-The Indian Express Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Infant deaths are still stalking tribal hamlets in Kerala's Attappadi region, where the community's population has been falling alarmingly due to various factors. The recurring incidents of infant deaths have cast a shadow over the survival of tribals in Attappadi. A study had found that tribals formed 90 per cent of population in Attappadi in 1951, but the same was down to 42 per cent in...

-The Hindu Business Line   Heard of the eco-san toilet that fights river pollution? Pachnada is about 100 km from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. Meaning pach (five) and nada (rivers), it is the region at the confluence of the Yamuna with its tributaries - Chambal, Sindh, Kunwari and Pahuj. Here, the rejuvenated Yamuna and its rich biodiversity including the magar, ghariyal and sus (dolphin) prove that once a river's flow is restored its...

-The Economic Times For one who had worked so closely to frame the world's largest job guarantee programme, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, it's not easy to see it succumb to pressure. It's no wonder that economist-cum-activist Jean Dreze will raise his voice against this, along with eminent academics such as Pranab Bardhan and Maitreesh Ghatak. Dreze says corruption related to NREGA and leakages - its...

-The Times of India Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, hereafter BP, have argued for phasing out the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in favour of cash transfers ("Rural Inefficiency Act", ToI, 23 October). It's surprising-and amusing-that two eminent economists have chosen to make a case based on prior beliefs and some sophomoric wordplay ('mis'leading economists), rather than on the available evidence. A survey by one of us of the empirical literature...

-Livemint Maharashtra is reducing malnutrition. It may have lessons for other states Over the past month, there has been much debate about what resulted in India's improved ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). There is little clarity in terms of data and policies about how India achieved significant improvements in child nutrition over the past decade. The GHI report by the International Food Policy Research Institute did not give a clear...