-The Hindu The draft calls for expanding the disabilities prevention programme of the Health Ministry from “traditional causes” to other causes, including malnourishment and medical negligence After several stakeholders demanded more time to respond, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has extended the time for the public to submit comments on the draft National Policy for persons with disabilities (PwD), which was published last month, by one week time,...

The transport sector is important for the smooth functioning of an economy. The supply chains for various products and by-products (both domestically as well as internationally) can work efficiently only if the transportation of raw materials and inputs, and final goods and commodities takes place without disruption.   Due to economic growth, India’s annual CO2 (i.e., carbon dioxide) emission has expanded from 1.19 billion tonnes in 2005 to 2.44 billion tonnes...

-Press release by Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA Kisan Swaraj) dated 2 August, 2021 170 individuals and organizations along with the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA Kisan Swaraj) have written to the FSSAI urging it to scrap its plans to make synthetic/ chemical fortification of foods mandatory in India [1]. They cited detrimental and irreversible health and socio-economic impacts such as market shifts in favor of large...

-The Hindu Business Line Scientists, farmer groups urge FSSAI Hyderabad: Several scientists and non-governmental organisations have asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to scrap its plans to make synthetic or chemical fortification of foods mandatory. “A major problem with the chemical fortification of foods, said the letter, is that nutrients don’t work in isolation but need each other for optimal absorption,” they said in a letter to the Food...

-The Hindu Data from Assam and Uttar Pradesh show that fertility rates have been reducing over time Population policy is suddenly in the news in India with Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States such as Assam and Uttar Pradesh proposing to bring in or bringing in draft legislation aimed at controlling their populations. The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill of 2021 promotes a two-child policy, according to which those people having...