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Prague, Sep 17 (IANS) The European Union (EU) must strengthen food security, improve the sustainability of agriculture and promote the use of modern techniques, the member states' Agriculture Ministers agreed in Czech capital Prague.

"Ministers agreed that the EU must now act in a coordinated way to maximise sustainable increase in agricultural production and accelerate the use of modern techniques in agriculture," the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU said on Friday in a statement after the meeting.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and advancing climate change "are having a major impact" on global food security and world food prices, Xinhua news agency reported.

One of the main solutions to sufficient food production while ensuring sustainability, according to the Ministers, is to use innovation, research and modern technologies, including precision farming, to further reduce pesticide and fertiliser consumption.

"We have a major challenge in the Union to sustainably increase agricultural production, reduce food waste and ensure that people around the world have access to quality food. It may be time to rethink some traditional approaches to food production in favour of new modern techniques," Czech Agriculture Minister Zdenek Nekula said in the statement.

The Ministers discussed science, innovation and modern plant breeding methods in agriculture, and agreed that the EU "must react as quickly as possible" to the development of modern trends and change the outdated legislative framework by which it regulates the use of modern plant breeding methods.

"We urgently need drought, frost, disease and pest-resistant crops that require fewer pesticides and artificial fertilisers," Nekula said, noting he was "pleased" that European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski "has clearly said the European Commission's readiness to bring forward proposals for plant breeding legislation in the short term."

Citing data from the UN, the statement said up to 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021, and nearly 1.3 billion tonne of food, or nearly one-third of food produced for human consumption, were lost or wasted globally in 2020, calling for more efforts to sustainably increase agricultural production and reduce food waste.

--IANS
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Samarkand, Sep 16 (IANS) The city of Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO tourism and cultural capital during 2022-2023 at the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO summit, which is the first in-person meeting of the regional group in two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO tourism and cultural capital will promote tourism, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member countries. It also underlines India's ancient civilisational links with the member states of SCO, especially the Central Asian republics," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Under the framework of this major cultural outreach programme, a number of events will be hosted in Varanasi during 2022-23, for which guests will be invited from the SCO member states. These events are expected to attract Indologists, scholars, authors, musicians, artists, photo journalists, travel bloggers apart from the invited guests.

The regulations for nominating SCO tourism and cultural capital were adopted at the Dushanbe SCO Summit in 2021 with an objective to promote cooperation between the SCO member states in the field of culture and tourism.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) To commemorate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17, the BJP will observe Seva Pakhwada from September 17 to October 2 across the country.

The highlight of the event would be a series of exhibitions charting Prime Minister Modi's journey from childhood to becoming the Prime Minister and showcasing his ideals and achievements.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh told mediapersons that party chief J.P. Nadda would inaugurate the exhibition on Saturday at the party headquarters here.

"This exhibition on the Prime Minister's life's journey would showcase his spirit of selflessness and service towards the nation. While Mr Nadda will inaugurate the exhibition tomorrow here at the party headquarter, similar exhibitions would be inaugurated by chief ministers in all capitals of BJP-ruled states. In districts across the country, BJP MPs and MLAs would do the same," Singh said.

Seminars to discuss the Prime Minister's works and ideas would also be held in all districts of the country, he added.

Apart from this, to portray the spirit of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' during this period, people would be encouraged to adopt food and attire from each others' states.

"People of Rajasthan would be encouraged to adopt for a day, food habits and traditional attire of people from other states who reside there," Singh said.

"Unity in diversity has always been there in India. It is not like Rahul Gandhi, who has undertaken Bharat Jodi Yatra," the BJP leader said, taking a jibe at Congress party's pan India march for promoting national unity.

Singh further said that under Seva Pakhwada, several public oriented activities would be undertaken.

Blood donation camps and free health check up camps would be held during this period in 964 districts of the country.

"Free medical implants would be given to physically challenged people and free COVID booster dosage would be administered to those who can't go to hospitals," the BJP leader informed.

