World Food Program to study Punjab wheat storage facility
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 May, 2022 10:06 AM
Chandigarh, May 4 (IANS) A team of the World Food Program (WFP) on Wednesday started a visit to Punjab to understand the process of procurement, testing and transportation of wheat to Afghanistan so that a similar procedure can be adopted by it.
State Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said the five-member team of Sandro Banal, Filippo Zunino, Stephanie Heard, Amit Wadhera and Shruti will be visiting Amritsar to take a first-hand assessment of how long term storage of wheat is undertaken in Punjab, without deterioration in its quality.
Terming the recognition by the WFP for preserving the foodgrain by the state a matter of pride, the minister said Punjab, the food bowl of the nation, has been feeding the nation and now the grain produced in Punjab is feeding people abroad also.
It was also creditable that the western nations are now looking towards India to study preservation techniques for foodgrains and it speaks volumes of the progress made by the government of Punjab in this regard, he added. Senior officials of the state government and the FCI will be accompanying the team, he said, while assuring full cooperation to the team.
In a separate communication by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Department of Food and Public Distribution of the government of India on April 27 it had been conveyed that "WFP is highly satisfied with the quality of 10,000 metric tons of wheat provided by India to Afghanistan as humanitarian assistance".
This quantity of wheat had been moved from Punjab to Afghanistan via land route through Pakistan.
The transported wheat had been stored in PUNGRAIN steel silos of 50,000 metric tons capacity near Amritsar.
The farmers' agitation against the three contentious farm laws, which were later revoked, will not impact BJP's victory in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as the peasants of western part of the state will vote in favour of the party, a veteran BJP leader said.
The number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142, while 84 per cent of households in the country suffered a decline in their income in 2021, which was also a year marked by tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, according to non profit Oxfam India's latest report published on Monday. The report 'Inequality Kills' comes ahead of the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda.
From Covid-19 putting pressure on the Indian healthcare system to India's struggle with climate change, specially mentioning the Mumbai floods, Covid's impact of Indian school children from the rural areas to new emerging mental health problems among the public, the WEF has already mentioned all in its India-centric reports.
Hours after quitting as the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Ferozepur (Rural) constituency in Punjab on Monday, Ashu Bangar was inducted into the Congress by party Chief Minister Charanjit Channi. Channi in Chandigarh announced that Bangar would be party's candidate from the Ferozepur (Rural) seat as he is young with dreams to serve society.
An unattended bag was found in Delhi's Ghazipur area on Friday morning triggering panic in the area. A Fire Department Official told IANS that a call was received around 10.20 a.m. regarding an unattended bag in the Ghazipur flower market after which one fire engine was rushed to the spot.
On behalf of Clean Air Punjab, Gurpreet Singh of the Punjab Development Forum and Director of United Sikhs submitted a dossier containing the recommendations to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Cheema, AAP legislator Aman Arora and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Bajwa.
