall exports of processed agro goods,
with imports valued at Rs2.50 billion.
“Even remote villages that used to be domestically supplied are now largely
reliant on imported food like rice, wheat flour and lentils from India,” said Pant.
According to Pant, among many factors driving food imports from India, one is
the bilateral Nepal-India trade treaty of 1996. The treaty allows duty-free access
to primary agriculture products on a reciprocal basis.
“This policy allows the entry of Indian goods to Nepal which are far cheaper
because of the heavily subsidized agriculture sector in India,” said Pant. “Nepali
products fail to compete with such products from India. And obviously, people
choose to buy cheaper Indian goods.”
“Nepal’s agriculture sector has been in the doldrums for years. In fact, it was a
flawed policy. Nepal was a poor country and would require duty-free access,” he
added. “But why Nepal granted duty-free access to India is still questionable.”
Jagannath Adhikari, who authored the research paper and writes extensively on
resource management, agriculture and development issues, agrees.
The paper says, “Expanding the market network for agricultural commodities in
foreign markets was an obvious choice, and the 1996 Trade Treaty between India
and Nepal was just part of the broader strategies of India. Interestingly, while
India thrived on the success of higher productivity of their agricultural
commodities, Nepal reversed the role of being a net food exporter to a net food
importer within this period.”
Nepal exported more food than it imported until the early 1980s. It started to
become a net importer of food, particularly cereals, from the early 1980s,
according to the paper. “But until 2002, the import was only marginal —
remaining at most just 1.3% of the available food.”
The Agricultural Perspective Plan of 1995, which guided Nepal’s agriculture for
two decades, was also a flawed policy, experts say.
As reliance on the market for food and consumer goods increased, so did the
competitive advantage of India in supplying foods and other household goods.
Agro economist Pant said that Nepal should produce food that is not grown in
India.
“Nepal has many such products,” he said. “Let the farmers of Ilam produce
chayote squash and farmers of Palpa produce pears on a massive scale.”
Once farmers struggled to sell chayote squash, now they are fetching Rs50 per
kilogram in the Indian market. “Tons of the vegetable are supplied to Siliguri,
India,” he said.
Ojha said when Nepali agriculture failed to make a good profit, the youths started
to move abroad.
“Now the remittance money is huge. People have the option to buy. They don’t
produce,” said Ojha.
According to Ojha, Nepal’s agriculture system has been plagued not only by faulty
policies, but by political actors, too, who grossly misused the subsidies running
into billions of rupees.
“Political party members and cadres enjoyed the subsidies — and they still are
enjoying them — while the real farmers have to stand in long queues every year to
buy chemical fertilizer,” said Ojha. “This miserable agriculture scenario has
continued for years. Today, purchasing food is cheaper than growing it.”Speech
https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008244542
China’s approval of
gene-edited crops
energizes researchers
Source
nature

4 hours ago
Scientists say newly published guidelines will spur research into crops
that have increased yields and greater resilience to climate change.
No foreign genesGene-edited crops are developed using technologies

such as CRISPR–Cas9 that can make small tweaks to DNA sequences.
They differ from crops obtained by genetic modification because this
typically involves the insertion of entire genes or DNA sequences from
other plant or animal species. However, until now, in China they have
come under the same legislation as that covering GM organisms.
Currently, it can take up to six years to get biosafety approval for a GM

crop in China. But researchers say the new guidelines — which lay out
the process for receiving a biosafety certificate for gene-edited crops —
could reduce the approval time to one to two years.
GM crops require extensive, large-scale field trials before they are

approved for use. The new guidelines stipulate that, for gene-edited
crops deemed to pose no environmental or food-safety risks,
developers need only provide laboratory data and conduct small-scale
field trials. headtopics.com
Photos You Need to Look at Twice to Understand
However, researchers say that some of the guidelines are ambiguous.

They apply to crops in which gene-editing technology is used to remove
genes or make single-nucleotide changes, but it is not clear whether
they also apply to crops that have had DNA sequences introduced from
other varieties of the same species.
“We will have to confirm whether these are allowed,” because it is

important to have clarity around the rules, says Chengcai Chu, a rice
geneticist at South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou.Already,
researchers are planning to focus more of their work on developing new
crops that will be valuable to farmers. For example, Jian-Kang Zhu, a
plant molecular biologist at the Southern University of Science and
Technology in Shenzhen, says he wants to develop gene-edited
varieties that have increased yields, resilience against climate change
and a better response to fertilizer.
Others are preparing applications for rice that is particularly aromatic,

and soya bean that has a high content of oleic fatty acids, which could
produce oil low in saturated fats.Resistance and growthGao’s powdery
mildew-resistant wheat could be one of the first to be approved. In 2014,
she and her team used gene editing to knock out a gene that make
wheat susceptible to the fungal disease, but found that these changes
also stunted the plant’s growth
Is It Real? When Everyone Looked At The Photo They Worried
2. However, one of their edited plants grew normally, and the

researchers found that this was due to deletion of a portion of
chromosome that meant the expression of a gene involved in sugar
production was not repressed.Since then, the researchers have been
able to remove that same portion of the chromosome, in addition to the
gene that makes the plant susceptible to powdery mildew, creating
fungus-resistant wheat varieties that don’t suffer from restricted growth.
headtopics.com
Strict EU ruling on gene-edited crops squeezes science“This is a very

comprehensive and beautifully done piece of work,” says Yinong Yang,
a plant biologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. It
also has broad implications for almost all flowering plants, he says,
because powdery mildew can infect some 10,000 plant species.
“It is really exciting work,” adds David Jackson, a plant geneticist at Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, although he cautions that the
data on how well the wheat grew were based on relatively few plants
largely grown in greenhouses and will need to be confirmed with larger
field trials.
Studies such as this are evidence of China’s strong track record of

research into gene-edited crops, and the new regulations “are set to see
China take full advantage of their academic lead”, says Penny
Hundleby, a plant scientist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.
https://headtopics.com/us/china-s-approval-of-gene-edited-crops-energizes-researchers-24030357
market manipulation put at highest level:

Officials
REZAUL KARIM | Published: February 12, 2022 08:51:18 |
Updated: February 12, 2022 17:17:45
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/vigil-against-market-manipulation-put-at-highest-level-
officials-1644634278
Baba Buhari, Mama Lauretta, Take The Pyramids, Please Give Us Rice!
SOS-SAM ON SATURDAY
By On Feb 12, 2022
Share
Madam Lauretta Onochie, Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, is well known to Nigerians
on the social media. She is that presidential spokesperson that is both popular and notorious on Twitter.
There, she became lord of the street for her caustic engagement of people who don’t agree with her
submissions on President Muhammadu Buhari. She was really very active on Twitter. She had her
supporters on that street and many tend to couch themselves in the comfort of ‘they are all Buhari
Media Organisation (BMO) family members. When the app was axed in Nigeria, so many people lost
touch with her; or put differently, so many followers jettisoned her because they did not have to use the
app through the VPN circumvent. Many other people were also off the Twitter street as it was the
general belief that she too was off that street that time when her government decided to close that
avenue. However, regarding her engagements before the suspension of Twitter, it could be said that
when the carver of beautiful calabash ornaments retires from the trade, his previous works would be
there in and around the people as indestructible memory.
Since the ban on Twitter was lifted by Nigeria’s Federal Government, not so many users of the app have
been as worried, or cared about her as they were before. They have moved on without her. Upon the
return of ‘the bird app’ in the country, what may pass as Aunty Lauretta’s most noticeable engagement
of Nigerians in recent times was her video of the monumental rice pyramids that suddenly emerged in
Abuja. She is the one who, through a video, told Nigerians and indeed the whole world that Nigeria now
has enough rice to build immense pyramids with. She rightly attributed the success recorded by Nigeria
in rice production to the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari’s and his administration’s Anchor
Borrowers Programme midwifed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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For those Nigerians to which Twitter is neither home nor street, please note that it is the same Aunty
Lauretta that was proposed to all of us as a federal commissioner of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC). Yes, she was the one nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari to serve as INEC
federal commissioner representing the South-South region. Remember that she didn’t pass through the
‘eye of the needle of the National Assembly’. She was not approved for the position after a huge public
outcry by election stakeholders and sundry Nigerians. Also keep in mind the rather instructive caveat
that the National Assembly did not disqualify her from the INEC job for being politically exposed as a
member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). She was timidly denied the strategic position because
they found that her home state, Delta already had a commissioner in INEC and her confirmation would
negate the federal character principle.
Aunty Lauretta stimulated so much interest in the Abuja rice pyramid fanfare by what she told the
world. What she said altered the thoughts with which the people received the Abuja rice pyramids. She
understandably sang the praises of President Buhari in her video and also whetted the appetite of
millions of hungry Nigerians with the call to what she said was the administration’s monumental shift
from the poor agricultural performance of the past. She said the rice with which the 13 pyramids were
made came from the sweat of local farmers who have the support and funding of the CBN through its
Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) for small holder farmers across Nigeria.
Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN, said the rice on display in Abuja was the result of about N1
trillion doled out as loans to kit up and empower nearly 4.5 million rural farmers. The farmers had
received intervention financing through the ABP. Emefiele proudly pronounced thus: ‘The Anchor
Borrowers Programme has developed an ecosystem among all nodes of the agricultural value chain and
these linkages can be better optimised through synergy among all stakeholders. As at December 2021,
we have financed 4,489,786 farmers that cultivated 5,300,411 hectares across 21 commodities through
23 participating financial institutions in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT)’
Adipolo
Adipolo
The CBN governor explained on January 18, 2022 at the launch of the pyramids that the rice represented
aggregated paddy rice submitted by beneficiary farmers as repayment of loans they got through the Rice
Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN). Thus, the rice was sourced from RIFAN members’ 2020 dry
season and 2021 wet season farming. Emefiele was also reported to have said that the farmers
committed to loan repayment through produce submission as part of measures to ensure the
sustainability of the programme.
This submission of produce as loan repayment raised the question of where the rice goes to after the
pyramids. What was the real purpose of moving rice from Saki, Igbemo, Goronyo, Ishiagu and from
other places all over the country to Abuja to build pyramids with it? Would there be other pyramids?
The Maya and Aztec, in the height of their civilisations also built pyramids. Theirs were eternal
monuments said to have come as a show of power and as worship of their gods. The Egyptians also built
pyramids at the beginning of the Third Century, mainly as tombs for their pharaohs and (or) monuments
for ritual purposes. Some claim that the Egyptian pyramids were built by the Israelites who lived in Egypt
for centuries as war captives. The Northern Region of the Sir Ahmadu Bello era also built pyramids. They
were those legendary groundnut pyramids which were monuments to the true enterprise our
agriculture was in the days of yore.
President Buhari at the launch of the pyramids said he was aware that the bags of paddy would be
moving straight from Abuja to the milling plants across Nigeria. He said this would lead to the ‘release of
processed rice to the markets by the rice millers,’ and that ‘the measure will aid our efforts at reducing
the price of rice in Nigeria.’ Was the president telling us that our rice pyramids were just for photo op?
What economic benefit was there in hauling rice from the hinterland to Abuja, build pyramids with the
rice and then dismantle the pyramids soon after so as to transport the rice to the mills? Could it be that
the rice, which some said amounted to 50 Tonnes, was just for the sight-seeing pleasure of our
president?
During the 2021 Christmas season, rice sold for between N25,000 and N27,000 for a 50kg bag. That was
before the launch of the rice pyramid. If the motive of our dear Baba Buhari was to drive down the price
of rice, this has been gravely jeopardised because the commodity has, instead increased in price. In
Ibadan, rice sells for N35,000 – N37,000 now. For the Abuja rice, who would bear the cost of haulage to
and from Abuja? Won’t that be added to the cost of the processed commodity?
Dear Baba, we have seen the pyramids. They are wonderful and beautiful. They are massive. Thank you
Baba Buhari. Sai Baba! Mama Lauretta, we have echoed the mantra. Now, please let us have our rice.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
https://tribuneonlineng.com/baba-buhari-mama-lauretta-take-the-pyramids-please-give-us-rice/
Gulf Food: Tilda – Market leader in the region’s premium

Basmati rice category
The story of Tilda is one of unbroken success. Tilda was the first company to bring Basmati to the Western
world over 50 years ago and has become an international food brand selling in over 70 countries across the
globe, which includes Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, Africa, Middle East and Far East.
Tilda Middle East was established in 1992 and caters to retail/traditional outlets, HORECA and Royal palaces
across Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt. Tilda
is the market leader in the Premium Basmati rice category in the Middle East.
Basmati remains at the very heart of Tilda and we are committed to selecting only the finest Basmati for all
our products. Indeed, Tilda refuses to blend with inferior grains. In our quest for the very best Basmati, Tilda
employs the latest technology and checks every batch of rice for purity, ensuring only the finest and purest
rice reaches the consumers’ plate.
While rice remains the core product for Tilda, the brand has never stopped innovating. Our recently launched
Tilda Ready to Heat products have taken the European markets by storm and soon will be driving a paradigm
shift in how rice is consumed around the world. These Ready to heat Basmati rice meals consists of all-natural
ingredients, no artificial preservatives and carry an 18-month shelf life while being kept in ambient
temperature. This has allowed to us to target not just women, but men and also the younger audience who
prefer convenience over food.
Tilda is proud of its reputation for uncompromising quality and commitment to sustaining the premium
status of Basmati and the Tilda brand worldwide. Tilda will be participating in Gulfood 2022 as a global brand
and will be showcasing its entire range of rice products under Ebro Foods S.A. at Hall World Food S1-H40.
Author Name: https://gulfnews.com/business/gulf-food-tilda---market-leader-in-the-regions-premium-
basmati-rice-category-1.1644724859763
Date: 13-Feb-2022
TOP STORY
A new life in Southwest

Virginia, much
uncertainty, but hope
after escape from
Afghanistan
 Heather Rousseau
 23 hrs ago
 24
1 of 3
After fleeing for their lives in Afghanistan, sisters Shekiba, 30, left, and Muzhda, 25, find a new home
in the New River Valley. The Afghan women fled during the Taliban takeover in August. On Oct. 20
they wait in their new, empty apartment for Blacksburg Refugee Partnership to arrive with donated
furnishings from the community. The sisters’ identities are being withheld for the safety of their
family still in Afghanistan.
 HEATHER ROUSSEAU, The Roanoke Times

Shekiba uses a makeup compact given to her by an American military member she served with in
Afghanistan. The mirror was cracked as she fled during the evacuation from Kabul International
Airport, and was one of her only belongings she escaped with.