TB patients would be adopted for a year, where one patient each would be adopted by a party member.

"Their daily needs would be taken care of for a period of one year so that such patients should feel that party workers are there to provide them all kinds of help," Singh told mediapersons.

This adoption of TB patients is being done in line with the Prime Minister's vision of making India TB free before 2025, he informed further.

"Lok Sabha MPs who are ministers, would travel to their constituencies during the fortnight and participate in various programmes lined up for the occasion. Rajya Sabha MPs and those who are ministers would be delegated by their respective states. However some Rajya Sabha MPs would be sent to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Kerala also," Singh said.

Social activities like Peepal tree plantation at all booths, Swachchta Abhiyan at public places and Shram Daan at Amrit Sarovars would also be conducted during this period.

--IANS
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Ahmedabad, Sep 16 (IANS) In the run-up to the Assembly elections, Gujarat Congress on Friday made a host of promises to the fishing community which has dominance on 32 seats in the state.

Addressing the media, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Jagdish Thakor and former president Arjun Modhwadia promised fishermen Rs 50 lakh package for boats being apprehended by the Pakistan agency. Not only that, they promised 36,000 litres of diesel annually to boats which will be exempted from Sales Tax. Also, small fiber boats will be allowed to use petrol and annually 4000 liters petrol with sales tax exemption.

If any fisherman is arrested by the Pakistan government, his family members will be paid Rs three lakh compensation. Till the fisherman is in Pakistan jail, his family will get daily Rs 400 financial aid to meet the two ends. If a fisherman dies in Pakistan jail, the family will get Rs 10 lakh financial compensation, they said.

They said if voted to power, the Congress will restart financial assistance under the NCDC scheme for building boats on cooperative basis, they promised, adding that land will be allotted to the fishermen family to develop prawn farming.

--IANS/
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Hyderabad, Sep 16 (IANS) Embarking on padayatras is common for politicians. But in a first of sorts for the film industry, Tollywood actor Naga Shaurya has hit the road on foot to promote his upcoming movie 'Krishna Vrinda Vihari'.

When it comes to promoting their movies, film stars usually don't go beyond the rigmarole of stage events and jetsetting city tours. However, Naga Shaurya is literally turning heads as he embarked on a state-wide padayatra in Andhra Pradesh.

The 7-day walkathon from Tirupati to Visakhapatnam aims to promote his latest movie 'Krishna Vrinda Vihari' coming in theatres on 23rd of this month.

Reaching Vijayawada on day 3, Friday, Naga Shaurya didn't take a break, even though it was raining. The onlookers say: "Shaurya, what dedication!"

Anish R. Krishna has directed the movie, while Usha Mulpuri produced it on Ira Creations. Shirley Setia is the female lead.

--IANS
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By IANSlife
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANSlife) On October 14th, as part of the celebrations of International Chefs Day, the Indian Culinary Forum will deliver the 19th edition of the eagerly awaited annual Chef Awards.



The Annual Chef Honors celebration will take place at the Hotel Pride Plaza in Aerocity, New Delhi, where the ICF will commemorate the accomplishments of 17 exceptional culinary artists by presenting them with awards.

"The cherished Indian Chef Awards, first initiated nineteen years back in 2004 by ICF, have become Indian culinary industry's most respected and most valued testament for talent and skill recognition in addition to becoming the biggest platform for knowledge sharing amongst industry stakeholders. This year's event will further cement ICF Awards as the finest platform for knowledge sharing, talent recognition of Indian Chefs, and spreading goodwill and footprint of Indian cuisine around the world," said Chef Davinder Kumar, President of Indian Culinary Forum.

