COLOSSAL WASTE
   Date :19-Oct-2019
 
 
 
THE anguish of Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Mr. Antonio Guterres over colossal wastage of food even as over 800 million people worldwide remain hungry, is quite understandable. According to the UN report on ‘World Food Day’ an astronomical amount of one billion tonnes of food goes waste every year while 820 million people do not have enough to eat. This is criminal. But still this does not seem to have entered the thought process of governments all over the world. With this kind of waste it would be difficult to achieve the goal of ‘ zero hunger’ set by the UN under its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In fact removing hunger from the face of the earth is one of top most goals under SDG. But with this kind of food wastage the dream may remain a far cry unless governments and societies as a whole treat food wastage as criminal negligence towards the hungry humanity. Countries like India, reaping a phenomenal harvest from Green Revolution and becoming food surplus, have failed to manage surpluses fruitfully and for benefit of the needy.
BREXIT? NOT YET
 
SATURDAY will decide the fate of British Parliament’s real mood on the proposed divorce from the European Union (EU) even as Prime Minister Mr. Boris Johnson claims a ‘great Brexit deal’ he has bargained from the EU. The new deal, agreed between Mr. Johnson and European Commission President Mr. Jean Claude Juncker, addresses some complex clauses including customs check between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. This was one point of consternation for Ms. Theresa May, who left office with prospects of a no-deal Brexit. The no-deal catastrophe seems to have been avoided with the new agreement, yet it has to pass the muster when the Commons meet for final approval. Given the fast approaching deadline there is every possibility of a majority toeing Mr. Johnson’s deal than a no-deal. Even if Mr. Boris Johnson loses Saturday’s vote, he will emerge as a big winner at home despite the huge concessions he made to the EU. The people’s choice has, at least, walked the talk.