-The Times of India BATHINDA: "It was just like the Japanese air strike in the film, Pearl Harbour," said Naresh Kumar Lehri, a seed and pesticide dealer at Singho village in Punjab's Bathinda district. "They appeared out of nowhere and left a trail of destruction." Lehri was referring to the devastating attack by whitefly, a common pest, on the cotton crop in Punjab's Malwa region this year. It has affected about two-thirds...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Integrated Child Development Services scheme and maternity entitlements can play a crucial role in improving children's food and nutrition security. Both interventions are part of the National Food Security Act, though maternity entitlements have yet to be activated. Odisha has experimented with several creative policies, including initiating a maternity entitlements scheme in 2011 before the NFSA was enacted, introduction of Eggs and decentralised procurement of take-home...

-The Statesman The toxicity of pesticides to humans, their ability to remain in the environment and accumulate in products require the establishment of strict scientifically substantiated regulations for their safe application. In India, the rules for using pesticides are worked out together by the Union ministries for agriculture and health. Every year, an approved “List of Chemical and Biological Means for Controlling Pests, Plant Diseases and Weeds Allowed to be used...

-The Hindu Salem (Tamil Nadu): The successful functioning of the anganwadi centres being run under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) have helped over 3.18 lakh children to improve their healthcare in the district. Officials said that there are 2,696 anganwadi centres in all the 22 blocks in the district. Supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-up, referral services, pre-school non-formal education and nutrition and health education are rendered to adolescent girls in the age...

-DNA   A poisoned country   A few weeks ago, India entered into an agreement with the UN to end the use of the insecticide DDT by 2020. DDT had been used in agriculture for decades until it was restricted in 1989, but 6,000 tonnes of DDT are still produced annually for the eradication of mosquitoes and other pests. This would be perfectly understandable, except for the simple fact that DDT has become...