Chef Davinder Kumar added: "The Award event has three segments including Culinary Competitions, Knowledge Summit, and the Chef Awards. The ICF culinary competition will be held at Banarsidass Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Institute of Bakery & Culinary Arts, New Delhi where over 150 professional chefs will showcase their culinary skills in 11 different categories. WACS-certified noted chef Dayashankar Sharma is the chairperson of this year's jury while well-known Chef Sireesh Saxena is the organizing secretary."

Winners of Indian Culinary Forum 18th Annual Chef Awards
The Knowledge Summit, which this year celebrates its tenth year, will offer a forum for debate and discussion on topics affecting the Industry. This year's Knowledge Summit will put a specific emphasis on discussing strategies to promote Indian cuisine internationally and laying out the future directions for the food and beverage industry. The top names in the hospitality industry, educators, food reviewers, and connoisseurs will all be present at the Knowledge Summit, which aims to raise awareness of the profession among the general public.

"ICF's aim is not merely recognition of talents but also empowering talents with latest culinary knowledge and skills which not only helps in career development but also helps the country by spreading the footprint of Indian cuisine around the world," said Chef Vivek Saggar, General Secretary of Indian Culinary Forum.

Talking about the program Chef Vivek Saggar added: "There are six special award categories which include Lifetime Achievement Award, Golden Hat, Silver Hat, Academic Silver Hat, Pastry Chef of the Year, Lady Chef of the Year, The Culinary Competitions (Trade Test) category includes Master Chef of the Year, Master Chef Kebabs, Master Chef Indian Pattissarie, Master Chef Indian Sweets, Master Chef International Cuisine, Master Chef North Indian Cuisine, Master Chef Oriental Cuisine Award, Master Chef Baker Award, Master Chef South East & West, Student Chef of the Year Female, Student Chef of the Year Male."

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS
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Washington, Sep 16 (IANS) Initial jobless claims in the US have dropped for the fifth straight week to reach 213,000 amid continued labour market tightness, the Labour Department reported.

In the week ending September 10, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 5,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 218,000, according to a report released on Thursday by the Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS).

The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims, a method to iron out data volatility, also decreased by 8,000 to 224,000, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying.

The latest report also showed that the number of people continuing to collect regular state unemployment benefits, which was reported with a one-week lag, increased by 2,000 to 1.4 million during the week ending September 3.

The latest weekly figure of 213,000 was below the 2019 weekly average of 218,000, which was the pre-pandemic level.

In the week ending March 21, 2020, initial jobless claims skyrocketed to 2.9 million.

Jobless claims totalled 166,000 in the week ending March 19 this year, the lowest in decades. In recent months, the figures have been trending up amid surging inflation and rising interest rates.

The latest figure, however, showed that applications for unemployment insurance fell for a fifth week, signaling still robust demand for labour even as economic growth slows.

The number of job openings in the US rose to 11.2 million by the end of July, as the imbalances between labour market supply and demand remained, the Department had reported earlier.

With the increase in job openings, there were nearly two job positions per available worker.

--IANS
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Samarkand, Sep 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is the first in-person summit being held in two years in the historic Uzbek city here.

Before the deliberations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posed for a photograph with the SCO leaders -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders.

Modi also met Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan.

The Prime Minister's Office on Friday tweeted the pictures, "PM @narendramodi at the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan."

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagch tweeted: "Together for the region! PM @narendramodi joins the leaders of SCO Member States for discussions on topical, regional and international issues, including regional peace and security, trade and connectivity, culture and tourism."

The Prime Minister is participating in the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and will hold bilateral meetings with some other leaders attending the Summit.

The regional multilateral organisation was set up in 2001 with Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members, while India and Pakistan became full members in 2017.

The Council of the SCO Heads of State is the highest decision-making body of the organisation and meets for an annual summit that is hosted by a member state of the SCO.

Prime Minister Modi has been leading the Indian delegation to the SCO Summit every year, since India became its full member in 2017. During the last two summits in 2020 and 2021, he participated in the virtual format.

