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The heads of all <keyword id="3627663" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="farmer-unions">farmer unions</keyword> protesting against the Centre's <keyword id="10352079" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-agri-laws">new agri laws</keyword> for over two weeks now will observe a one-day hunger strike on Monday, <keyword id="10427671" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="farmer-leader-gurnam-singh-chaduni">farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni</keyword> said here on Sunday. The hunger strike between 8 am to 5 pm on Monday is part of the farmers' plan to intensify their agitation from December 14. Addressing a press conference at Singhu border, where the farmers have been camping in agitation, Chaduni said the leaders will observe the hunger strike at their respective places. "Also dharnas will be staged at all district headquarters across the country. The protest will go on as usual," he told reporters. "There are groups that are ending protest and saying they are in favour of laws passed by the government. We want to clarify that they are not associated with us. They have been hand-in-gloves with the government, they conspired to sabotage our protest. The government is hatching a conspiracy to derail the ongoing farmers' protest," added Chaduni. Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said "government agencies have been stopping farmers from reaching Delhi, but the protest will continue till their demands are met". "Our stand is clear, we want the three farm laws repealed. All farmer unions participating in this movement are together," he said. Another farmer leader, Rakesh Tikait, said, "if the government gives another proposal for talks, our committee will decide on it. We appeal to all to maintain peace during protest". Sandeep Gidde, another farmer leader, announced at the press conference that the proposed indefinite hunger strike by farmers from December 19 has been cancelled and it will be a day-long strike on Monday instead. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/huawei-reportedly-worked-with-4-additional-companies-to-build-surveillance-tools-that-track-people-by-ethnicity-following-recent-revelations-that-it-tested-a-uighur-alarm/articleshow/79712815.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"> Huawei reportedly worked with 4 additional companies to build surveillance tools that track people by ethnicity, following recent revelations that it tested a 'Uighur alarm'</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/an-iphone-factory-in-india-has-erupted-in-violence-over-a-dispute-about-workers-pay/articleshow/79707169.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">An iPhone factory in India has erupted in violence over a dispute about workers' pay</a>

Farmer union leaders to go on hunger strike today

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The war in <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> has lifted <keyword id="13561385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fertilizer" source="Orion">fertilizer</keyword> prices, leading to concerns of a global food shortage.</li><li>Many low-income countries were struggling with hunger and pricey fertilizer before the invasion.</li></ul>In an era of abundant economic worries, the chaos in the world's fertilizer market is one of the most concerning.The war in Ukraine has boosted already high fertilizer prices. Russia serves as the world's top fertilizer exporter, selling <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/fertilizers#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20top%20exporters,and%20France%20(%241.83B).">some $7.6 billion worth of fertilizer</a> in 2020, according to data from the French research organization CEPII. Russia's invasion of Ukraine slammed both countries' abilities to trade, and in early March the Russian government called on fertilizer producers <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-04/russia-calls-on-domestic-fertilizer-producers-to-halt-exports">to suspend exports entirely</a>.The new supply pressures have lifted prices at a stunning clip. The <a href="https://fertilizerpricing.com/priceindex/">Green Markets North America fertilizer-price index</a> — which tracks the costs of urea, potash, and diammonium phosphate — has soared by 42% since the invasion began in late February.Higher fertilizer prices may not seem worrisome for the average American — potash and urea don't show up on most people's grocery lists. But the prices of food staples like wheat are also soaring, risking hunger crises in low- and middle-income countries. Persistently higher fertilizer costs could turn food inflation into a lasting problem and plunge the world into a new kind of economic turmoil."I am deeply concerned that the violent conflict in Ukraine, already a catastrophe for those directly involved, will also be a tragedy for the world's poorest people living in rural areas who cannot absorb the price hikes of staple foods and <keyword id="11994879" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="farming" source="Orion">farming</keyword> inputs that will result from disruptions to global trade," said Gilbert Houngbo, the president of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development."We are already seeing price hikes, and this could cause an escalation of hunger and poverty with dire implications for global stability."<h2>Soaring fertilizer prices escalate food-shortage concerns</h2>The world was already short on food before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. A <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cb4474en/online/cb4474en.html#chapter-executive_summary">UN report on food security</a> estimated that between 720 million and 811 million people faced hunger in 2020 — an increase of as many as 161 million from 2019 — as the coronavirus crisis and economic recession hobbled poorer countries.The Russia-Ukraine conflict has only worsened the problem. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/wheat-price">Wheat prices</a> have soared by 27% since the invasion began, with markets bracing for supply from both Russia and Ukraine to fade. While advanced economies can absorb higher costs and turn to alternatives, developing countries are stuck with few options aside from footing a larger bill.Fertilizer prices are also up about 260% from prepandemic levels, having been dented by higher energy costs and new export-licensing mandates imposed by major exporters like Russia and China.These higher costs are forcing farmers to scale back production or use less fertilizer and risk harvesting smaller yields. Some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/manure-big-business-high-demand-russia-ukraine-war-fertilizer-prices-2022-4">are clamoring for animal manure</a> to replace commercial nutrients. Even if the Russian invasion were to end soon and food inflation cooled, soaring fertilizer costs would have a delayed effect on the market and leave supply strained well into the future.Expensive crop nutrients hinder advanced economies' ability to fill the hole in the world's food supply. The US Department of <keyword id="11963490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="agriculture" source="Orion">Agriculture</keyword> <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2022/03-31-2022.php">said in late March</a> that it expected farmers in the US to plant less corn but a record amount of soybeans in 2022. Soybeans require less commercial fertilizer than corn, and a shift signals that farmers are gearing up for prolonged disruption in the fertilizer market.The uptick in fertilizer prices could even spark civil unrest in countries with unstable food supplies. Food-price shocks triggered riots in Haiti, Bangladesh, and Mozambique in 2007 and 2008, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-bread-food-prices-civil-unrest-arab-spring-egypt-2022-3">Insider's Jason Lalljee reported in March</a>. Food scarcity also played a role in the Arab Spring protests of the early 2010s as people struggling with hunger and poverty mobilized against their governments.Intense damage has already emerged in the world's most vulnerable countries. The UN's World Food Programme <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/countdown-catastrophe-begins-yemen-funding-food-assistance-dwindles">said in late February</a> that it had been forced to halve food assistance for 8 million people facing hunger in Yemen. The program's executive director, David Beasley, said the combination of dwindling funds and soaring prices risked pushing millions of Yemenis into famine conditions."We have no choice but to take food from the hungry to feed the starving," Beasley said, adding, "This will be hell on earth."<h2>Pricey fertilizer worsens the world's inflation problem</h2>The fertilizer-price surge is also a major obstacle in the fight against inflation. Food prices are a major component of headline inflation measures; the category has a 14% weighting in the consumer price index, for example. If fertilizer prices don't fall back to earth, it could weigh on future crop yields and keep food supply well below US demand.The price surge also strikes at a weakness in the Federal Reserve's plan to quell price growth. The central bank <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserve-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-higher-costs-loans-mortgages-2022-3">started raising interest rates in March</a> partly in an effort to ease inflation. Higher borrowing costs help rein in demand for a range of goods, but people need to eat, and the Fed's plan to fight inflation can't do much to close the gap between food supply and demand.Inflation in other pockets of the <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword> is worsening the fertilizer problem. Energy prices have soared more than any other major CPI category, leaping by nearly 26% over the past year. Natural gas is one of those surging energy commodities and a crucial component in the production of commercial fertilizers. Rising natural-gas prices have already forced European fertilizer factories <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/food-costs-fertilizer-yara/index.html">to scale back production</a>, threatening an even bigger nutrient shortage in the months ahead.The world is adjusting somewhat to combat the new price pressures. The USDA announced in March that it would make $250 million available in the summer <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/03/11/usda-announces-plans-250-million-investment-support-innovative#:~:text=USDA%20will%20make%20available%20%24250,production%20to%20supply%20American%20farmers.">to boost domestic fertilizer production</a>.But last-minute adjustments aren't likely to fully counter a fertilizer shortage. The world is already struggling to shoulder rising food costs, and there's little indication that the war in Ukraine will end soon. As farmers make do, elevated fertilizer prices loom over hungry countries and inflation-rattled economies.

