-The Times of India In the decade or so that i was at the Planning Commission, i always had advisory responsibility for the food ministry/public distribution system, among other issues of development policy. It did not take very long to find out that the fundamental problem with the system was about so-called "leakages" abetted by corruption: One soon learnt that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was one of the most...

-The Hindu Caterpillar infestation and continuous drought have hit yield Ramanagaram: The precarious groundwater situation and the black-headed caterpillar infestation have hit coconut growers in Ramanagaram district. Coconut is grown on nearly 12,000 hectares in the district, with growers here supplying at least four crore tender coconuts annually to various parts of the country. This year, however, they have been forced to axe thousands of dying trees over the past two months. Along...

-The Indian Express Digitisation of land records is a big step forward. Now to start guaranteeing titles While landlords across the country, several million of whom prefer to keep their houses locked up instead of renting them out, will cheer the cabinet clearance for the Real Estate (Regulation and development) Bill, the even bigger change relates to the digitisation of land records. The real estate bill allows for the setting up of...

-Reuters LONDON: Some 165 million children worldwide are stunted by malnutrition as babies and face a future of ill health, poor education, low earnings and poverty, the head of the United Nations children's fund said on Friday. Anthony Lake, executive director of Unicef, told Reuters the problem of malnutrition is vastly under-appreciated, largely because poor nutrition is often mistaken for a lack of food. In reality, he said, malnutrition and its irreversible health...

-The Times of India BHOPAL: There is a need for creating positive and empowering opportunities for children living with disabilities. We need to change perception and negative assumptions on disabilities and on people living with disabilities, feels the UNICEF. The State of World's Children 2013 UNICEF's global report focuses this year on the issue of children with disabilities. The report brings out the challenges by children with disabilities. A child with...