English tutor volunteers with Blacksburg Refugee Partnership, Anne Abbott, left, and Cathy
Vanderburgh, right center, help the sisters with homework and topics covered in their English as a
Second Language classes. The recent Afghan refugees attend the class four hours, five days a week
intended to prepare them for college classes.
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Heather Rousseau
Watch Now: Afghan Refugee
Play Video
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Muzhda, 25, has found a new home in the New River Valley. The Afghan woman fled during the
Taliban takeover in August with her sister. Both had been serving in the Afghan military.
Heather Rousseau
Shrouded in a black head-to-toe burqa, Muzhda peeked through two

eye holes and got into a taxi as the hot August sun started to rise. She
did not have time to think about leaving her entire life behind. At age
25, this was her first time wearing a burqa. She had to conceal her
identity from the Taliban.
The typical 20-minute drive to the airport took hours. She was afraid
for her life. She thought the Taliban might arrest or even shoot her.
She said she had done many interviews with journalists in Kabul as
part of her work with the U.S. military that occupied Afghanistan. She
was scared someone would report her. As the taxicab sat in a traffic
jam with others heading in the same direction, she held her breath at
each checkpoint.
Her older sister Shekiba was already at the airport — both were
serving with the U.S.-supported Afghan military — and they had
received a phone call from connections that would help them escape.
[The Roanoke Times is withholding their identities for the safety of
their family members still in Afghanistan.]
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When she arrived at Kabul International Airport, already chaotic amid
the U.S. withdrawal and pending Taliban takeover, Muzhda used
WhatsApp on her phone, her only belonging, to connect with her
sister. But there was more sitting and waiting outside and the August
sun grew extremely hot. Hours went by with no food or drink as they
waited to get word for entry to the base. They periodically changed
locations to avoid suspicion. Parched, hungry and sweating under the
long thick garments, they sat on the ground with their teenage brother.
They watched horrific scenes just on the other side of the gate. As
members of the military, it was hard for the sisters to feel so helpless
in the situation.
People ran toward planes while waiting for entry. Muzhda saw a
woman get trampled because her burqa got caught in a crowd as she
tried to climb a fence. She saw people hiding in the wheels of an
airplane, and then falling to their deaths when it took off.
As the day turned to night and their sweat began to feel like icicles,
their military connections reached out, and escorted them onto a U.S.
Air Force plane. An American lieutenant colonel of Afghan origin
arranged for assistance for the sisters to be taken onto a departing
flight.
“He didn't know who I was, except that I had served in the Special
Forces. He wanted nothing in return except our safety,” Muzhda said.
Sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor of a C-17 with nearly 100

other people, they flew from Kabul to Qatar. Still without food or drink
and now freezing, they could not see through the windowless transport
aircraft the home they were leaving.
They also could not imagine that their journey would take them across
the world to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
It was not supposed to be this way. On a Friday, just days before, the
sisters both dressed in long, colorful, elegant gowns while attending a
friend’s wedding at one of the most elite wedding palaces in the city.
They danced in a giant ballroom with golden chandeliers and an
imperial staircase.
Muzhda wore stiletto heels, her long hair dazzled up into a ponytail, as
she wore a striking patterned gown of yellows, blues, purple and
green. On the way to the wedding, the sisters discussed that this could
be their last time seeing good friends for a while. People were worried.
The Taliban had taken over all the provinces of Afghanistan. But they
also thought things would be OK. They knew Afghanistan had a good
military that could stop the Taliban.
“I am like, ‘When they come we just shoot them. No need to be scared

or run,’” Shekiba said.
By Sunday, when Muzhda reported for work on the American base,

hardly anyone was there. She received a phone call from her sister that
the Taliban was taking Kabul and would be searching their homes. Her
commander gave her permission to go home. They tore up all their
military certificates and documentation, deleted all the photos from
their phones.
And then Muzhda looked out the window and saw something she still
cannot believe.
“I saw the flag of the Taliban. I see it with my eyes, but up to now, two
months or more, I can’t believe it. It was very difficult.”
The sisters and their younger brother were aboard the military plane
for almost 18 hours, before landing in Qatar. They stayed two weeks in
that country, before arriving at a makeshift military base filled with
white tents in New Mexico. While at the U.S. resettlement camps for
Afghan refugees, they were vetted and vaccinated.
On a brisk October evening, they arrived at Roanoke-Blacksburg
Regional Airport.
Volunteers with Blacksburg Refugee Partnership, including Scott

Bailey, the group's president, and Jennifer and Dale Pike with their
two sons, were ready to welcome them.
Dale Pike knew the sisters had no money during their travels so he
reached out to the volunteer desk at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport where they had a three-hour layover and
arranged for them to have a place to rest at the MinuteSuites and have
dinner.
They reached the Roanoke airport at 11 p.m. “Muzhda?” Bailey said,

getting her attention as the sisters left the terminal area. Muzdha
looked up. The reality of their escape was just starting to sink in.
“We lost our everything,” she said.
The sisters and their brother waited for their luggage containing some
clothes that were donated to them and an oversized blanket they did
not want to leave behind in New Mexico after having been subject to
the desert's extreme cold nights, as if the cold they felt when escaping
Kabul never left. Muzhda showed photos of her 3-year-old niece still in
Afghanistan, sent to her on WhatsApp from her other sister. The child
was not speaking to her at the time because she was upset with her
aunts for leaving her behind.
Concern for women under the Taliban
Drinking green tea at the Inn at Virginia Tech, the sisters sat with
Bailey as they waited to meet members of the Muslim Student
Association. They stayed at the hotel until Blacksburg Refugee
Partnership made their new apartment ready for them in the New
River Valley. In the meantime, Bailey was doing all he could to help
the sisters feel more comfortable in their new place by helping to
arrange the meeting.
Three young students approached, smiling. The strangers seemed to

hit it off right away. One student asked, “Do you speak Urdu?” No,
they speak Dari, the sisters replied, but the languages are similar, so
they chatted in their native tongues, laughing and smiling. They
discussed the recent Virginia Tech football game. The students invited
the sisters out to eat at a local burger place and to the mosque. They
hugged before saying goodbye.
As they undertake a new life in the United States, the sisters are telling
their story because they hope it helps the people left behind in
Afghanistan, especially women, who have seen freedoms gained
during the last 20 years evaporate under the reemergence of Taliban’s
harsh religious regime. They are not using their real names and
discussing details of their military backgrounds in order to protect
their identities and family and friends back home. They also prefer not
to state publicly where they have resettled in the New River Valley.
“I need attention about the women because the men in the last year
have been working on the first line of the missions, and the Taliban,
they killed them,” Muzhda said.
“So right now [the women] have a lots of babies and no husband.
Right now how can she work because in the Taliban government they
have no place to work for a woman, so how can she work? How can
she cook some food for their children?”
Their older sister still in Afghanistan had to quit her job as a chef
because the Taliban does not allow women to work, and their nieces
were pulled out of school after the Taliban takeover.
Shekiba shows a disturbing video sent to her on WhatsApp from her