The war in Ukraine is sending fertilizer prices through the roof. That could spark food shortages in countries already struggling with widespread hunger.

New Delhi, Jan 27 () As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1 when the Budget would be presented. The decision by farmer unions came a day after massive violence during their tractor parade in the national capital that left nearly 400 police personnel injured. The farmer leaders, however, alleged that there was a conspiracy behind Tuesday's incidents and demanded a probe. They said their agitation against the farm laws will continue and public meetings and hunger strikes will be held across the country on January 30. "The tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy. Deep Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted a religious flag at Red Fort," farmer leader Darshan Pal, who has been accused by police of making inflammatory speeches, alleged at a press conference. Sidhu is a former aide of actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu in December after he supported the farmers' agitation. "We have cancelled our plan for a march to Parliament on budget day on February 1. But our agitation will continue and there will be public meetings and hunger strike across the country on January 30, " Pal said. Another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and "99.9 percent of the protesters were peaceful". Even as the farmer unions continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation against the farm laws, Tuesday's incidents that have been widely condemned started taking a toll with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee withdrawing from the protests on the Delhi's borders. Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who has been supporting the farmers' agitation, said, "We regret the Red Fort incident and accept its moral responsibility. The incident should be probed. There is a conspiracy behind it" Responding to a question on farmer leaders being named in FIR, Yadav said, "FIR, jail and torture are rewards of movements". "We have video clippings and we will expose how a conspiracy was hatched to defame our movement," Shivkumar Kakka said. As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in an FIR in connection with the violence during the tractor parade. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort during the Republic Day. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. VIT GJS GJS RT RT

