The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, August 07, 2023, Page 8, Image 8

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    U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
August 7, 2023
India cuts rice exports, triggering panic-buying
of food staple by some Indian expats in the U.S.
By Bobby Caina Calvan
The Associated Press
EW YORK — Chatter on one of
Prabha Rao’s WhatsApp groups
exploded last month when India
announced that it was severely curtailing
some rice exports to the rest of the world,
triggering worry among the Indian
diaspora in the United States that access
to a food staple from home might soon be
cut off.
As in any crisis situation — think
bottled water and toilet paper — some
rushed to supermarkets to stock up,
stacking carts with bags and bags of rice.
In some places, lines formed outside some
stores as panic buying ensued.
But Rao, who lives near Syracuse, New
York, was reassured when the proprietor
of her Indian market sent out an e-mail to
customers to let them know there was no
need to worry: There was an ample supply
of rice.
At least for now.
An earlier than expected El Niño
brought drier, warmer weather in some
parts of Asia and is expected to harm rice
production. But in some parts of India,
where the monsoon season was especially
brutal, flooding destroyed some crops, add-
ing to production woes and rising prices.
Hoping to stave off inflationary pres-
sures on a diet staple, the Indian govern-
ment imposed export bans on non-Basmati
white rice varieties, prompting hoarding
in some parts of the world.
The move was taken “to ensure
adequate availability” and “to allay the
N
rise in prices in the domestic market,”
India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food
& Public Distribution announced July 20.
Over the past year, prices have increased
by more than 11%, and by 3% over the past
month, the government said.
Non-Basmati white rice constitutes
about a fourth of the rice exported by India.
“On WhatsApp, I got a lot of messages
saying that rice was not going to be availa-
ble. I think there was a lot of confusion in
the beginning because, as you know, rice is
very important for us,” Rao said.
“When we first heard the news, there
was just mild confusion and people started
panic buying because they thought that it
may not be available,” she said.
There are scores of different varieties of
rice, with people having their preference
depending on taste and texture. India’s
export ban does not apply to Basmati rice,
a long-grain variety that is more aromatic.
The ban applies to short-grain rice that
is starchier and has a relatively neutral
flavor — which Rao says is preferable in
some dishes or favored in specific regions
of India, especially in southern areas of the
country.
At Little India, a grocery store in New
York City’s Curry Hill neighborhood in
Manhattan, there was no shortage of
Basmati rice and other varieties.
That wasn’t the case at other Indian
groceries.
On its Facebook page, India Bazaar, an
Indian grocery chain in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area, told customers not to panic.
“We are working hard to meet all our
shoppers’ demands,” the post said.
Customers cleared shelves and waited
in long lines to stockpile bags of rice,
reported NBC Dallas affiliate KXAS.
“They really wanted to purchase ten, 12,
15 bags,” India Bazaar’s president, Anand
RISING RICE PRICES. Rice is seen on display
at Little India, an Indian grocery store in New York
City’s Curry Hill neighborhood. An earlier than ex-
pected El Niño brought drier, warmer weather in some
parts of Asia and is expected to harm rice production.
But in some parts of India, where the monsoon season
was especially brutal, flooding destroyed some crops,
adding to production woes and rising prices. (AP
Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan)
Pabari, told the station. “It was a really
crazy situation.”
India’s move came days after Russia
backed out of a deal to allow Ukrainian
wheat safe passage through the Black Sea,
prompting warnings that the action could
lead to surging prices.
Some economists say the ban might
further hurt food supplies around the
world, and some governments have urged
the Indian government to reconsider the
export ban.
At least in the United States, the supply
of imported rice from India may not yet be
a problem — despite the panic buying —
but a long-term ban would certainly
deplete that stock.
Rao says she and others will just have to
adapt by purchasing rice grown in the
United States or imported from other
countries.
“I might have to substitute Basmati
rice,” she said, “but it doesn’t taste that
good, especially with South Indian dishes.”
A U.S. resident for three decades, Rao
said she is accustomed to improvising.
“When we first came here, there was not
even that much rice from India,” she said.
“So I’ve learned to substitute, and I’m fine
with the other brands that we get.”
Brain fog and other long COVID symptoms are the focus of new small treatment studies
By Lauran Neergaard
The Associated Press
ASHINGTON — The National Institutes of
Health (NIH) is beginning a handful of studies
to test possible treatments for long COVID, an
anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the
mysterious condition that afflicts millions.
The announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion
RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients
who’ve struggled for months or even years with
sometimes-disabling health problems — with no proven
treatments and only a smattering of rigorous studies to
test potential ones.
“This is a year or two late and smaller in scope than one
would hope but nevertheless it’s a step in the right
direction,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington
University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with NIH’s
project but whose own research highlighted long COVID’s
toll. Getting answers is critical, he added, because “there’s
a lot of people out there exploiting patients’ vulnerability”
with unproven therapies.
Scientists don’t yet know what causes long COVID, the
catchall term for about 200 widely varying symptoms.
Between 10% and 30% of people are estimated to have
experienced some form of long COVID after recovering
from a coronavirus infection, a risk that has dropped
W
somewhat since early in the pandemic.
“If I get 10 people, I get 10 answers of what long COVID
really is,” U.S. Health and Human Services secretary
Xavier Becerra said.
That’s why so far the RECOVER initiative has tracked
24,000 patients in observational studies to help define the
most common and burdensome symptoms — findings that
now are shaping multipronged treatment trials. The first
two will look at:
n Whether taking up to 25 days of Pfizer’s antiviral
drug Paxlovid could ease long COVID, because of a theory
that some live coronavirus, or its remnants, may hide in
the body and trigger the disorder. Normally Paxlovid is
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SYMPTOMS STUDIED. This undated electron microscope image
made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in February
2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in light colors
in the middle, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in darker
colors, cultured in a laboratory. NIH is opening a handful of studies to
start testing possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited
step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition. (NIAID-RML via
AP, File)
used for only five days when people first get COVID-19.
n Treatments for “brain fog” and other cognitive
problems. They include Posit Science Corp.’s BrainHQ
cognitive
training
program,
another
called
PASC-Cognitive Recovery by New York City’s Mount
Sinai Health System, and a Soterix Medical device that
electrically stimulates brain circuits.
Two additional studies will open in the coming months.
One will test treatments for sleep problems. The other will
target problems with the autonomic nervous system —
which controls unconscious functions like breathing and
heartbeat — including the disorder called POTS.
A more controversial study of exercise intolerance and
fatigue also is planned, with NIH seeking input from some
patient groups worried that exercise may do more harm
than good for certain long COVID sufferers.
The trials are enrolling 300 to 900 adult participants for
now but have the potential to grow. Unlike typical
Continued on page 13
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