military peers still in Afghanistan. The video shows members of the
U.S.-backed Afghan military found dying on a floor after fighting
broke out with the Taliban.
The sisters want the world to know people are still there who need
help.
Starting a new home
Muzhda had slept well for the first time in their temporary housing
since fleeing Kabul. She had been staying up late to talk to her family
in Afghanistan, where it was daytime. Perhaps she felt a comfort in
knowing today she was moving into her new home, or because of the
local Afghan families who delivered Afghan food the night before.
Now, the sisters would have a stove for cooking and a place to make
their home.
Tears came to Muzhda’s eyes when they entered the apartment. Her
sister and brother looked around and explored each of the three
bedrooms. Muzhda stayed in the entryway in silence.
The moment did not last long. It’s down to business, as a refugee
partnership volunteer who drove them to their new home helped the
sisters figure out some paperwork. She let them know other volunteers
would arrive shortly to move in items for a fully furnished apartment.
The sisters sat on the empty living room floor in silence. Birds chirped
outside the open window where a slight breeze wafted through from
the forest behind the building. The muffled noise of a television could
be heard from another apartment. “When did she say they would be
here?” Shekiba asked. They are not sure.
Fifteen minutes later, someone knocked at the door. A continuous

stream of volunteers entered with boxes of all sizes, carrying beds,
dressers, kitchen supplies, blankets and rugs.
“Where do you want this bookshelf?” a volunteer asked. Here…here…

“No here,” said Shekiba. She quickly found a drawing made for them
by a young girl who lived across the street from one of the temporary
houses where the sisters and their brother lived after they arrived.
The drawing shows three hearts, ice cream cones and a little blond-
haired girl in a purple dress, her arms wide open with the words,
“Welcome Home!” Shekiba taped it to the side of the bookshelf.
Noemi Short, 6, of Blacksburg, at left holds a picture she drew for Muzhda, Shekiba and their brother
when they moved to temporarily housing in early October. The sisters became friends with Noemi
and her mother, Alyssa Short, who went for walks with the family and made them feel welcomed.
HEATHER ROUSSEAU, The Roanoke Times
The Pikes, the couple who met them at the airport in Roanoke, had
been storing many of the donations for Afghan refugees from the
community at their house. Jennifer Pike was relieved as she watched a
blue couch squeeze through the door. She had stayed awake the night
before as she fretted about the logistics of moving the heavy furniture.
“I was worried if it would fit through the door, would volunteers be

able to lift the heavy couch bed, could it fit on the trucks?” Pike said. “
I did not want it to get dirty or anyone to get hurt.”
Some volunteers started to unpack boxes filled with kitchen items and
food.
“Do you know how to use these?” someone asked the sisters, holding
up coffee filters. They do.
Shekiba saw a small sewing kit and was excited. “Wow! In Afghanistan
I have this, but big and a lot.”
As two volunteers worked to make sure a dresser drawer fit just right,
Muzhda remembered her room in Kabul. “Lots and lots of things,” she
said, recalling all her clothes and accessories.
“And now it’s all gone,” Shekiba said.
“Do you want to keep this?” a volunteer asked about a donated

painting of downtown Blacksburg. “Yes,” Muzhda said as she picked a
place front and center on a wall in the living room.
Jennifer Pike, left, a volunteer with Blacksburg Refugee Partnership helps Muzhda hang a donated
artwork in the living room of her new apartment on Oct. 20.
They hung a football poster for their brother who loves sports and was
happy to have it. I can get you more of those, said the volunteer. “Any
other kind of artwork you like?”
Muzhda said she loves Barbie and dolls, specifically Cinderella. She
likes the Disney character because, “She was a good person, even when
being treated so badly and God rewarded her,” she said.
Another Afghan refugee who recently moved to the apartments came

by with his 1-year-old son. He asked Bailey about finding work.
“As soon as we get everyone moved in, let’s talk about what jobs you
might like and what’s available,” Bailey said, adding: “It takes time.”
It takes about one month for a work authorization, one month for a
Social Security card and a year or more for a green card, which allows
non-US citizens to get permanent residence.
Three hours later the move-in wrapped up. “Are you going to be OK
staying in one place for a long time?” Bailey joked with the sisters.
Over two months had passed since the evacuation. Since then, they
had been relocated at least five times.
Before saying goodbye he said, “If it’s important to you, it’s important
to us. We can’t do everything quickly but we’ll get it done.”
The sisters serve traditional Afghan cooking for the first meal in their new home. The dishes include
Biryani, a mixed rice dish, with chicken, and Borani Banjan made with eggplant, tomato, yogurt, garlic
and pickled vegetables.
Waiting for new beginnings
The smell of garlic filled the air of their new apartment as Muzhda
fried the minced cloves with eggs, tomatoes, onions and salt. The
siblings sat down with a soft loaf of bread and broke off pieces to eat
with the savory eggs.
“We eat a loaf of bread between the three of us for breakfast,” Muzhda
said.
After breakfast they listened to music on YouTube by a famous Afghan

singer-songwriter Aryana Sayeed. Muzhda said she likes her because
she sings a lot of songs for women.
A feeling of unsettledness began to sink in with the newfound stillness.

Their bustling lives in Kabul were rich with family, friends, work and
school. Now all they could do was wait. Wait for Social Security cards,
insurance cards, change of address. Wait to learn what would happen
with their education, wait for volunteers to take them grocery
shopping or for food and clothes. Wait to learn how to use the bus.
Shekiba got lost for a couple hours when she went for a walk. They had
their phones, but no internet service yet to use GPS.
Muzhda sent a message on a WhatsApp group thread with the refugee

partnership that she was bored, and that afternoon a few BRP
volunteers stopped by to keep her company on a walk.
“They are so kind, they are really caring about us,” she said, adding
that she will not send a similar message again. “I feel bad. I know they
are all very busy.”
Partnership volunteers were more than willing to help. One drove

them an hour to Bethlehem Grocery in Roanoke where the sisters
could find the specific rice they wanted. The Thai rice from the area
Kroger cooked too mushy, another brand of rice from the local market
was better but not quite right. They wanted Aahu Barah, a brand of
basmati rice, and Roanoke was the only place to find it.
Volunteers brought them to stores in the New River Valley to help

them pick out their own clothes. The sisters love to shop, but it was
hard to find their style in the college town. “All the shirts are too
short,” Muzhda said.
She showed some longer form fitting tops she found online: A tan-
colored one with a cowl neck, the other, blue with a short V-neck.
A group effort
Marnie Mills, the Mission Advancement Associate with

