-The Times of India JALPAIGURI/ALIPURDUAR: The picturesque tea estates of North Bengal hide a gruesome truth - malnutrition deaths. Nearly 100 people have reportedly died in five closed tea gardens since January, with 10 deaths reported this month. It's a chilling reminder of the starvation deaths in Amlasole, West Midnapore, 10 years ago following which Supreme Court had ordered an inquiry. But just like the Left Front government then, the Mamata Banerjee...

-The Hindu   An improvement in sanitation and cleanliness will eliminate much of the difference in malnutrition between India and the rest of the world, and across Indian States Historically the greatest advances in longevity and mortality reduction have come not from treatment of individual disease but from public health. This includes modern drainage and sewerage systems (sewage treatment plants), drinking water systems that produce and deliver disease-free water and solid waste disposal...

-The Business Standard In its effort to safeguard the rights of its poor by blocking the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) trade facilitation agreement (TFA), India might lose out on securing a deal on food security, including the much-needed 'Peace Clause' agreed on during WTO's Ninth Ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia. WTO members have threatened that if the so-called Bali package gets derailed, every single issue that was negotiated and on which a...

-The Economic Times The rationale for embedding nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programmes in a development agenda is compelling. And yet, strangely, it has been ignored. Planning and implementation of such programmes require collaborative, consistent and aligned effort across multiple sectors. Currently, we have a myopic vision to pursue narrow agendas. Transformational change requires tackling one of the most obdurate challenges: malnutrition. This blight has a large human impact and a larger economic impact...

-The Hindu   Nabard's low-key financing scheme helps farmers reap a rich harvest Puducherry: A low-key financing scheme with a few innovations thrown in is driving big changes in the lives of several rural dairy farmers. One of the beneficiaries, Poongudi from Andayarpalayam, Thirubuvanai, is a happy woman. Her milch cows are healthier and milk production has improved in quantity and quality. "The cows do not fall ill often now. I have 10 cows and the...