--IANS
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By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANSlife) A train journey is perfect for anyone looking for a fascinating way to experience southern India. Such trips make a wonderful way to get closer to the rich culture and heritage. Although trains are usually associated with cities, Sripad Vaidya, Co-founder & COO, Confirmtkt handpicked five destinations with wide-reaching scenic beauty that one can marvel at when travelling by train.



Kollam - Sengottai

The train journey from Kollam to Sengottai will be a fulfilling experience for travellers who like to explore offbeat places. The railway line connects the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu through these two junction points. Passengers witness several lush green forests, clean & swiftly flowing rivers, and hills throughout the ride. Along the way, they pass a heritage bridge and a national highway built above and below the tracks. Train journey ensures travellers get to see Kerala's natural beauty, making it the most picturesque trip ever.

Ooty to Coonoor

People who want to enjoy train travelling near the hilly areas of the south must not miss Ooty to Coonoor train journey. Both of these destinations are popular among visitors for their picture-perfect scenic beauty.


These two hill stations are located in Tamil Nadu and are connected via a special toy train. The tracks connecting Ooty to Coonoor are part of Nilgiri Mountain railways, which have been honoured by UNESCO due to their impeccable uniqueness and raw beauty. The best part of the train journey is it takes passengers through the tea plantations of Ooty and mountains covered with greenery.

Chennai to Rameshwaram

This train journey is one-of-a-kind in its own way. Aside from giving a nature trip, it also takes people through a mythological journey. The railway connecting Chennai to Rameshwaram runs over Pamban Bridge, famous as India's first bridge. Natives believe that Pamban Bridge was built by Lord Rama while searching for Goddess Sita, who Ravana abducted. The bridge links the Mandapam region in India with Rameswaram and Pamban Island. Though the rail ride is only 2.2 Km long, its surroundings and religious background make it one of the best life experiences.

Kanyakumari to Trivandrum

The train ride between these two destinations in south India is like a slideshow of the rich plantation practices of the country. In this two-hour-long train journey, travellers pass through many luxuriant plantations of green tea, coconut groves and farms of a variety of spices. Take the train ride via Island Express; it covers the natural splendours of the path and gives the opportunity to experience the local life of the south up close.

Best train services for South Indian trips

Aside from regular railway expresses, one can sweeten their journey to the south by booking a ride with some renowned train services. These are:

. Golden Chariot
. Golden Chariot Southern Splendour
. Maharajas' Express Southern Jewels
. Maharajas' Express Southern Sojourn
. Deccan Odyssey Jewels of Deccan.

These trains put the luxury of the passenger as their top priority. The trip package offers private and comfortable accommodation, porterage services, an onboard butler, meals, drinks and snacks free of cost. Travellers also enjoy off-train excursions, WiFi, and even a lounge and bar are part of these luxurious trains' facilities. On some routes, guests can smell the spicy aromas of India and see the mystical waterfalls, lush plantations, and wildlife. Once on the journey, one will truly feel like they have discovered an entirely new continent. Hence, it's time to experience the splendour of south India's train journeys yourself rather than searching for them on the internet.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 16 (IANS) Tech giant Apple is reportedly researching how a future iPhone can save power by automatically pausing playback when you're not paying attention to the media.

Just about every Apple device bar the Apple Pencil can play music or some kind of audio, and most of them have microphones, reports AppleInsider.

The tech giant wants to use those microphones, and very many other sensors, to determine whether you are paying attention.

Newly-revealed patent application, "Proactive Actions Based on Audio and Body Movement," could be applied to any Apple device, but it is specifically about stopping audio.

And that's specifically about stopping it in order to conserve battery power instead of wasting it on something you are no longer interested in, the report said.

There are other possibilities, such as displaying information about an artist when you are detected as being interested.

But as with most patent applications, this one is focused most on determining your lack of attention and less on precisely what actions could follow.

Apple even said "various actions may be performed proactively based on the identifying the interest in the content" of the music or other audio being played.

--IANS
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