-The Hindu India must convert its young population to a competitive advantage, and nutrition and health are foundational to that outcome. The “Global Nutrition Report 2016” once again demonstrates India’s slow overall progress in addressing chronic malnutrition, manifest in stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for height), micronutrient deficiencies and over-weight. Our track record in reducing the proportion of undernourished children over the past decade has been modest at best,...

-The Times of India New Delhi: Moved by the plight of a single mother, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi has urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to amend passport rules that make listing the father's name a mandatory requirement. Priyanka Gupta, a single mother from Delhi, had started a petition on change.org after the passport office reportedly insisted on having her husband's name in her daughter's passport, despite the fact...

-The Hindu Confining it to just the Ministry of Rural Development would be the most retrograde step in democratic decentralisation in over a quarter century. If, as The Hindu’s exclusive on Wednesday indicates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to close down the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, it would confirm one’s worst fears about his government’s hypocritical approach to grass-roots democracy for grass-roots development. This was a lacuna that was evident in the ‘Gujarat...

-The Indian Express Also, the lack of co-ordination between health and Women and Child Development (WCD) departments has also been highlighted in the report. Ahmedabad: WITH OVER 1.45 lakh children under the age of six in Gujarat identified with the Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), the state fails to identify any specific targets in their mission statements to overcome malnutrition, reveals the latest edition of Global Nutrition Report (GNR). Also, the lack...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government has decided to make it a must for all public buses owned by state transport corporations to have emergency panic buttons, surveillance cameras and vehicle-tracking devices to ensure the safety of women passengers. A formal notification on the rules will be issued after June 2, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said in the capital today. The minister made the announcement while launching a pilot...