-DailyMail.co.uk It's the great gamechanger that didn't work. The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) launched in 1997 on the back of 72 lakh tonnes of foodgrain annually, with its focus on six crore of the nation's poorest. It was touted as the dawn of a new era for India's food security, but remains riddled with leaks that gobble up to half the foodgrain routed through it. Research conducted by Raghul Madhaiyan of the Department...

-The Hindu     "We have at last found a solution to labour shortage. I am hopeful of sustainable farming" Chennai: Not long ago, farmers of Kavanthandalam, a village about 10 km from Uthiramerur of Kancheepuram district and situated along Cheyyar river, were extremely worried about the future of farming in their area. Labour shortage was their main problem. Though this feature was nothing unique, the problem got compounded, given the proximity of the village...

-The Hindu     No significant difference between rural and urban outcomes The government's own assessment of how much children are learning in schools says that 86 per cent of children in class III can recognise words in their own language and 69 per cent can do simple numerical additions. Maharashtra and the four southern States, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur perform better than the national average on both tests. The findings of the third...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government spends Rs 3.65 to deliver Re 1 of food while 57% of subsidized food grains do not reach the intended beneficiaries. These startling findings by the Independent Evaluation Office point to massive corruption and pilferages in the existing public distribution system. The agency's initial findings reveals that close to 36% of food grains are siphoned off in the supply chain, raising a serious question...

-Deccan Herald New Delhi: The decade-old mid-day meal scheme for primary school children, rolled out with the twin aims of fighting malnutrition and improving attendance by providing cooked food, still appears too little to fight the menace of malnutrition in many states, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. A large number of elementary school children are suffering from "severe" malnutrition in as many as nine states, with the highest figure of...