WIKILEAKS: UN peacekeepers traded food for sex!

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With Due Acknowledgement To: September 2, 2011 AP Abidjan, Ivory Coast / DC.

A girl stands near burning trash in a usually bustling main square, in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast - AP.

United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast enticed underage girls in a poor part of the West African nation to exchange sex for food, according to a United States Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks.

The cable written in January 2010 focuses on the behavior of Beninese peacekeepers stationed in the western town of Toulepleu, an area that has been at the crosshairs of the nation's 10-year-long conflict.

A random poll of 10 underage girls in Toulepleu by aid group Save The Children U.K. in 2009 found that eight performed sexual acts for Benin peacekeepers on a regular basis in order to secure their most basic needs.

"Eight of the 10 said they had ongoing sexual relationships with Beninese soldiers in exchange for food or lodging," the diplomat wrote in the cable, citing information shared with the embassy by a protection officer.

On Tuesday, United Nations spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux confirmed that in April, 16 Beninese peacekeepers were repatriated to Benin and are barred from serving in the U.N. following a yearlong investigation.

"We see it as a command and control problem," said Bonnardeaux who spoke by telephone from New York. Of the 16, 10 were commanders and the rest were soldiers.

The commanders, he said, 'failed to maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse'.

Sexual misconduct by U.N. troops has been reported in a number of countries including Congo, Cambodia and Haiti – as well as in an earlier incident involving Moroccan peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.

In 2007, a 730-strong battalion of peacekeepers from Morocco was asked to suspend its activities in the northern Ivorian city of Bouake after the U.N. received allegations of sexual misconduct involving local girls.

A report published a year later by Save the Children U.K. identified Ivory Coast as one of the places where sexual barter between peacekeepers and girls was occurring. The peacekeepers traded food as well as mobile phones for sex, the report said.

The recently released cable identifies for the first time the Benin peacekeeping contingent.

It also makes clear that the sexual exploitation continued through at least the last month of 2009, quoting a protection officer with Save the Children who spoke to the embassy in January 2010.

The officer said that the 'sexual exploitation and abuse problem among (United Nations) personnel is more extensive than is recognised'.

Parents were encouraging their daughters to sleep with the peacekeepers so they would provide for them, according to the cable.

Bonnardeaux said that 42 allegations of sexual abuse by U.N. staff in Ivory Coast have been reported since 2007. Sixteen involved minors. None have been reported yet this year, according to U.N. records.

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AUROVILLE BUZZ: No fireworks at Anandi’s kitchen!

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Courtesy: August 31, 2011 / By Sakthi Sambandhan, DC, chennai.

Indulging in raw food is the latest mantra.

Food is not merely a nutrient for the body and mind. When taken at the right time and in adequate measure when hunger strikes, it also acts as a medicine and a preventive cure through which one can avoid an encounter with a variety of diseases.

Alas, in a fast moving globalised world, youngsters are being enslaved by soft drinks and fast food (read junk food) that help raise calories with little nutrient for the metabolism to work.

For lovers of healthy food here is some good news in the form of good advice from Anandi Vaithialingam of Auroville.

She has been associated with organic farming for more than two decades. She is also aware of the advantages of eating raw food.

And she had her defining moment in life when she got an opportunity to visit the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Centre in Arizona, USA for a 10-week programme with a free scholarship from Dr Gabriel Cousens.

Since then Anandi has emerged as a strong advocate of promoting the eating of raw food. Speaking to DC she listed the salient advantages that come from eating raw food as opposed to cooked food.

The cooking process virtually takes away more the 50 % to 80% of the nutrients and vital enzymes, thereby creating more health disorders like diabetes, obesity and calcium deficiency.

“The basic point is food governs physical and physical governs our emotional, mental and spiritual bodies and so it is appropriate for us to practise raw food style”, says Anandi.

“Right from the start, we are trained to eat grain-based food like rice and wheat. They need chromium to digest, but when grains are cooked, the chromium is lost.“

“As a result, the process of digestion needs to draw from bones and tissues leading to chromium deficiency and a lot of stress in our pancreas that eventually leads to diabetes.“

“Cooking creates acidity which disrupts many bodily functions. It takes away the calcium from our bones and oxygen from our body, which may result in breeding parasites. Cooked foods also are devoid of enzymes crucial for our digestion. This constant depletion causes degeneration and aging is accelerated”, she explains.

For those addicted to tasty cooked food this might sound odd and unwelcome as their taste buds have been trained by spicy, oily and overcooked food.

A chat with Anandi and a visit to take in the many varieties of raw food prepared at her recently opened restaurant, Live Food Centre, would convince anyone that her advocacy for eating raw food and her challenging the traditional style of cooking food is as logical as it is exciting.

On the health front too, she has more to say about the catalytic role played by good healthy food.

