-The Indian Express The central message of Angus Deaton’s work: Becoming richer is not necessarily the same thing as becoming better-off. In the preface to his magisterial 2013 book The Great Escape, Angus Deaton thanks his teachers. “Richard Stone was perhaps my most profound influence,” Deaton writes, “from him I learned about measurement — how little we can say without it and how important it is to get it right.” Important, indeed....

-PTI NEW DELHI: The Centre is expected to virtually eliminate the role of NGOs in preparing mid-day meal for children especially in rural areas, as per the new guidelines under the Food Security Act 2013. The government is expected to communicate to the states soon about the rules framed and ensure that NGOs have little presence in the scheme because the schools in rural areas are adequately supported for kitchens and other...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Integrated Child Development Services scheme and maternity entitlements can play a crucial role in improving children's food and nutrition security. Both interventions are part of the National Food Security Act, though maternity entitlements have yet to be activated. Odisha has experimented with several creative policies, including initiating a maternity entitlements scheme in 2011 before the NFSA was enacted, introduction of eggs and decentralised procurement of take-home...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Studying mathematics scores of the same set of kids in multiple rounds of tests, a researcher has concluded that kids learn better in their mother-tongue. Kids attending Telugu medium schools - data was gathered in Andhra Pradesh - "on average perform significantly better as compared to English medium students" once factors such as native ability, household characteristics and "parental aspirations" are considered and "controlled for." P...

-The Hindu The Centre notified the mid-day meals rules on Thursday, making running quality tests and sticking to nutritional standards mandatory. The State governments will be held accountable for non-delivery of service. The exhaustive guidelines to be followed by the States come days after 80 children fell ill after being served milk in a school in Agra. If a school fails to serve food to students for three consecutive school days or five...