Food Security in South Asia : Issues and Opportunities

Food security is defined as economic access to food along with food production and food availability. Agriculture in the SAR (South Asian Region) is caught in a low equilibrium trap with low productivity of staples, supply shortfalls, high prices, low returns to farmers and area diversification - all these factors can be a threat to food security. South Asia still has the highest number of people (423 millions) living on less than one dollar a day. The region has the highest concentration of undernourished (299 million) and poor people with about 40 per cent of the worlds hungry. Despite an annual 1.7 per cent reduction in the prevalence of undernourishment in the region in the past decade, the failure to reduce the absolute number of the undernourished remains a major cause for concern. Estimates by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) indicate that by 2010, Asia will still account for about one-half of the worlds undernourished population, of which two-thirds will be from South Asia. Though SAARC countries have established a food bank to meet the needs of food security in the region, it has not been operational even during times of crisis. This is despite the felt need of member nations to evolve mechanisms to make the SAARC Food Security Reserve operational. It is against this background that this study has been undertaken. Conducted in collaboration with think-tanks from South Asian countries, it aims to identify issues relating to food security, the policy initiatives taken to tackle these issues, evaluate these policies and suggest measures to overcome identified constraints in order to improve the food security situation in the region.South Asia, food security, Safety Nets, Food Bank

Development Strategy for the Hill Districts of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand, in spite of being a small state, has certain key features that make it distinct from other states of the country and highlights its potential for development. However, development has predominantly been in the plains, and the hill districts have been left behind. All the hill districts have subsistence farming as their main economic activity. Due to subsistence livelihood, migration and a remittance economy operate in the hill districts. They are land-locked with huge distances between the markets and resources. Because of these constraints, traditional agriculture cannot be the lead sector for development. Thus the state faces the challenge of promoting livelihoods to minimize migration through local employment and income generation, and to enhance the quality of life of people living in villages. The positive features of these hill districts are that they have enormous potential for tourism, a suitable climate for high-value agriculture, and a pleasant environment due to 60 pert cent forest cover. These have to be harnessed for a development strategy. The development strategy for Uttarakhand hills should be based on developing brand equity under the name of Organic Green State and an Uttarakhand Brand Equity Fund should be set up. This can be achieved by working towards this common goal through infrastructure development, tourism promotion, agriculture diversification, poultry- and wool-based livelihoods, and SMEs based on the above that capture linkages with industry and tourism.Uttarakhand, Development Strategy, Organic Green State

Prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR) and extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) among uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from female patients in a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common bacterial infection in women. It is very common during pregnancy and may present as asymptomatic bacteriuria. Escherichia coli is the primary urinary pathogen accounting for 74-90% of uncomplicated urinary tract infection. The aim of the study was to evaluate in-vitro antibiotic susceptibility among urine isolates of Escherichia coli and prevalence of resistance marker like ESBL producer and MDR status.Methods: Mid-stream urine samples of 205 female patients were processed for culture and sensitivity. All the samples were inoculated on culture media and growth showing significant bacteriuria (>105 cfu/ml) were subjected to identification and antibiotic sensitivity testing on Automated system BD Phoenix 100. ESBL status was detected by the system and MDR status was evaluated by standard guidelines.Results: Out of 205 urine samples, 47 samples (22.93%) showed growth of organism. Out of the 47 growth positive samples, 36 (76.60%) samples showed growth of Escherichia coli and out of which 13 (36.11%) were ESBL producer and 23 (63.89%) were ESBL non-producer. Escherichia coli was mostly isolated from younger age group (21-40 years) (61.11%). Antimicrobial susceptibility showed very good sensitivity towards Amikacin, Tigecycline, Carbapenems, Fosfomycin, Piperacillin-tazobactam and Nitrofurantoin. All the isolates of ESBL producer are MDR (100%) and 21.7% of ESBL non-producer are MDR. There is evidence of transfer of resistance genes for non-β-lactam antibiotics along with ESBL resistance marker.Conclusions: Escherichia coli was the predominant uropathogen isolated from female patients and Amikacin, Nitrofurantoin and Fosfomycin can be used as first line drug

Cross sectional study for contraceptive practices in antenatal women at tertiary rural institute

Background: Objective of the study was to assess the awareness and acceptance for contraceptive practices amongst the women attending the routine antenatal outpatient services at our tertiary rural institute.Methods: It was a cross sectional study done in UP University of Medical Sciences (UPUMS) Saifai. Three hundred fifty (350) patients aged between 18 -40 years were enrolled in the study after written informed consent. A self structured pre formed questionnaire was provided regarding demographic profile, obstetric profile, contraceptive practices and reasons for not using any contraception. Then data were analysed statistically.Results: Majority of the women were between the age group of 30-35 years and had basic level of education. In our study 90% women were aware of one or more methods of contraception. 86.5% accepted the contraceptive practices and 81.43% followed the contraception. 81.43% used temporary methods of which OCPs, IUCDs, and Condoms were common.Conclusions: Majority of the women were between 30-35 years of age. 90% women knew about some method of contraception. 81.4% women followed the temporary method of contraception. Among non users the main reason for not using contraceptive method were mainly lack of knowledge and they wanted more children

