‘Some will go hungry, some will starve’: Global rice shortages feared after India bans exports
The Indian government has banned the export of non-basmati white rice – trigging fears of shortages and price rises across the world.
India is the world’s largest supplier of the food – making up 40% of global exports – which more than three billion people rely on as a staple.
Last year it exported around 22 million tonnes, of which almost half constituted the now-banned non-premium rice.
The ban comes after the cost of rice soared by 11.5% in a year in the country, and the government has introduced the ban in the hope it will lower prices and improve availability domestically.
At the Singla Rice Mills in Kurukshetra, Haryana, they export non-basmati rice to many countries in Africa.
They have plenty of stock, but now cannot sell it to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Harsh Singla is a third-generation rice mill owner in his family business which his grandfather began in 1960. The ban has left him facing uncertainty and revenue loss – as well as a large amount of stock.
Harsh Singla, Rice Mill owner (right) and an exporter look over the rice in Haryana
Harsh Singla
He told Sky News: “Price rises in rice are due to other expenses like labour and other factors… If they think putting a ban will control the price, it will not happen.
“There is a huge demand in the domestic market also, so it will not let the price go down. Banning it will affect the prices in importing countries.
“They will not be able to get a good amount from the rest of the world, because India is a major supplier of this rice.”
He is also concerned for his African customers – and the shortages and price hikes they are likely to face.
“Many of my clients will be cut off due to this. We will not be able to supply to them. Now we will have to find new buyers in the domestic market. The ban has disrupted our lines,”‘ he said.
Stocks of rice in Haryana – which now cannot be exported to Africa
Haryana rice field
The weather has also had an impact and was a factor in the ban. Torrential rains and floods in northern India have devastated large regions where rice is grown.
Rob Hatchett, a senior economist at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said: “It’s important to understand the implications that an El Nino pattern can have on Asian rice production.
“Certainly, within India, we have seen erratic precipitation levels from the Indian monsoon, which I think has brought up some supply concerns in and of itself.”
Farmer Paramjit, 57, sat beside his flooded fields as he told Sky News: “I’ve lost almost 40% of my entire crops due to rain. I have had to sow paddy three times now and it’s still threatening to rain and cause floods here.”
Of the ban on exports, he said: “We used to get a good rate for the rice as we sell it to exporters, but that will end now. It’s a big loss to us, farmers and the government.”
Haryana rice field
Global food supplies have already been hit due to the war in Ukraine. Russia has bombed warehouses and pulled out of the UN-brokered deal to let Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, fuelling fresh fears of a looming crisis for those in urgent need.
The UN has warned there are already 362 million people around the world who are in need of food and other humanitarian aid.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths said: “For many of those 362 million people, it’s not a matter of sadness or disappointment. It’s a matter of threat to their future and the future of their children and their families.
“They’re not sad. They’re angry. They’re worried. They’re concerned. Some will go hungry. Some will starve. Many may die.”
The government’s decision to introduce the ban comes as it faces mounting criticism over inflationary pressure on household incomes, including spiralling food prices.
With general elections less than a year away, it is unwilling to take any more chances.
But the global price insecurity and availability of food supplies may come at a cost to the most vulnerable in some of the poorest countries in the world.
A report into the deadly Lisbon Gloria funicular crash has said the cable linking the two carriages snapped.
The carriages of the city’s iconic Gloria funicular had travelled no more than six metres when they “suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable”.
The vehicle’s brake‑guard immediately “activated the pneumatic brake as well as the manual brake”, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said.
Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
But the measures “had no effect in reducing the vehicle’s speed”, as it accelerated and crashed at around 60kmh (37mph), and the disaster unfolded in less than 50 seconds.
Questions have been asked about the maintenance of the equipment, but the report said that, based on the evidence seen so far, it was up to date.
A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out on the morning of the accident, but the area where the cable broke “is not visible without dismantling.”
The Gloria funicular is a national monument that dates from 1914 and is very popular with tourists visiting the Portuguese capital.
The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon’s Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint
It operates between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood.
The journey is just 276m (905ft) and takes just over a minute, but it operates up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.
How the disaster unfolded
At around 6pm on Wednesday, Cabin No.2, at the bottom of the funicular, “jerked backward sharply”, the report said.
“After moving roughly 10 metres, its movement stopped as it partially left the tracks and its trolley became buried at the lower end of the cable channel.”
Cabin No.1, at the top, “continued descending and accelerated” before derailing and smashing “sideways into the wall of a building on the left side, destroying the wooden box [from which the carriage is constructed]”.
It crashed into a cast‑iron streetlamp and a support pole, causing “significant damage” before hitting “the corner of another building”.
Cable failed at top
Analysis of the wreckage showed the cable connecting the cabins failed where it was attached inside the upper trolley of cabin No.1 at the top.
The cable’s specified useful life is 600 days and at the time of the accident, it had been used for 337 days, leaving another 263 days before needing to be replaced.
The operating company regards this life expectancy as having “a significant safety margin”.
The exact number of people aboard each cabin when it crashed has not been confirmed.
Britons killed in disaster
Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident, including another British victim who has not yet been named.
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Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.
Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.
Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.
There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.
On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.
Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.
That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.
But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.
Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.
A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.
Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.
Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.
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On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.
“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.
Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.
A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.
Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.
The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.
Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.
Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.
Pic: Sky News Australia
Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’
Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Victim was a father and experienced surfer
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.
“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.
“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.
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Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.
“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”
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Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.
Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”
Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.
The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
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