-Down to Earth     Series of papers calls for engaging private sector in fighting malnutrition Lancet, the world's leading general medical journal, recently published four papers on nutrition. Its plan to release the papers formally in India on Friday has angered the country's public health experts. Lancet has called for engaging private sector in fighting malnutrition. UNICEF estimates say about 46 per cent of all children below three in India are too small...

-The Hindu     Unorthodox models of conservation are needed to save this elusive and magnificent big bird "Have you seen the Big Five?" That's the question you will invariably be asked if you visit the East African states. The Big Five, Africa's largest, and thus most prominent, mammals - the lion, the rhino, the leopard, the buffalo and the elephant - have dominated camp fire stories, tourist expectations and the growth of conservation. Across...

-Down to Earth   Total consumer expenditure on processed foods, beverages, and refreshments level has increased Indians are eating badly; and the trend is getting worse each year. Data from the 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that the share of food in total expenditure has reduced both in rural and urban areas. This is despite the fact that food is getting progressively more expensive. Spending more on unhealthy foods Amongst the...

-Down to Earth About nine million women went out of the job market in the rural areas between 2009-10 and 2011-12, a grim facet of the employment crisis in the countryside The dismal trend in India's jobless growth story was reinforced when the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation released the highlights of its 68th round of its surveys, conducted from July 2011 to June...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The weather office may have jumped the gun in declaring last week's torrential rainfall in northern India as monsoon showers. Private forecasters say the devastating downpour was a freak pre-monsoon phenomenon that has been followed by dry weather. The India Meteorological Department insists that monsoon rains arrived two weeks early, but private forecaster Skymet says the claim is debatable. It says northern India will get the next...