& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Food, Energy Crises

World entering danger zone: WB chief

G-8 urged to tackle situation

X1NHUA, Washington
World Bank President Robert B Zoellick has urged the leaders of the G-8 as well as the major oil producers to act now to deal with surging food and energy prices, warning that die world is now "entering a danger zone."
Zoellick's cail is contained in a July 1 letter to the head of the upcoming G-8 summit in Japan in which the bank, World Food Programme (WFP) and International Monetary Fund estimate that about $10 billion is needed to meet short term needs of
people hit by the crisis.
"What we arc witnessing is not a natural disaster—a silent tsunami or a perfect storm. It is a man-made catastrophe, and as such must be fixed by people," Zoellick said in the letter made available to Xinhua on Wednesday.
"1 urge the G-8 countries, in concert with major oil producers, to act now to address this crisis. This is a test of the global system to help the most vulnerable and it cannot afford to fail," said the World Bank chief.
He said the G8 made a commitment at the Gleneagles Summit in
2005 to boost overall development aid to Africa in particular by 2010, noting such aid was needed now more than ever, as Africa accounted for two thirds of the countries most under stress by the food and fuel crisis.
“For 41 countries, the combined impact of high food, fuel and other commodity prices since January 2007 represents a negative shock to GDP of between 3 and lOpercent," he said. "These numbers translate into broken lives, and stunted potential for the most vulnerable, especially poor children, they mean malnutrition, reduced resistance to disease and too often death."
"Record oil prices and high and rising food costs threaten a growing number of countries with rising poverty and social instability. Already we have seen food riots in over 30 countries, and unrest over high fuel prices is spreading. The urban poor are especially affected by the double hit of food and fuel," he warned.
In his letter, Zoellick urged the G-8 to consider two new measures to "improve the world’s ability to cope with an on going food crisis." . The first was UN assessment on guaranteeing a portion of funding for the World Food Programme. The second was to study the merits of an internationally coordinated "virtual" humanitarian strategic reserve system for food emergencies.
"The international community is facing an unprecedented test in this new era of globalisation. The question is whether we can act swiftly to help those most in need," he said.