Budget day march to Parliament cancelled by farmer unions

<keyword id="6358777" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Delhi">New Delhi</keyword>, <keyword id="1588424" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Farmer-leaders">Farmer leaders</keyword> are expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss a plan of action as thousands gathered at protest sites on Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to press for the repeal of the <keyword id="10352079" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-agri-laws">new agri laws</keyword> brace the cold wave sweeping through the national capital. Efforts are underway by the unions to draw <keyword id="6367209" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="support">support</keyword> from farmers in other states like Bihar for their demand to enact a law assuring <keyword id="76332" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Minimum-Support-Price">Minimum Support Price</keyword> as the protest at the border points have been going on for almost four weeks now. On Monday, the farmers held a relay hunger strike at various protest sites in batches of 11. In the letter to 40 union leaders, the Joint Secretary in <keyword id="9313637" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-union-agriculture-ministry">the Union Agriculture Ministry</keyword>, Vivek Aggarwal, on Sunday asked them to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest. The sixth round of talks on December 9 was cancelled following a deadlock with the farmer unions refusing to budge from their demand for repealing the three laws. Owing to ongoing agitation, the Delhi Traffic Police said the Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, and Mangesh borders are closed. It advised commuters to take alternative routes through the Lampur, Safiabad Saboli and Singhu school toll tax borders. Police said that as traffic has been diverted from Mukarba and the GTK road, people are suggested to avoid Outer Ring Road, the GTK road and National Highway (NH) 44. Those travelling to Haryana can go through the Jharoda (only single carriageway), Daurala, Kapashera, Badusarai, Rajokri NH-8, Bijwasan-Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera borders. According to the traffic police, Tikri and Dhansa borders are also closed for traffic but the Jhatikara border was open only for two-wheelers and pedestrians. At the Chilla border, the Delhi to Noida carriageway is open for traffic. The Noida to Delhi carriageway is, however, closed. The Ghazipur border was also closed for traffic movement. Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-spicejet-interglobe-aviation-tata-motors-pfizer-asian-paints-niit-lupin-and-others/articleshow/79849749.cms">Top stocks to watch – SpiceJet, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Motors, Pfizer, Asian Paints, NIIT, Lupin, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/how-to-check-mrs-bectors-food-specialities-ipo-allotment-status-online/articleshow/79808672.cms?upcache=2">Mrs Bectors Food Specialities IPO allotment today: Here’s how to check share allotment status</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/google-microsoft-invest-in-dailyhunt-for-its-short-video-platform-josh-making-it-the-latest-unicorn-in-india/articleshow/79850804.cms">Google, Microsoft invest in DailyHunt for its short video platform Josh – making it the latest unicorn in India</a>

Farmer union leaders to meet today to decide on further discussions with government

New Delhi, Jan 27 () As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws after the violence during the tractor parade, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1 when the Budget would be presented. They said their agitation against the farm laws will continue and public meetings and hunger strikes will be held across the country on January 30 on Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary to emphasise on peace and non-violence. The decision by farmer unions came a day after massive violence during their tractor rally in the national capital that left nearly 400 police personnel injured, as the protesters deviated from the routes, clashed with the cops and laid seige to the Red Fort. The farmer leaders, however, alleged that there was a conspiracy behind Tuesday's incidents and demanded a probe. "The tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy. Deep Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted a religious flag at Red Fort," farmer leader Darshan Pal, who has been accused by the police of making inflammatory speeches, alleged at a press conference. Sidhu is a former aide of actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu in December after he supported the farmers' agitation. "We have cancelled our plan for a march to Parliament on budget day on February 1. But our agitation will continue and there will be public meetings and hunger strike across the country on January 30, " Pal said. Another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and "99.9 percent of the protesters were peaceful". Even as the farmer unions continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation against the farm laws, Tuesday's incidents that have been widely condemned started taking a toll with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee withdrawing from the protests on the Delhi's borders. Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who has been supporting the farmers' agitation, said, "We regret the Red Fort incident and accept its moral responsibility. The incident should be probed. There is a conspiracy behind it." Responding to a question on farmer leaders being named in FIR, Yadav said, "FIR, jail and torture are rewards of movements". "We have video clippings and we will expose how a conspiracy was hatched to defame our movement," Shivkumar Kakka said. As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Medha Patkar and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in an FIR in connection with the violence during the tractor parade. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort on the Republic Day. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. "The conspiracy to defame a peaceful movement of last seven months is now exposed in front of the public. Along with some individuals and organizations, like Deep Sidhu and Kisan Majdoor Sangarsh Committee led by S Satnam Singh Pannu, the government made this movement violent. "We clarify again that we dissociate ourselves from the violent actions which took place at Red Fort and other parts of Delhi," Pal said at the press conference. He alleged that the incident of "orchestrated". "The parade of the farmers was predominantly peaceful and on the agreed-upon route. We strongly condemn the insult to national symbols, but the farmers' movement cannot be painted as 'violent' as violence was done by a few anti-social elements, who are not associated with us. "Farmers from all borders reached their original place (of protest) after peacefully completing their respective parades yesterday itself," he added. VIT GJS RT RT

Farmer unions cancel Budget day march to Parliament, but say their agitation will continue

