-Deccan Herald My house help asked me the other day: "Sahib ji, TV news tells me those earning more than Rs 1,000 a month are not poor. How can this be true? Although I am earning Rs 5,000 every month working at your home, I mop up your floor and wash your dishes. If I was rich why should I be doing cleaning job here?" Mohan used to be a helper in...
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Schools for scandal -Anil Sadgopal
-Frontline The midday meal scheme is a grand idea in a flawed school system. "THEY played here, studied here and got buried here!" (Yahin khela, yahin padha aur yahin ho gaya dafan). With these emphatic words, grieving parents buried the bodies of two children within the compound of the Dharmasati Gandaman Primary School of Masharakh block in Saran district of Bihar. This sentiment was expressed with great dignity even in the...
More »Unequal status tells on women’s nutrition -Rukmini S
-The Hindu Younger daughters-in-law in rural families have shorter children on average, says research There is new evidence that the unequal social status of women could play a significant - and as yet ignored - role in explaining India's "inexplicably" high under-nutrition levels. For its per capita income, India has stubbornly higher than expected levels of stunting and under-weight among children and adults - the so-called "Asian enigma" which, with countries like...
More »For a more inclusive ballot-Anup Surendranath
-The Hindu While denying voting rights to undertrials contradicts the principle that a person is innocent until proved guilty, disenfranchising convicts will aggravate their alienation from society The Supreme Court's decision last month in Chief Election Commissioner v. Jan Chaukidar has attracted significant attention for its perceived potential to address the criminalisation of politics. Justices A.K Patnaik and S.J. Mukhopadhaya ruled that since one of the conditions to be a candidate under...
More »Epidemic of Vitamin D shortage puts Indians at high blood pressure risk -Malathy Iyer
-The Times of India MUMBAI: Runny noses and stomach flu aren't the only ills associated with overcast skies. The absence of sunlight hits production of Vitamin D in the body, adversely affecting blood pressure. A recent study in London by an Indian-born researcher has proved beyond doubt that the lower the vitamin level, the higher the BP. Vitamin D is synthesized when the sun's ultraviolet rays fall on the skin. But the...
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