Commonwealth Catholic Charities said in an email to The Roanoke
Times that, since mid-September, CCC has welcomed over 130 Afghan
adults and children to Roanoke and surrounding areas. All three CCC
office locations across Virginia have resettled more than 550 Afghan
adults and children. The nonprofit is one of the largest resettlement
organizations in Virginia.
“We are so grateful to have the support we have in Roanoke,” Mills

said about the additional support from community groups, religious
organizations and volunteers.
“One of the biggest challenges we continue to face is affordable
housing in this unstable and uncertain housing market,” Mills wrote.
There is also a need for household items and bedding.
The sisters found their way to the New River Valley through a network
of tireless people that included U.S. military personnel who served
with them in Afghanistan, CCC, BRP and The Secular Society.
The Secular Society is a Blacksburg-based organization that has

worked closely with BRP and is paying to support five of the refugees
and their families as they pursue the completion of their education
and careers. The refugees being supported by the society are called
The Secular Society Scholars. One additional scholar is undergoing a
standard background check and is expected to arrive soon.
When the Taliban took over in August, BRP and The Secular Society
wanted to help women who could no longer attend college.
“We were seeking out women who were forced out of the country, and
who were not able to complete their education goals,” Bailey said.
He reached out to many contacts, and it was Atia Abawi, an author

and former reporter with CNN and NBC and a foreign correspondent
based in Kabul, who put him in contact with the military women.
Abawi had worked with the lieutenant colonel at the Kabul airport to
help the sisters and their brother escape as the city was falling to the
Taliban.
Muzhda helped, as well, by introducing some of the families to BRP

and The Secular Society. “They are so kind, and accepted and do their
best for every family.” she said.
The Secular Society Scholars include military women who were
working to further their education, some of them with younger
siblings and children. One was an officer, others were serving in the
Afghan Female Tactical Platoon. One had three semesters remaining
to get her Ph.D. in political science and wanted to be a judge.
BRP is also helping a married couple with a 1-year-old son. The father
was working as a guard for the U.S. embassy for six years, and the
mother was an elementary school teacher. He is the same man who
asked Bailey about possible jobs as Muzdha, Shekiba and their brother
moved into their new apartment.
“The new families are all educated, where the first families we worked
with did not have any education, and many of them could not even
write in their own language,” Bailey said.
“It's just a lot different, because we are going to be able to work with
them over a longer time period, and they're going to be able to do
more with their scholarships.”
Bailey explained that refugees arrive at their resettlement with only a

$1,000 stipend for each person from the U.S. government.
BRP called out for donations of home furnishings for all the families,
and volunteers and the community responded. Volunteers stored the
furnishings in their home garages and organized move-ins and
logistics for the newest six families.
“We have a lot of great volunteers,” Bailey said. “Blacksburg is an

incredibly welcoming place. We are called the Blacksburg Refugee
Partnership for a reason.”
Currently BRP is looking for help with transportation and, in some
cases, childcare. “We're trying to get them all working, or in school.
And there’s still a lot of doctor's appointments and stuff like that,”
Bailey said.
Prayer rugs were donated for Afghan refugees through Blacksburg Refugee Partnership. Muzhda
prays for the women of Afghanistan and her family and friends now living under the Taliban rule.
Setting new goals
Being around friends and knowing they are safe feels comforting, still
the sisters’ future is uncertain and they reminisce about home.
“Before, I had a very good life, my job, my home, my university,”

Muzhda said. She showed a photo of her niece, the one who refused to
speak to her before, but is now chatting with her and her sister daily.
Muzhda was one semester from completing her degree to be a

midwife. Shekiba was almost done completing her degree to be a
dentist.
In Afghanistan, the sisters spent their free time shopping in the large
city market square and vacationing at Kapisa Province where they
swam in the river.
“The Kabul was not the Kabul before 20 years [ago],” Muzhda said,
describing the Afghan capital in the years that followed the United
States invasion after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
“We have a lot of universities, a lot of schools, a lot of journalists, and

families gives permission to their daughter to go to the media to go in
front of the camera and talk. We have a lot of singers, a lot of pilots.
“The situation was not like it was before the 20 years ago when the
Taliban was the government.”
Shekiba remembered the first time she saw a woman on television

driving an army vehicle in uniform. “I saw them and after that it would
be me with gun and with helmet. At that time I like it.
“In my opinion it was very important [to join the military]. It was our
wish. You guys [Americans] are open minded, and I like that.”
Muzhda saw her big sister in service and also wanted to join. She liked
the good benefits and the opportunity to learn English and about
computers. She wanted to be a pilot.
Her mother hesitated, saying she already had to worry about one
daughter in the military. She eventually relented, asking Muzhda to
please finish her high school education first.
In her last year of high school, Muzhda attended the Air Force
University in Afghanistan and became an officer and a mechanic on
PC-12 passenger and cargo aircrafts with the main goal to become a
pilot. She had been taking classes for six months of the 18 to 24 month
program when the Taliban regained control of the country.
Still, she hopes to continue her military career. “One day I hope I can
do something for the U.S. government because they have done so
much for Afghanistan for 20 years.”
Shekiba wants to become a dentist, having been inspired after seeing a

peer who was shot in the mouth and needed major dental work.
“I like the dentist because in Afghanistan all men and women have
tooth problems and tooth is the beauty of the face,” she said, adding
“dentistry should help for this. If your tooth is good, you are eating
good. You are strong.”
Sisters of Service
One Friday morning in November, Muzhda was excited. She had just
returned from the apartment gym and was making chicken kebabs
with onion and red pepper.
“I hope they taste good,” she said. She was trying to make them just
like her younger sister who is still back home in Afghanistan.
Vegetable oil splattered in the pan as she turned the skewer.
“Our mentors are coming,” she said, referring to two women she and
her sister served with in Afghanistan. The women were also in their
20s, born in the United States. They are active duty soldiers based at
Fort Bragg in North Carolina. They are also a part of a Sisters of
Service, working to empower and resettle the Afghan females who
fought by their sides.
Muzhda tried a bite of the sizzling, steaming dish. “Not enough spice,”
she said. “Needs more garlic, more salt.”
When the women arrived, everyone hugged and smiled. Shekiba had
not yet returned from an appointment. Muzhda served ginger tea and
she and the two soldiers sat in the living room catching up.
Muzhda talked about her worry of competing for her education in the
states and about being one semester short of completing her midwife
degree in Kabul.
“If they say start from beginning I cannot do that, it will be very boring
for me,” she said, concerned that her college credits will not transfer to
the United States.
The mentors want to remain anonymous for safety reasons. However,

one spoke about the importance of mentorship. “They crossed so many
barriers in Afghanistan,” one of the soldiers said, adding “They fully
have the potential to succeed in the United States. This is why it’s so
vital to have a mentor who can help navigate this new system.”
Muzhda joined the military when she was 19 and in 12th grade. She
was scheduled to begin college the next year as a journalism major,
but her mother died unexpectedly. Muzhda put some of the burden on
herself, thinking she had caused her mother so much stress by joining
the military. She wanted to honor her mother’s wishes that she
become a midwife, so she changed her course of study.
In January, the sisters and other Afghan refugees began their

education journey with English classes five days a week. When they
have completed those classes, they will have an opportunity to pursue
their education goals.
The future is still unclear for Muzhda and Shekiba. They still don’t
know how many of their college credits from Kabul will transfer to
U.S. schools.
Muzhda returned home to the apartment from English class excited to

share what she learned about Martin Luther King Jr. She had not
heard of him, and she liked that he stood for equality.
Her college track is uncertain but the military expert and midwife-in-
training has settled for a cashier’s job. Muzhda still has sleepless
nights, as she worries about her family stuck in Kabul, but like a
typical college student, she battles her fatigue with a cup of coffee in
hand as she leaves for class, and as for her uncertainty, she battles that
with hope.
https://roanoke.com/news/local/a-new-life-in-southwest-virginia-much-uncertainty-but-hope-after-
escape-from-afghanistan/article_a3248df2-8828-11ec-aaf5-1b1814fa8bf2.html
Best rice cookers 2022: how
to make great rice every
time, with rice cookers from
Tefal, Sage, Russell Hobbs
If you’ve never considered buying a rice
cooker, let us explain why this underrated
kitchen appliance is set to be your new best
pal
By Jess Denham
Thursday, 10th February 2022, 9:57 am