<ul><li>The CPI(M) has proposed the construction of a 5.7km bypass through a paddy field belt in Keezhattur.</li><li>The proposal is expected to involve the reclamation of around 250 acres of land, a significant portion of which is paddy fields.</li><li>Environmental conservation and the protection of paddy fields were key components of the the party’s election manifesto in 2016.</li></ul> A fortnight after its <keyword id="45092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="farmers">farmers</keyword> organising wing, the All-India Kisan Sabha, led a successful march in Maharashtra, the <keyword id="71501" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Communist">Communist</keyword> Party of India (Marxist) finds itself on the other side of the line in Kerala- the state it governs as part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). The CPI(M) has proposed the construction of a 5.7km bypass through a paddy field belt in Keezhattur, a CPI(M)-stronghold in the district of Kannur. The bypass off NH 66, which has been in the works since 2003, is expected to result in the reclamation of around 250 acres of land, a significant portion of which is paddy fields. The bypass proposal has led to a spate of protests by farmers as it will affect paddy cultivation. Contradicting its own manifesto In most cases, the CPI(M)’s proposal would be a defensible political move, given that the goal here is infrastructure development. However, the party is said to be backtracking on a previous stance it took as part of the Opposition in 2015, wherein it opposed a plan by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to build over the paddy fields due to environmental reasons. Infact, environmental conservation and the protection of paddy fields were key components of the LDF’s <a href="http://cpim.org/5-state-elections-2016/.../kerala_ldf_manifesto_2016-english_version.doc">election manifesto</a> in 2016. The manifesto stated:- “Paddy fields all through the state will be declared protected paddy areas, while protecting the rights of their owners.” 
	
	
	
	<div type="image" title="Manifesto" msid="63517830" hostid="261"></div>









 Paddy cultivation is an important source of income in the region. Furthermore, the Keezhattur wetlands and paddy fields sustain the region’s water table, and hence the construction of the highway is expected to cut off the supply of water for the district’s farmers and residents. The CPI(M)’s proposal contradicts the pledges of its manifesto. It also strikes at the core of its support base- farmers. As a result, a number of divisions between the party’s leaders and workers have been exposed in the ensuing fallout. Another farmers march The agitation began in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/cpim-leadership-workers-differ-on-bypass-project/article19701290.ece">September 2017,</a> when the bypass plan was mooted. A number of CPI(M) cadres and supporters formed a group called Vayal Kilikal, which translates into “birds of the paddy field”. The group, which is led by Suresh Keezhattoor, a former party worker, staged a hunger strike before being placated by the government. The protests were restarted again this month after the NHAI started surveying the land for acquisition purposes. On March 25th, clearly inspired by their counterparts in Maharashtra, the group commenced a peaceful march from the town of Taliparamba to Keezhattur in response to a CPI(M)-led march the previous day. They were joined by environmental activists and notably, BJP politicians. Hundreds of people were reported to have participated in the march. 
 
 
 
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 As things stand, the chief minister of <keyword id="28504" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword>, Pinarayi Vijayan, is set to meet Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for transport and highways, later this week to discuss the issue. While an elevated highway has been proposed as an alternative to the bypass, it has been struck down by the Vayal Kilikal. The unrest against the CPI(M) is growing. A longer march from Keezhattur to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram is slated for early April. Hopefully, a settlement will be reached.

The “farmer-friendly” CPI(M)'s proposed bypass plan in Kerala contradicts its 2016 election manifesto

<ul><li>The National M.Sc <keyword id="351695" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Medical-Teachers">Medical Teachers</keyword>' Association (<keyword id="6812238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="NMMTA">NMMTA</keyword>) has asked for reforms in Medical M.Sc courses to the Indian government. </li><li>The teachers association has expressed their concern after the <keyword id="3514079" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-medical-commission">National Medical Commission</keyword> excluded non-medical teachers from the para-clinical specialties of Pharmacology and Microbiology in its latest guidelines.</li><li>Officials from the government have ensured the association that their concerns will be addressed. </li></ul>The National M.Sc Medical Teachers' Association (NMMTA) has asked for reforms in post graduate <keyword id="124637" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Medical-courses">medical courses</keyword> to the Indian government. The heads of the NMMTA met top officials from NITI aayog as well as the Health Secretary (MoHFW) to look into their concerns. Officials from the government have ensured the association that their concerns will be addressed. "Medical M.Sc courses, which are conducted in the medical colleges on the lines of MD courses need reforms. Ever since MCI silently abandoned regulating these courses, they are now regulated by individual health universities. In the absence of a regulating scientific council, there are variations in these courses with respect to the mode of admissions, duration of courses, dissertation, etc. We want reforms and regulations of these courses; only medical colleges must be permitted to run them", said Dr. Sridhar Rao, President, NMMTA in a statement. Dr Rao also said that the current curriculum is in dire need of an upgrade according to the changing times. The association also said that Ph.D. aspirants who wish to appear for NET examination end up taking a Life Sciences exam. "General M.Sc &amp; Medical M.Sc are different as the former is the core life sciences and the later one is specialized to suit the medical field. This puts us at a disadvantage when we scientists wish to clear NET tests for pursuing Ph.D", said Arjun Maitra, General Secretary of the association. The teachers association has expressed their concern after the National Medical Commission excluded non-medical teachers from the para-clinical specialties of Pharmacology and Microbiology in its latest guidelines. “In the department of Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Microbiology, non-medical teachers may be appointed to the extent of 30% of the total number of posts in the department. However, in the department of Biochemistry, non-medical teachers may be appointed to the extent of 50% of the total number of posts in the department,” said the latest guidelines. However, this doesn’t bode well with scientists who are teachers in the country. “Scientists teaching non-clinical subjects, which are basic and allied medical sciences, is a common practice all over the world. In fact, there are scientist faculties in the clinical specialties in US medical schools", said Maitra. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-future-retail-power-grid-cipla-delta-corp-yes-bank-adani-power-and-others/articleshow/79713824.cms">Top stocks to watch — Future Retail, Power Grid, Cipla, Delta Corp, Yes Bank, Adani Power and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/farmer-union-leaders-to-go-on-hunger-strike-today/articleshow/79714488.cms">Farmer union leaders to go on hunger strike today</a>

