-ThePrint.in Vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem. India gets surplus sun, yet a large percentage of Indians suffer from significant vitamin D deficiency. And this number is only growing – it’s a public health problem of epidemic proportions. What could be the possible reasons? Dietary insufficiency is an evident cause, and nutrition policymakers are looking into food fortification as a major intervention to combat this public health problem. However, scientists...

-The Hindu The sustained campaign helps 43% reach the ‘normal’ mark Following the adoption of a bottom-up approach to strengthening child protection systems, 43% of malnourished children in one of the 11 blocks in tribal-dominated Banswara district in southern Rajasthan have hit the normal mark. The initiative has sought to protect the most vulnerable ones among the undernourished children and safeguarded them against a possible third wave of the pandemic. The drive for...

-ThePrint.in According to the Oxfam survey, 9% of respondents said they had to lose a day’s wage to get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19. New Delhi: At least one-third of Muslims and over 20 per cent Dalits and Adivasis said they have been discriminated on the grounds of religion, caste, or because of illness in a hospital or by a healthcare professional, according to a survey by Oxfam India. The survey — titled ‘Securing...

-Down to Earth Pond-based greywater treatment systems in Kurak Jagir village in Karnal district, Haryana, absorb greywater  More than 70 per cent of freshwater across rural households in India gets converted to greywater. With the Union water ministry’s Jal Jeevan Mission providing tap water connection to every rural household at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day, the problem is set to intensify. Greywater refers to wastewater from non-toilet systems, that...

-Down to Earth The city is still grappling with source segregation, door-to-door collection, waste treatment and processing and on-site organic waste management India’s greatest cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan, began in 73 cities in 2016. Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad was ranked 67th in its inaugural survey. Cut to 2019, Ghaziabad was declared the fastest-growing city and ranked 13th in the same survey under cities with a population of more than a million. The city’s waste...