The 8 best rice cookers 2021: this appliance is guaranteed to make perfect
rice every time
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased
through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
Rice is a much-loved staple food, but it’s all too easy to overcook. Fed
up with sloppy rice? Us too. That’s where rice cookers come in, cooking
your grains to fluffy perfection so that you can focus on the fun bits.
Read More
 Treat your love to a three course

meal at home with these top Valentine’s meals deals
 This is what’s on the menu with this

year’s £15 Morrisons Valentine’s Day meal deal
 Treats to entertain your puppy or

dog, including food and fun toys to play with
 There’s a premium dog food to suit
your canine - here are the best dog foods around
How do rice cookers work?
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Rice cookers bring rice to the boil before lowering the heat at just the
right time (thanks to sensors, not magic, sadly!) and keeping it warm
until you’re ready to eat it. Basic models will do just that but pricier, more
complex machines offer a range of programs for cooking different types
of rice, from arborio to basmati. Many can also be used for steaming fish
and veg, poaching fruit, making porridge and slow-cooking soup, chilli
and stew.
Which brand of rice cooker is the best?
With a wide range of rice cookers on the market, it can be hard to know
which model to buy, so we asked Vivek Singh, executive chef and CEO
of The Cinnamon Collection for his advice. “The quality is reflected in the
price,” he said. “If you’re looking to cook large quantities of rice daily, like
we do at all our restaurants, Buffalo machines are efficient and
consistently produce lovely steamed rice.
“For home cooking, the Russell Hobbs machine makes small portions of
perfectly fluffy rice every time and it’s very reasonably priced.”
Russell Hobbs Rice Cooker and Steamer
Russell Hobbs Rice Cooker and Steamer

£24.00
great performance at a reasonable price
This neat new rice cooker has a generous 1.8 litre capacity for serving
up to 14 people. The glass lid lets you monitor your food without letting
heat escape and the detachable non-stick bowl is dishwasher-safe for
easy cleaning.
You’ll find a measuring cup and spatula in the box, along with a sturdy
steaming basket for cooking veg and rice simultaneously.
It’s straightforward to use and will sit pretty on any kitchen worktop,
without taking up too much space. Its auto switch-off feature offers
reassurance and it comes with a two-year guarantee
https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/recommended/8-best-rice-cookers-2022-3137023
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APEDA : Premier Agricultural Export-

Trade Body Celebrating 36th
Foundation Day
February 13, 2022 by North East Today
 NET Web Desk

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA), an apex-Export Trade Promotion government body that serves as a
vital interface between farmers and other stakeholders involved in product export
into the international market, is marking its 36th Foundation Day on February 13,
2022.
In order to commemorate the 36th Foundation Day, a series of events such as

capacity building programmes for farmers & exporters, trade meet with Farmer
Producer Organizations (FPOs)/Farmer Producer Company (FPC), cooperatives
& exporters have been organized by the premier government body.
Taking to Twitter, the official handle of APEDA wrote “To commemorate #APEDA
36th formation day on February 13, 2022, a series of events such as capacity
building programmes for #farmers & #exporters, #trade meet with FPOs/FPCs,
cooperatives & exporters are being organized. #AatmaNirbharBharat
#FoundationDay”
Meanwhile, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and
Food & Public Distribution and Textiles – Piyush Goyal wrote “Farmers have
played an important role in the development of India. Our government has been
dedicated towards doubling the income of farmers and their welfare. We are
determined to make the farmers of the country self-reliant by making better use
of our agricultural resources.”
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority

(APEDA) was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the
Parliament in December, 1985. This Act came into effect from February 13, 1986
by a notification issued in the Gazette of India : Extraordinary : Part-II [Sec. 3(ii):
13.2.1986].
It is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of

scheduled products such as – Fruits & Vegetables; Meat and Meat Products;
Poultry and Poultry Products; Dairy Products; Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery
Products; Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products; Cocoa and its products,
chocolates of all kinds; Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Cereal and
Cereal Products; Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts; Pickles, Papads and
Chutneys; Guar Gum; Floriculture and Floriculture Products; Herbal and
Medicinal Plants.
However, Basmati Rice has been included in the Second Schedule of APEDA
Act. In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility of
monitoring the import of sugar as well.
APEDA also functions as the Secretariat to the National Accreditation Board
(NAB) for implementation of accreditation of the Certification Bodies under
National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for organic exports.
Since 1986, India’s agricultural & processed food product exports have
witnessed exponential growth. APEDA in collaboration with farmers, exporters,
processors & state governments are significantly contributing to achieve Prime
Minister – Narendra Modi’s target of achieving $400 billion mercantile exports
during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-22.
Its worth noting that on August last year, PM Modi launched a national effort to
achieve the aforementioned target in order to boost economic growth at a time
when other factors such as private consumption and investment have been
severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
CategoriesFeatured, NationalTags36th Foundation Day, Agricultural and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
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Fistful of rice’ helps women keep Bangladesh’s Indigenous

community afloat Previous
DHAKA: When Doli

Barman founded the first food bank in Kawapara village in northern Bangladesh two years ago, she wanted to
make sure her community would be safe from hunger in times of crisis. The impoverished region in
Niamotpur, Naogaon district, an area inhabited by some 6,000 members of landless Indigenous groups, has
often suffered food emergencies. The simple food bank idea, called Musti Chal (“a fistful of rice”), has
already helped it stay afloat during one of the biggest crises in recent years — the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) pandemic — and is now allowing local women to make small investments and become self-
sufficient. “One of the main objectives of this food bank was to extend support to group members during
periods of crisis,” Barman told Arab News. Musti Chal was established just months before Bangladesh went
into its first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. In communities like Barman’s, which are dependent on daily
wage labor, pandemic-imposed closures deprived many of their livelihoods, increasing the country’s poverty
rate to over 40 percent from 20 percent before the outbreak. “Our people were saved from starvation,”
Barman said. “From the food bank, we lent rice to community members, which they repaid later.” In her
village, the food bank is now run by 30 women. They set aside a fistful of rice from their cooking every day.
After a week, they collect all the spare rice and sell some of it. They save the money they have earned and
after some time invest it together into small projects like fish farming and domestic animals, which generate
further income.