Medical teachers association calls for reforms in post graduate courses and protests the new guidelines that exclude scientist teachers

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Avocados are delicious, fatty little fruits. And Americans love them.The country consumed <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257192/per-capita-consumption-of-fresh-avocados-in-the-us/">6.1 pounds of avocados</a> per person in 2014, more than triple the&#xa0;figure from 2000. To put that in perspective, our&#xa0;growing avocado hunger&#xa0;means the fruits already&#xa0;<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257226/per-capita-consumption-of-fresh-pears-in-the-us/">blow pears out of the water</a>&#xa0;and <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257167/per-capita-consumption-of-fresh-apples-in-the-us/">are fast approaching apple territory</a>.But even as more and more people fall in love with avocados, they're getting harder to come by.<div></div>Avocados are, as of November 3, the most expensive they've ever been.The trend has&#xa0;been building throughout&#xa0;2016. Earlier this year, spiking prices <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/15/avocado-thieves-shortage-crime-fruit-black-market-new-zealand">drove a crime wave in New Zealand</a>, with almost 40 major orchard thefts reported by June. You read that right: orchard thefts. Thieves were invading avocado orchard to pluck heaps of avocados off trees. That's how out of control this situation has gotten.As Quartz <a href="http://qz.com/774718/avocado-prices-in-the-us-are-up-because-of-climate-change-and-consumer-demand/">reported in September</a>, there isn't a single, simple explanation for the spike.<h2>Hot weather, droughts, and beetles are driving up the cost of avocados</h2>Most avocados grown in the US come from California. The state had a miserably hot, dry summer in 2016. Highs in avocado-growing regions reaching 117 degrees, and the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-avocados-20160628-snap-story.html">Los Angeles Times reports</a> that left avocado trees wilted and battered.On top of that, growers in the state have been battling an invasive species since 2012 that attacks avocado trees. The <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/04/12/59521/who-will-stop-the-shot-hole-borer-beetle/">polyphagous shot hole borer</a>, a tiny beetle, drills holes in the trees and leaves behind a deadly fungus.And on top of&#xa0;that the state has weathered a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/california-drought-photos-10">severe, unprecedented drought for more than five years</a>.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>But even that isn't the whole story of the avocado price spike.Mexico dominates global avocado sales, accounting for about&#xa0;<a href="http://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/fruits/avocados/">80% of sales</a> in the US alone. In the state of Michoacan, where there are few opportunities to strike it rich, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-mexico-deforestation-for-avocados-much-higher-than-thought-2016-10">g</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-mexico-deforestation-for-avocados-much-higher-than-thought-2016-10">rowers have&#xa0;torn up forests and wrecked local environments</a>&#xa0;in a rush to meet the global demand.But imports have <a href="http://abc7.com/business/avocado-prices-soar-due-to-shortage-in-mexico/1552362/">dropped dramatically</a> this year. Why? The same heat that struck California accounts for part of it. More immediately though, a dispute between growers and distributors has seen <a href="http://www.ksat.com/news/avocado-prices-skyrocket">farmers blocking roads</a>&#xa0;to prevent shipments from getting out.As Adam Chandler pointed out over at <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/10/avocado-shortage-price-hike/504383/">The Atlantic</a>, hot weather and droughts have also caused problems for alternative suppliers in markets as far-flung as Australia.&#xa0;Chile, in the midst of a drought, has seen drinking water diverted from human beings to <a href="http://civileats.com/2014/09/29/are-your-avocados-draining-a-communitys-drinking-water/">thirsty avocados</a>.The point is, our world is less hospitable to the weather-sensitive, slow-to-grow fruit than it once was. And no matter how much more we demand, there are increasingly hard limits on the supply.A farmer in Victoria, Australia <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-14/avocado-crop-lost-to-heat-stress/7932036">told</a>&#xa0;ABC Rural that climate change was forcing him to reconsider his whole approach to growing avocados, calling this a "whole other chapter" in the story of the crop.In the meantime, as the price of a crate of avocados climbs, restaurateurs are looking to more sustainable alternatives - like <a href="http://qz.com/774718/avocado-prices-in-the-us-are-up-because-of-climate-change-and-consumer-demand/">sweet potatoes</a>. Chipotle <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/10/25/chipotle-avocado-shortage/">insists it will keep stocking guac</a>, however. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/i-love-you-psychology-relationships-sex-2016-10">The psychology behind who says 'I love you' first in a relationship</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tocWluNjE6btat10hmfm9K8om74AA8Ae" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Avocado prices just hit a record high, and show no signs of coming down. Here's why