    

   

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Food inflation in double-digit; onion, fruits stoke price rise!

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Courtesy: September 1, 2011 / PTI, New Delhi / DC. 

Food inflation entered the double- digit number after a gap of five months, at 10.05 per cent for the week ended August 20, as onion, fruits, vegetables and protein-based items turned more expensive.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 9.80 per cent in the previous week. The rate of price rise of food items was over 15 per cent during the same week last year.

This is the first time food inflation entered the double-digit mark since the week ended March 12, when it was at the same figure of 10.05 per cent.

As per the official data released today, prices of onion soared by 57.01 per cent year-on-year, while that of potato by 13.31 per cent during the week under review.

Fruits became dearer by 21.58 per cent and vegetables overall by 15.78 on an annual basis.

The prices of egg, meat and fish were up 12.62 per cent, while milk and cereals became dearer by 9.22 per cent and 4.64 per cent, respectively.

However, pulses became cheaper by 4.16 per cent and wheat by 2.52 per cent year-on-year.

Overall, primary articles recorded 12.93 per cent inflation for the week ended August 20, up from 12.40 per cent in the previous week. Primary articles have a share of over 20 per cent in the WPI.

However, inflation in non-food articles, which include fibres, oilseeds and minerals, stood at 17.19 per cent, down from 17.80 per cent in the previous week.

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RAMADAN SPECIAL: A healthy Iftaar!

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Sami Rafiq, The Hindu / August 27, 2011.

Baked to perfection: Chaat need not be oily or fattening. Photo: Sami Rafiq.

Some ideas for a delicious way to break the fast.

Chaat is both popular and easily accessible. It is found at every market, street corner and crossing in India and can also be made at home without the high calories. An Iftar of chaat can be a lip smacking affair and a healthy choice.

Baked pakoda

Ingredients

Onions 2 (medium sized)

Torai 2

Brinjal 1 (small)

Green chilly 3-4

Potato 1 (optional)

Besan 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves, a handful

Oil 2-3 tsp.

Salt and chilli powder to taste

Method: Slice vegetables thin and add all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly till the mixture is moist and crumbly but not sticky. Arrange the vegetables separately on a greased microwave tray or make balls of the mixture. Bake in a microwave oven in the combi (180°C) or grill mode for about 20 minutes, turning every five minutes. They can also be grilled in an ordinary oven but need to be turned frequently. Remove when brown and crispy and serve.

Baked papdi

Ingredients

Semolina (rava) 1 cup

Refined flour (maida) 1/4 cup

Oil 1 tbsp

Ajwain and salt to taste

Method: Knead all ingredients together into firm pliable dough. A little milk may be added if the mixture is to dry. Divide into four balls and then roll out each ball thinly. Using a cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Place the rounds on a greased microwave tray. Bake for about 15 minutes at 180°C or till crisp.

Rest at,

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article2395887.ece

       Fruit chaat: Chapters from a life

   Sanjeev Kapoor's Chaat

 Nita Mehta's Snacks and Chaat Vegetarian

 Delicious Indian Chaat, an Article in TAUNTON'S FINE COOKING June / July 1995 No. 9

  Chatpati Chaat

Chaat - Color + Illustrated ( HINDI)

    Chaat & Sweets -- 2008 publication

GOA STREET FOOD: Aloo chat, vada pao knock beef cutlets off menu!

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zeenews.india.com / Updated on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 09:37 IST.

Panaji: Delhi`s aloo chat, Mumbai`s vada pao and Kolkata`s kathi rolls have challenged Goan street food on its own turf.

Street fare like beef cutlets and pork sausage bread, popularly consumed in copious proportions here, have been knocked off the menu at a pan India street food festival held at the Cidade de Goa resort on the outskirts of Panaji.

According to chef Prashant Paul, who has conceived and executed the `A la Carte Street bites` at the resort, the predominant reliance on meats like beef and pork in street food goodies here makes its street food unique, but not very popular as far as mainstream tourists coming to Goa are concerned.

The street fare which has been selectively sampled from street food menus from Avadh, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and southern regions, however, also has a Goan flavour, albeit without the red meat and pork preparations which are carted along the roads, highways and in market places in rural and urban Goa.

"A lot of people might not find beef and pork palatable," Paul told reporters, adding that Goan specialties like chicken caffreal (juicy pieces of chicken stewed in green gravy), pao (a locally made bread), ras omelette (omelette immersed in spicy chicken gravy) were on offer.

"Tourists who come to Goa, especially from north India, stay away from red meats and pork," he said.

From a total tourism inflow of more than 2.5 million a year, Goa receives a large section of tourists from Gujarat, Karnataka and regions in northern India where beef and pork dishes do not find mention on most menus.

Rest at,

http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/weekend/story.aspx?nid=94855