-Down to Earth Report by children's non-profit links childhood malnourishment to educational performance, adult income and GDP Malnutrition decrease the gross domestic product (GDP) in low- and middle-income countries, says a report by international non-profit Save the Children. Malnutrition affects educational development, physical productivity and health, and also perpetuates inequalities, such as those created by caste in India, says the report. The report, Food for thought: Tackling child malnutrition to unlock potential...

-The Times of India LONDON: India's Gangetic river dolphin and wild elephants figure in the latest 100 top mammals on the verge of extinction. The Zoological Society of London have for the first time scored the world's mammals according to how Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) they are. The list that includes the world's most extraordinary threatened species - frogs that give birth through their skin and mammals that are immune to...

A recent statistical study by Indian researchers suggest that the MNREGA program in rural Andhra Pradesh might be having a positive effect on school enrolment and grades by improving the bargaining power of women within their household, as a consequence of earning wages in the rural job security program. The study is based on data from rural households in 5 districts in Andhra Pradesh and comprised of 3006 children, comparing...

-IANS India also gets high scores for electoral process and pluralism (9.58) and civil liberties (9.41) Washington: Even as it acknowledges India as the world's most populous democracy, the Economist magazine's Index of Democracy 2012 ranks India 38th among 165 nations with an overall score of 7.52. India also gets high scores for electoral process and pluralism (9.58) and civil liberties (9.41). The top three positions go to Norway (9.93) Sweden (9.73) and...

-The Business Standard The Novartis verdict by the Supreme Court emphasised the importance of flexibilities in drug patent laws, in contrast to Western countries which are seeking TRIPS-plus hardening through free-trade agreements As curtains on the six-year-long legal tussle with Swiss drug giant Novartis AG finally came down earlier this month, the Indian government did not waste a second in hailing the Indian patent law which it said was in "full...