-The Hindu GNR notes that there has been a big increase in the number of countries on track to meet global nutrition targets, and encourages countries, including India, to establish specific and time-bound targets for malnutrition reduction that are consistent with the new Sustainable Development Goals. Two reports released on Thursday, The Global Nutrition Report (GNR) and India Health Report on Nutrition, 2015 (IHR), offer a critical analysis of the state of...

-DNA Despite a CERTain amount of progress in the past decade or so, the report points out glaring gaps in healthcare infrastructure in the country -- "low resource allocation, low emphasis on primary health care, poor utilisation of human resources," as Professor K Srinath Reddy, one of the co-authors said. Yet another report on India's troubled health care system pointed out the country's poor performance across health indicators, despite economic advantages....

-The Indian Express It doesn’t have sufficient power and independence, and seems unworkable. The absence of an adequately independent and empowered body to investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption, especially relating to the rich and the powerful, has been a longstanding concern in India. The Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) relative independence has proved ineffective as it has few resources at its disposal while the CBI, which is relatively empowered, lacks independence —...

-TheNewsMinute.com The law will disproportionately affect women, and among them, Dalit women The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Haryana law which would make 83 percent of Dalit women and 71 percent of women in general ineligible to participate in grassroots democracy. The Supreme Court upheld amendments to a law that the Haryana Assembly passed earlier this year. Elections to panchayats scheduled for October were postponed after the All India Democratic Women’s Association...

-The Indian Express Uttar Pradesh farmers have taken well to direct benefit transfers, though there are doubts if it can be extended to fertilisers. Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh is turning out to be a pacesetter in implementation of direct benefit transfers (DBT) to farmers. Farmers in UP got Rs 28.60 per quintal from the state government for the sugarcane they supplied to mills during the 2014-15 crushing season. The payments, totalling...