Incidentally Detected Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Renal Pelvis in Patients with Staghorn Calculi: Case Series with Review of the Literature

Squamous cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis is a rare neoplasm, often unsuspected clinically due to its rarity and ambiguous clinical and radiological features, and hence patients present at advanced stages resulting in poor prognosis. We report here four cases of incidentally diagnosed primary renal squamous cell carcinoma, treated at our hospital over a short span of one year, and review the relevant literature. Mean age of the patients (3 males, 1 female) was 60 years. All suffered from staghorn stones. Interestingly, renal carcinoma was unsuspected clinically in all patients. In one case, a computerised tomography scan showed a suspicious nodule. All underwent nephrectomy for nonfunctioning kidney. In just two cases, tumor was identified on gross examination, while the other two only showed thickened pelvis. Our series emphasises the need for pelvicalyceal biopsy during treatment for long-standing nephrolithiasis, and thorough sampling of the renal pelvis in nephrectomy specimen of such patients

Tc-99m-tamoxifen: A novel diagnostic imaging agent for estrogen receptor-expressing breast cancer patients

PURPOSEThe aim of the study was to radiolabel, characterize, and perform in vitro and in vivo assessment of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) tamoxifen for screening ER expressing lesions in breast cancer patients.METHODSIn this study, tamoxifen has been radiolabeled with Tc-99m via Tc-99m-tricarbonyl core. The characterization and quality control tests of Tc-99m-tamoxifen were performed. In vitro recep- tor binding and blocking studies were performed in both positive control (MCF-7) and negative control cell lines (MDA-MB-231). Normal biodistribution studies were performed in female Wistar albino rats. The pilot clinical studies were performed in 4 ER-expressing breast cancer patients. Of the 4 patients, 1 was on tamoxifen therapy. All 4 patients had also undergone Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography.RESULTSTamoxifen was radiolabeled with Tc-99m via Tc-99m-tricarbonyl core with more than 95% radio- chemical yield. Mass spectra showed a peak corresponding to the molecular weight of Tc-99m- tricarbonyl and Tc-99m-tamoxifen. The site of binding of Tc-99m-tricarbonyl with tamoxifen was determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The Tc-99m-tamoxifen showed 30% binding with MCF-7 and only 1%-2% receptor binding with MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Also, the percentage of receptor binding was drastically reduced (up to 72%) when ER was saturated with 50 times the excess molar ratio of unlabeled tamoxifen. In a pilot patient study, Tc-99m-tamoxifen uptake was observed in primary and metastatic lesions. However, no uptake was observed in a patient who was on tamoxifen therapy. The uptake of F-18-FDG was noted in all the patients.CONCLUSIONTamoxifen was radiolabeled with an in-house-synthesized Tc-99m-tricarbonyl core. The radio- labeled complex has been characterized and evaluated for receptor specificity in in vitro and in vivo studies. Also, this is the first clinical study using Tc-99m-tamoxifen for imaging ER. More patients need to be evaluated to further explore the role of Tc-99m-tamoxifen in ER-expressing lesions

COMPUTERIZATION OF CBRI LIBRARY: A PRACTICAL APPROACH

111-116Technological developments in the past few years have made profound changes in the working atmosphere of the libraries. To keep pace with this revolution, an effort has been made to uplift the CBRI library to the status of an Information Centre, the advent of which started in the year 1997 with the establishment of a library network system with the software package LIBSYS

Food Security in South Asia: Issues and Opportunities

Food security is defined as economic access to food along with food production and foodavailability. Agriculture in the SAR (South Asian Region) is caught in a low equilibrium trapwith low productivity of staples, supply shortfalls, high prices, low returns to farmers and areadiversification - all these factors can be a threat to food security. South Asia still has the highestnumber of people (423 millions) living on less than one dollar a day. The region has the highestconcentration of undernourished (299 million) and poor people with about 40 per cent of theworld's hungry. Despite an annual 1.7 per cent reduction in the prevalence of undernourishmentin the region in the past decade, the failure to reduce the absolute number of the undernourishedremains a major cause for concern. Estimates by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)indicate that by 2010, Asia will still account for about one-half of the world's undernourishedpopulation, of which two-thirds will be from South Asia. Though SAARC countries have established a food bank to meet the needs of food security in theregion, it has not been operational even during times of crisis. This is despite the felt need ofmember nations to evolve mechanisms to make the SAARC Food Security Reserve operational.It is against this background that this study has been undertaken. Conducted in collaboration withthink-tanks from South Asian countries, it aims to identify issues relating to food security, thepolicy initiatives taken to tackle these issues, evaluate these policies and suggest measures toovercome identified constraints in order to improve the food security situation in the region.South Asia, Food Security, Safety Nets, Food Bank

Food Security in South Asia: Issues and Opportunities

The study aims to identify issues relating to food security, the policy initiatives taken to tackle these issues, evaluate these policies and suggest measures to overcome identified constraints in order to improve the food security situation in the region. [ICRIER WP No. 240].policies, South Asia, Food Security, Safety Nets, Food Bank, SAARC, south asia,