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">REUTERS/Jon Nazca</div></div>
Marinaleda, a small village outside of Seville, has tried for the last thirty-five years to construct what has failed numerous times before - a communist utopia. In <a href="http://www.versobooks.com/books/1490-the-village-against-the-world">The Village Against The World</a><a href="http://www.versobooks.com/books/1490-the-village-against-the-world">, </a>author Dan Hancox traveled to the countryside of Andalusia, <keyword id="6363645" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Spain">Spain</keyword> to find the story of the incredible village. Here are a few excerpts that Hancox shared with Business Insider:
In 2004, I was leafing through a travel guide to Andalusia while on holiday in Seville, and read a fleeting reference to a small, remote village called Marinaleda - a unique place,'a communist utopia' of revolutionary farm labourers, it said. I was immediately fascinated, but I could find almost no details to feed my fascination. There was so little information about the village available beyond that short summary, either in the guidebook, on the internet, or on the lips of strangers I met in Seville. 'Ah yes, the strange little communist village, the utopia', a few of them said. But none of them had visited, or knew anyone who had -and no one could tell me whether it really was a utopia. The best anyone could do was to add the information that it had a charismatic, eccentric mayor, with a prophet's beard and an almost demagogic presence, called Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right" style="width:250px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.versobooks.com/books/1490-the-village-against-the-world"></a>Courtesy Of Verso <keyword id="5050" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="books">Books</keyword></div></div>
Eventually I found out more. The first part of Marinaleda's miracle is that when their struggle to create utopia began, in the late 1970s, it was from a position of abject poverty. The village was suffering over 60 percent unemployment; it was a farming community with no land, its people frequently forced to go without food for days at a time, in a period of Spanish history mired in uncertainty after the death of the fascist dictator General Franco. The second part of Marinaleda's miracle is that over three extraordinary decades, they won. Some distance along that remarkable journey of struggle and sacrifice, in 1985, Sánchez Gordillo told the newspaper El País:
We have learned that it is not enough to define utopia, nor is it enough to fight against the reactionary forces. One must build it here and now, brick by brick, patiently but steadily, until we can make the old dreams a reality: that there will be bread for all, freedom among citizens, and culture; and to be able to read with respect the word 'peace'. We sincerely believe that there is no future that is not built in the present.
It may be a household name in Spain today, but it was not until the late twentieth century that Marinaleda gained any notoriety. The village 's first victories came during a different systemic crisis, one which exists in the living memory of many: the aftermath of a fascist dictatorship.
In 1975, thirty-six years after his brutal victory in the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco finally passed away. He left Andalusia in a wretched state: aside from the embryonic construction and tourism industries on the Costa del Sol - the profits from which rarely enriched the locals - the region was bereft of industrial development, and of investment generally. As a region historically home to rebellious peasant farmers, scourges of the kind of central authority Franco embodied, and his enemies in the 1936-39 Civil War, he had been happy to let it rot.
In the ensuing chaos of the dictator's death, while his friends and enemies manoeuvred to address the power vacuum in Madrid, the small community of poor, mostly landless farm labourers in Marinaleda began to pursue their own unique version of la Transición. At the time, 90 percent of landless day labourers, known in Spain as jornaleros, had to feed themselves and their families on only two months of work a year.
As Spain began its slow, careful transition from fascism to liberal democracy, the people of Marinaleda formed a political party and a trade union, and began fighting for land and freedom. There followed over a decade of unceasing struggle, in which they occupied airports, train stations, government buildings, farms and palaces; went on hunger strike, blocked roads, marched, picketed, went on hunger strike again; were beaten, arrested and tried countless times for their pains. Astonishingly, in 1991 they prevailed. The government, exhausted by their defiance, gave them 1,200 hectares of land belonging to the Duke of Infantado, head of one of Spain's oldest and wealthiest aristocratic families.
From the very beginning, one man was at the forefront of this struggle. In 1979, at the age of thirty, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo became the first elected mayor of Marinaleda, a position he has held ever since -re-elected time after time with an overwhelming majority. However, holding official state-sanctioned positions of power was only a distraction from the serious business of la lucha - the struggle. In the intense heat of the summer of 1980, the village launched 'a hunger strike against hunger' which brought them national and even global recognition. Everything they have done since that summer has increased the notoriety of Sánchez Gordillo and his village, and added to their admirers and enemies across Spain.
