-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as India is rapidly growing as a major market for chicken and fish, awareness about health benefits of a vegetarian diet may also be catching up fast among people. Though 70% of Indians above 15 years of age are still non-vegetarians, the numbers are expected to decline, a nationwide survey conducted in 2014 and released recently by the Registrar General of India (RGI) showed. In...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-The Telegraph Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh has the highest number of liver cancer patients in the country and the second highest stomach cancer cases in the world after China, a nationwide cancer-tracking programme conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research has found. The latest report on the country's cancer scene, based on data available with the council's population-based cancer registries (PBCR), also shows that Aizawl in Mizoram has the highest incidence of...

-The Hindu Business Line Six districts in AP and Telangana tell the story of nutrition and gender bias Consider two sets of appalling nutrition-linked realities in India. One, almost half the children under five years of age are stunted and two, most Indian girls and women are generally anaemic. Given India’s poverty level, the stunting is not surprising. Anaemia among girls and women is also linked to cultural issues. Across the country, boys...

-The Indian Express Madhya Pradesh’s agricultural growth rates offer important lessons for the Centre Shivraj Singh Chouhan completed 10 years in office as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh last week. His most outstanding achievement is the excellent performance of agriculture — the agri-GDP of MP grew at 9.7 per cent per annum during 2005-06 to 2014-15, surpassing even record-holder Gujarat’s 7.7 per cent. The last five years have been even more...