They also lend money to community members with little or no interest, preventing them from falling into
debt by borrowing from loan sharks. “This is how the food bank is serving the community. We want to grow
together,” Barman said. “Now that I have the food bank, I am much more confident than before. I used to
feel quite helpless whenever I fell into any crisis.” With other members of Musti Chal, she has now managed
to save around $250, which the women want to allocate for investment. This week, she said, they are going
to buy livestock to rear. In managing the food bank, Barman’s group received training from the Borendro
Development Organization, a local nongovernmental organization funded by the Manusher Jonno
Foundation, which helps uplift Indigenous communities in the region and has helped with the establishment
of similar food banks in other villages. “Initially, we provided some training and logistics to participants for
the management of the food bank,” project coordinator Mohammed Anwar Hossain told Arab News. “Each
group meets once a week to review their achievements and discuss future plans. We have a plan to extend
further assistance to groups to increase the fund, which will help Indigenous people achieve financial
independence.” In Chargasa Vutkuri, a village next to Barman’s, women are already planning expansion.
“Now we are planning to take a pond on lease for fish farming in the locality. There is also a plan to buy
cattle,” she said. “All our 25 members are now growing together as a big family. We understand that the
strength of togetherness will offer us a huge potential to grow.”
Author Name: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2024026/world
Date: 14-Feb-2022
Experts advise growing more low GI rice to fight spurt in

diabetes

‘Increasing shift to sedentary lifestyle driving up cases' With sedentary lifestyle increasingly becoming the
norm in India — more so in view of the Covid-19 induced work-from-home trend — driving up the number of
diabetes cases, scientists from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition and ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research
have favoured large-scale cultivation of the low Glycemic Index (GI) rice as a fit diet for diabetic people in the
country. Any variety of rice with less than 55 GI is considered diabetic-friendly, according to scientists. A low
GI diet helps curb cravings and prevent sugar levels from spiking, reduces heart risks, and aids weight loss.
“Considering increased shift towards sedentary lifestyle in majority of the population, necessary policy
changes are to be made at various levels to increase the cultivation of low-GI rice in the country,” lead author
of the study, D Sanjeeva Rao from IIR said. His colleagues J Aravind Kumar, V Ravindra Babu and R M
Sundaram and Ananthan and T Longvah, both from ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition co-authored the
study published in the latest edition of journal Current Science. Most rice varieties in India are of high GI, a
food quality said to contribute to the health problems surrounding high-calorie intake and dysregulated
glucose metabolism. Manipulation of GI through various approaches is considered to significantly help in the
fight against diabetes and related diseases. The scientists also noted that paddy procured from the farmers is
processed to milled rice and sold in the market under various brand names, and often the varietal purity is
compromised. Hence, they emphasized that it is equally important to indicate the original name of the
variety, GI value and available carbohydrate value on the label to translate the advantages of this research to
society. The IIRR has already identified three rice varieties with low GI values which are considered suitable
for diabetic patients. These are Lalat (GI=53.17), BPT 5204 (GI=51.42) and Sampada (GI=51). Also, named the
‘Telangana Sona’, yet another low GI rice variety has been developed by researchers at Professor Jayaprakash
Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU). India is known as the Diabetes capital of the world with
above 77 million adults suffering from diabetes, this number is expected to increase to 134 million by 2045.
According to the World Health Organisation, diabetes mellitus is considered as one of the major causes of
blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower-limb amputation.
Author Name: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/pioneer-exclusive/experts-advise-growing-more-low-gi-
rice-to-fight-spurt-in-diabetes.html
Date: 14-Feb-2022
High cost of inputs leaves Mwea rice farmers with a bitter taste

Rice farmers from the Mwea Irrigation Scheme have decried the increased cost of fertiliser and other farm
inputs. The high cost of production of rice has resulted in farmers seeking money from unregulated creditors
to finance farming while many small-scale farmers are unable to access credit have ditched rice farming.
According to prominent rice trader Njiru Mkombozi, the farms and plots under the Mwea Irrigation Scheme
still lack title deeds which make it difficult for farmers to get financial assistance from regulated banks. “Most
farmers have lease and beacon certificates which are not accepted by banks as collateral for loans. This
leaves farmers at the mercy of shylocks who charge exorbitant interests,” he said. Mr Mkombozi, a rice
miller, said farmers rush to shylocks to get easier loans which accrue high interest of around 30 per cent.
“With affordable farm inputs, farmers can be able to produce rice at low cost, we are also requesting
financial institutions to start accepting lease and beacon certificates as collateral so as to save farmers from
the jaws of rogue unregulated creditors,” he said. He added that some creditors are forced to harvest rice in
the farms of indebted farmers who are then left with nothing from a whole crop season. Daniel Ng’ang’a,
another farmer, said the completion of Thiba Dam would triple the production of rice in the scheme and
urged the government to spur local production through imposing taxes on imported rice. “The government
has been giving excuses that local production of rice is not enough, and that is why they have been allowing
imports which have hurt our economy greatly,” he said. “This must come to an end once the dam under
construction is completed.” Thiba dam is expected to double the production of rice from the current 114, 000
metric tonnes to 230,000 metric tonnes. Other than lack of affordable credit, competition from rice imports
and the high cost of farm inputs, snail invasion in Kenya’s largest rice scheme are some of the challenges that
have forced some farmers to abandon cultivation of the crop. Jane Wangechi, a trader at Wanguru township,
said the government should expand the rice off-take programme to cover farmers outside the big
cooperatives in the area. “We feel that the government has also left us at the mercy of brokers and must
make the off-take programme an annual activity,” she said.
Author Name: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/farmkenya/article/2001437462/high-cost-of-inputs-leaves-
mwea-rice-farmers-with-a-bitter-taste
From Plate to Plough: Fix rice farming to avoid a bumper