Sánchez Gordillo's philosophy, outlined in his 1980 book Andaluces, levantaos, and in countless speeches and interviews since, is one which is unique to him, though grounded firmly in the historic struggles and uprisings of the peasant pueblos of Andalusia, and their remarkably deep-seated tendency towards anarchism. These communities are striking for being not just anti-authoritarian, but against all authority. "I have never belonged to the Communist Party of the hammer and sickle, but I am a communist or communitarian," Sánchez Gordillo clarified in an interview in 2011, adding that his political beliefs were drawn from a mixture of Christ, Gandhi, Marx, Lenin and Che.
In August 2012 he achieved a new level of notoriety for a string of actions that began, in forty-degree heat, with the occupation of military land, the seizure of an aristocrat's palace, and a three-week march across the south in which he called on his fellow mayors not to repay their debts. Its peak saw Sánchez Gordillo lead a series of supermarket expropriations along with fellow members of the left-communist trade union SOC-SAT. They marched into supermarkets and took bread, rice, olive oil and other basic supplies, and donated them to food banks for Andalusians who could not feed themselves. For this he became a superstar, appearing not only on the cover of the Spanish newspapers, but across the world's media, as 'the Robin Hood Mayor', 'The Don Quixote of the Spanish Crisis', or 'Spain's William Wallace', depending on which newspaper you read.<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">REUTERS/Jon Nazca</div></div>
Somewhat later in the book, Hancox finally meets "the Robin Hood Mayor," Sánchez Gordillo, in the wake of the recent Spanish <keyword id="6371665" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="financial-crisis">financial crisis</keyword>. The communist mayor is, as many might guess, fascinating:
When I interviewed Sánchez Gordillo that winter, he was, as usual, entirely confident in his world-view and the stark contrast between what they were creating and the world outside. To his credit, there was not a sliver of triumphalism in his analysis; it was stern, and sober.
'The myth of capitalism has crumbled,' he announced, 'that the market is an omnipotent God that fixes everything with his invisible hand. We've seen this is a great lie, a stupid fundamentalism: we've seen that in times of crisis, markets have had to resort to the state, and that states are putting money into the banks.' 
And so they were - hundreds of billions of euros' worth. In Spain, 75 per cent of debt is private. There was no extravagant public spending that created the crisis there; in 2008 Spain's finances were well within the Eurozone's fiscal rules, and its government debt as a share of GDP was much lower than Germany's, a situation they maintained, to begin with. In Spain, essentially, it is the crash which created the debt, not the other way around.
'If there were any justice in the world the big bankers, and the governments that allowed them to perpetrate their economic terrorism, would be in jail. And those same people who caused the crisis are the ones who now want to fix it. The pyromaniac wants to play the fireman! Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy want to speak for the banks and fix what they caused. 
'Everywhere there 's crisis: an agricultural crisis, an industrial crisis, a financial crisis, a food crisis, a system crisis. Before, people had work, so they didn't think twice about it. Here in Andalusia there was a boom in construction, and things were getting built everywhere. A construction worker would earn three, four or five thousand euros per month - a lot of money! Then when we lost those jobs, people began losing their homes, because they couldn't pay the mortgage, so the banks have been repossessing them. And so now people are seeking refuge in agriculture instead, and in other formulas that aren't those of capitalism.' And how serious are those formulas? Sánchez Gordillo rejected the idea that 15-M was 'merely reformist', as some of its leftist critics have contended: it was developing, he said, 'an increasingly anti-capitalist vision'. 
In London, I told him, big-state social democracy on the post-war model was increasingly seen as finished. The centre-left approach, of a compromise with capitalism, was kaput: apart from anything else, if someone won't meet you halfway, it's not a compromise anymore. Just like 15-M, the people at Occupy London and Occupy Wall Street were looking for alternative models wherever they could find them, however obscure the location. In fact, I explained, that's kind of what brought me here. He nodded sympathetically.
'People no longer care if it's this party or another party, PP or PSOE; they want to change the system to one that isn't capitalistic, with unions, parties and organisations that promote a different system, with human beings at the core. People are considered merchandise: while they're profitable, they're used, and when they're no longer profitable, they're discarded. We have to change these cruel and inhuman values. I have dedicated my entire life to this.'

