-FAO Direct economic costs of $750 billion annually - Better policies required, and "success stories" need to be scaled up and replicated Rome: The waste of a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes of food per year is not only causing major economic losses but also wreaking significant harm on the natural resources that humanity relies upon to feed itself, says a new FAO report. Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources is the first...

-The Telegraph ■ Pushpa Devi, a homemaker-turned-panchayat representative of Baridih block, Bokaro, used Right to Information (RTI) Act to stop illegal sale of government land ■ Vijay Yadav, a ward councillor of Koderma, ensured through RTI Act that private English-medium schools adhered to Right to Education Act provisions and enrolled poor students under reservation ■ Mukesh Rajak, a youth from Madhupur block, Deoghar, used the RTI Act to expose MGNREGS irregularities Ranchi: They...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Jhumki's (name changed) red and white sakha-pola (wedding bangles) and sindoor jar sharply with her starched uniform. She was forced by her father to marry when she was barely 11 but she feels lucky to be allowed to attend school. Forty-six per cent of women (between the ages of 18 and 29) in India were married before the age of 18, according to the National Family...

-The Hindustan Times Investors say the new land acquisition bill approved by Parliament this week has made things more difficult. Pro-farm civil-society advocates say it hasn't gone far enough to protect farmer interests. If both sides are unhappy, an inside joke goes, it must be a pretty good legislation that has struck the right balance. The debate over land acquisition, however, is no laughing matter. In a country where half the people live...

-The Hindu Growing child population puts these two States at an advantage; developed States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu have hit their peaks, say census data The workforce of the future will come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with developed States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu hitting - or even bypassing - their peaks, new census data shows. Two simultaneous and opposing processes are going on in India, the ‘single year age data' released...