In its 2014 election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), among other things, promised to "take steps to enhance the profitability in agriculture, by ensuring a minimum of 50% profits over the cost of production". In his 2018-19 Union budget speech too, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that the 2014 election manifesto of the BJP had stated that the farmers should get at least 1.5 times the...

-TheNewsMinute.com Due to poverty and dependence on government rations, the communities had become malnourished and prone to several non-communicable diseases. But they soon realised that the solution to their woes was in their past. Three years ago, officials of the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary at Idukki in Kerala conducted a medical camp for the tribal natives residing in the sanctuary. While the officials were expecting to see widespread malnutrition and related ailments, the...

-The Telegraph Call to govt to act against covert promotion A paediatricians’ network has asked the government to act against violations of a law on baby food substitutes, claiming companies are organising “scientific sessions” to influence doctors into recommending their products. The Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India has asked the Union health ministry to authorise health officers or paediatricians in the district hospitals to look out for and file complaints against violations of...

-The Hindu Business Line According to Shenggen Fan, India is suffering from the double burden of malnutrition, as well as over nutrition. New Delhi: If India has to contain high levels of hunger and poverty in the country, it should shift its focus from food security to nutrition security, as done by Thailand and Bangladesh, said Shenggen Fan, Director General of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “India has two good...

-The Hindu The national framework to improve nutrition for children must be upgraded on priority The health, longevity and well-being of Indians has improved since Independence, and the high levels of economic growth over the past two-and-half-decades have made more funds available to spend on the social sector. Yet, the reality is that a third of the world’s stunted children under five — an estimated 46.6 million who have low height for...