Spain's Communist Village Is Making The Rest Of The World Look Bad

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh A girl stands beside a car door in Duma neighbourhood in Damascus October 12, 2013. </div></div></div>(This story was reported by a visiting journalist whose name has been withheld for security reasons)
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - One <keyword id="6354913" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Syria">Syria</keyword>n security official called it the "Starvation Until Submission Campaign", blocking food and medicine from entering and people from leaving besieged areas of Syria.
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have used partial sieges to root out rebel forces from residential areas during the civil war. But a recent tightening of blockades around areas near the capital is causing starvation and death, residents and medical staff say.
At an army checkpoint that separates government-held central Damascus from eastern suburban towns earlier this month, a thin, teenage boy on a bicycle circled a soldier and begged to be allowed to take a bag of pita bread, a staple food, into the eastern suburbs. The soldier refused but the boy kept begging for "just one loaf".
The soldier finally shouted: "I'm telling you, not a single morsel is allowed in there. I don't make the rules. There are those bigger than me and you who make the rules and they're watching us right now. So go back home." The soldier, visibly upset, exhaled quietly and deeply when the boy slipped out of sight.
The incident illustrates how blockades are being used as a weapon in a war that grew out of pro-democracy protests in the summer of 2011, increasing an already grave humanitarian crisis. Blockades are employed mostly by the government but also on a smaller scale by the armed opposition.
Food and medicine, which could be used by the warring parties, are rarely allowed to enter besieged areas and the movement of civilians in and out is restricted.
Over one million Syrians are trapped in areas where aid deliveries have stalled, the United Nations says.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report last month that half of those people are in rural Damascus and around 310,000 people more trapped in Homs province in central Syria.
<h3>EID BLOCKADE</h3>
At a checkpoint in central Damascus, a state security official, known as Abu Haidar, was heard to say "we like to call it our Starvation Until Submission Campaign". It's a phrase used increasingly by Assad's supporters in the capital.
The Syrian government has not commented on accusations it is using hunger as a weapon of war. It says that residents have been taken "hostage by terrorists". Aid workers say they are denied access. Both sides use checkpoints to mark territory and prevent the movement of enemy fighters and supporters.
Rebel-held towns to the east, south and west of Damascus are under partial or total siege and Abu Haidar said that the army had begun to block off the towns of Qudsayya and Hameh, a 15 minute drive north from central Damascus onto the Qasioun mountain range.
Residents of these two towns said that earlier this month, on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, many were forbidden from leaving to visit family elsewhere.
Chances of success in getting past the checkpoints depend on your identity card - public sector workers and school children are sometimes allowed through. Parents are told to stay behind.
Some people were allowed to leave on foot and residents reported a small exodus of civilians who feared that artillery bombardment would follow the siege, as it has in other areas where rebels have positioned themselves.
The main checkpoint forbids most cars from entering or leaving the two towns, forcing people to get out of their vehicles, walk down the highway for 20 minutes and use public transport on the other side.
Soldiers conduct vehicle and body searches to prevent "smuggling" of bread, baby milk and medicine into the besieged area - jailing offences. The checks create long queues of residents trying to return home, sometimes forcing them to wait for hours.
All traffic is prevented from entering Hameh, a mostly Sunni Muslim town where many residents support the rebellion. There is some movement into Qudsayya, a more religiously mixed area that is home to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians from other parts of the country.
<h3>NO BREAD</h3>
During a two-day visit by this journalist last month to the eastern towns, resourceful locals made do with what they had.
They gathered fruit and vegetables from the few orchards they could still access without risking government sniper fire and shelling. Those with cash paid smugglers to bring in bags of flour and other foodstuffs or medicine.
But nowhere in town was pita bread available. Local doctors said they regularly treat patients for water-borne diseases and that aerial bombardment has damaged the infrastructure, contaminating the water with sewage.
Doctors said that they were observing symptoms of malnutrition such as dehydration, severe weight loss, diarrhea and bloated stomachs.
International have little access to areas hit by violence. Groups like Save the Children are warning of a potential crisis. The agency released a report last month saying that parts of Homs, Aleppo, Idlib and Damascus have been encircled by violence or deliberately besieged.
In a separate development, the World Health Organisation confirmed an outbreak of polio among young children in northeast Syria on Tuesday - a consequence of falling vaccination rates in wartime.
The situation is acute for people living in Mouadamiya, on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Damascus, which has been under siege for a year and suffered from chemical weapons strikes and continuous bombardment.
Unlike East Ghouta, which also endured chemical attacks but is sometimes accessible, Mouadamiya is completely surrounded by the military.
The opposition says 12,000 people face starvation and death in Mouadamiya. About 90 percent of Mouadamiya has been destroyed and few doctors remain, it says.
This month, according to residents who live there reached by Skype, government aerial bombardment hit one of two remaining mains pipelines that deliver drinking water throughout Mouadamiya, further contaminating the local water supply.
Residents say that smugglers used to be able to throw bags packed with baby milk and medicine from moving cars into the town while driving along a nearby highway. But in July, the road became an active frontline between the army and rebels.
"No one can smuggle anything to us anymore," said resident and activist Qusai Zakarya. He said that many smugglers along the highway have been killed by government snipers. "Now, only shelling and bullets enter Mouadamiya, and only the souls of the departed can leave."
<h3>DYING OF HUNGER</h3>
For months, international pressure has been mounting on Syrian authorities to open humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to the besieged civilians.
Under international law, siege is not specifically prohibited. However deliberate starvation in a conflict is widely held to be a war crime and the law of armed conflict requires all sides to allow free access of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.
Although Syria is not party to the International Criminal Court - which can prosecute war crimes - the United Nations Security Council has the power to refer cases.
Three Security Council resolutions condemning Assad have been vetoed by permanent member Russia, one of his strongest allies, and China, making a referral unlikely.
Earlier this month, 3,000 women and children were evacuated from Mouadamiya, the United Nations said. But their suffering and starvation may continue as many have sought shelter in an abandoned school on the outskirts of Qudsayya, where the siege is starting.
On Tuesday, 1,800 residents were evacuated from the town, a source from the Ministry for Social Affairs said. State media said they were fired on by "terrorists."
Hunger has become so endemic that locals say they eat leaves and grass.
Fatima, who fled Mouadamiya just before the siege last year along with her husband and their five children to central Damascus, said one of her relatives died in Mouadamiya in August from starvation. He was three years old.
Local doctors sent Reuters videos showing six cases of death from malnutrition. Most of the victims were children.
Activist Zakarya said that this month alone, he knows of 11 women and children who died of starvation, including 7-year-old Dua al Sheikh, who was her parents' only daughter.
He said that after months of eating the rice, barley and bulgur wheat in stock, families are now down to little more than olives and olive oil for three meals a day.
"We sometimes roll a bunch of grape leaves together and sprinkle it with salt and pepper and eat it pretending it's yabraa," said Zakarya, referring to a popular Syrian dish of grape leaves stuffed with rice and ground lamb or beef.
Civilians in besieged areas say farmers are targeted as they try to harvest their crop in an open field. They tell also of government shelling that purposely sets entire crop fields ablaze, around Damascus and in Homs province.
In Mouadamiya, people have been planting rocket plants in small patches of earth between buildings so as to avoid any open fields.
And Zakarya says "we use grass sometimes as a salad, with olives and olive oil."
(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes; editing by Janet McBride)

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