emissions harvest

By Ashok Gulati & Reena Singh Against the ‘carbon neutrality by 2070’ target set by India at CoP26, Budget
FY23 lists “climate action” and “energy transition” as priorities for the “Amrit Kaal”. The announcement of an
additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for solar PV modules, co-firing of 5-7% of biomass pellets in thermal
power plants, “sovereign green bonds, and “battery-swapping policy” was made in the context. These are
steps towards making energy and transport sector less polluting. But in the case of agriculture, Budget
announcements have been rather limited. We know that agriculture contributes 73% of country’s total
methane emissions. India has kept itself away from recent EU-US pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by
2030, despite it being the third-largest emitter of methane globally. It is in this context, one has to see the
Budget announcement of chemical-free natural farming within a 5-km-wide corridor along the Ganga,
support for millets, increased domestic production of oilseeds, kisan drones, etc. While these are welcome
steps, they do not give enough comfort on overcoming the environmental damage already done by this
sector as a result of subsidies on urea, canal irrigation, and power for irrigation, along with minimum support
prices (MSP) and procurement policies that are concentrated in a few states and largely on two crops, rice
and wheat. On January 1, the country had stocks of wheat and rice in the central pool that were 4X higher
than the buffer stocking norms. In fact, rice stocks with the FCI are an astounding 7X higher than the buffer
norms. This is despite record distribution of rice in PDS and record exports of rice (17.7MMT) in 2020-21! The
financial value of these excessive grain stocks is Rs2.14 lakh crore, out of which Rs 1.66 lakh crore is just
because of the excess rice stocks, estimated at economic cost of rice and wheat as given by FCI. Interestingly,
the Economic Survey 2021-22, pegs the economic cost of rice and wheat as being higher than those reported
by FCI. If one uses Economic Survey costs, then the value of excess stocks jumps to Rs 2.56 lakh crore, with
rice accounting for approximately Rs 2 lakh crore. It is not just inefficient use of scarce capital locked up, the
excess stocks are also reflective of a large quantum of greenhouse gases (GHG) embedded. As per the
national GHG inventory, agriculture emits 408 million tonnes (mt) of carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO2e), and
rice cultivation is the third-largest source (at 17.5%) within Indian agriculture, after enteric fermentation
(54.6%) and fertiliser use (19%). Paddy fields are anthropogenic sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide and
methane—273 and 80-83 times more powerful than CO2 in driving temperature increase in 20 years,
respectively. The amount of methane emitted from paddy fields of India is 3.396 teragram per year, which is
71.32 mt CO2e. Two important points need to be noted here: First, India is not reporting nitrous oxide
emissions in its national GHG inventories. There is scientific evidence that intermittent flooding reduces
water and methane emissions, but increases nitrous oxide emissions. Thus, lowering methane emissions
through controlled irrigation does not necessarily mean net low emissions. Second, there are emissions due
to burning of rice residues, application of fertilisers, production of fertilisers for rice, energy operations like
harvesting, pumps, processing, transportation, etc, which are not being accounted in GHG emissions by rice
production. A study by Vetter et al (2017) used Cool Farm Tool (CFT) model to estimate annual GHG
emissions associated with crops, from production to the farm gate. This study reported emission of 5.65 kg
CO2e GHG per kg of rice. Furthermore, rice cultivation requires about 4,000 cubic metres of water per tonne.
Even if half of this percolates back to the ground, the excess stocks of 46 mt of rice embed about 92 billion
cubic metres of water as well as 260 mt CO2e. According to the IMF, the world needs a global carbon tax of
$75 per tonne by 2030 to reduce emissions to a level consistent with a 2°C warming target. India does not
have an explicit carbon-price yet, but many countries have instituted carbon pricing, with Sweden leading the
pack, at as high a rate as $137 per tonne of CO2e while the EU is at $50/t of CO2e. It is high time that India
announced indicative carbon pricing and create a vibrant carbon market to incentivise ‘green growth’ in
Amrit Kaal. Economic Survey 2021-22 points out that India is over-exploiting its groundwater resources,
particularly in its northwestern and southern reaches. This is primarily due to paddy cultivation on 44 million
hectares. Paddy helped achieve food security, but now is the time to save groundwater and the environment.
It calls for revisiting policies on subsidising power and fertilisers, MSP, procurement, etc. Farmer groups and
the private sector can be mobilised for developing carbon markets in agriculture, both at the national and
international levels, which can reward farmers for switching from carbon-intensive crops such as rice to low
carbon crops, or for improving farming practices in rice to lower GHG emissions. Moving towards ‘net-zero’
agriculture will give India ‘climate smart’ agriculture. And if we can protect productivity levels with a low
carbon footprint, it will help India access global markets too. Respectively, Infosys Chair professor for
agriculture, and senior fellow, ICRIER
Author Name: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/from-plate-to-plough-fix-rice-farming-to-avoid-a-
bumper-emissions-harvest/2432875/
Date: 14-Feb-2022
Basmati Rice Exports Drop 4-Year Low

as Iran Reduces Purchases
Shivam Dwivedi Updated 13 February, 2022 10:17 PM IST Published on 13 February, 2022 10:10 PM IST
Basmati Rice
According to government and industry authorities, India's basmati rice exports

fell by a fifth from a year before to the lowest level in four years in 2021, as key
importer Iran cut purchases as its rupee reserves deteriorated.
According to government data, basmati rice exports in 2021 plummeted 20%

from the previous year to 4 million tonnes, the lowest level since 2017.
According to the report, shipments to Iran, India's largest consumer of basmati

rice, fell 26% year on year to 834,458 tonnes.
"Iran was not active in the market for a few months last year after its rupee
reserves with Indian banks depleted," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global
trading house.
Iran previously agreed to sell oil to India in exchange for rupees, which is used to
import critical goods such as agricultural commodities, but New Delhi stopped
buying Tehran's oil in May 2019 after a US sanctions waiver expired.
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5 Unknown Benefits of Basmati Rice: Start Eating Today

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healthy.…
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Tehran continued to use its rupees to buy goods from India, but without crude
sales, which depleted Iran's rupee reserves.
Decline in Export:
Exports slowed in the middle of 2021, but buying from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and
other key buyers has increased in the last two to three months, according to Vijay
Setia, former president of the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA).
India, the world's largest rice exporter, primarily exports non-basmati rice to

African countries while also exporting premier basmati rice to the Middle East.
Total rice exports increased nearly 46 percent year on year in 2021 to a record
21.42 million tonnes, thanks to increased purchases from Bangladesh, China, and
Vietnam.
According to Setia, basmati rice production in 2021 will be down around 15%
from the previous year due to lower area and untimely rainfall during harvesting
season. "Export prices of basmati rice have increased by 20% due to lower
production, but demand remains strong for February and March
shipments," Setia said.
https://krishijagran.com/commodity-news/basmati-rice-exports-drop-4-year-low-as-iran-reduces-
purchases/
New Thai rice varieties lined up to boost exports

Thailand plans to develop 12 new commercial rice varieties by 2024 to boost rice export
competitiveness. Speaking after an award ceremony for new commercial rice varieties, Commerce Minister
Jurin Laksanawisit said the ministry set up a war room to accelerate Thai rice development and increase
exports, for both existing and new markets. Of the 12 new varieties, Mr Jurin said four are hard-texture
grains, four are soft texture, two are Thai fragrant rice and two are high-nutrition types. These varieties are in
high demand among global consumers, he said.
Author Name: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2262971/new-thai-rice-varieties-lined-up-to-boost-
exports
Date: 12-Feb-2022
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2024201/world
Netizens in Tears: Poor Man Feeds

Rice to Stray Dog Goes Viral
On social media, a moving video of an old man feeding a stray dog has become
popular. The video was shared on Twitter by Dipanshu Kabra, an IPS officer, along
with a moving message, and it quickly went viral.
In the image’s caption, the IPS officer included a beautiful Hindi phrase, stating that God
has made everyone capable of displaying humanity in some way.
An elderly man can be seen approaching on an old bicycle with a bag slung over his
shoulder, dressed in torn clothes. On the back of his bicycle, he holds a big pot of freshly
cooked rice. At a traffic crossroads, the man pulls up to a stand beside a stray dog, gets a
large spoon, and starts feeding the dog. The eager dog quickly eats the meal.
Read more: Heartwarming Video: Homeless Man Celebrates Pet Dog’s Birthday
He stated on his tweeter, “God has made everyone capable of helping someone or the
other. This video of Dadaji is probably giving us the same message.”
There are over 41,500 views and 4.4,500 likes on the video. Netizens praised the video,
stating that it brought tears to their eyes. Here are a couple of the comments on the post:

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 Ireland plans €100m food exports to Saudi Arabia, eyes more shipments to Middle East

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Experts advise growing more low GI rice to

Any variety of rice with less than 55 GI is considered diabetic-friendly, according to

“Considering increased shift towards sedentary lifestyle in majority of the population,

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Pakistan allows exports to Afghanistan in

Usman HanifFebruary 12, 2022

THE current situation in Afghanistan is more horrific than before. People

Govt allows export of 14 items in local

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