-The Telegraph Nearly 10 crore children have the midday MEAl in 11 lakh schools every working day New Delhi: The Centre has allowed privately managed centralised kitchens to be engaged to serve food to schoolchildren in rural areas under its midday MEAl scheme — a decision it had earlier announced in May 2017 only to roll back in April this year — raising fears of loss of jobs for thousands of cooks. Trade...

-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: The cotton crop in Maharashtra is facing whiteflies attacks and if enough attention is not provided by the State Government then the problem could aggravate and cause significant economic damage, senior Maharashtra Government officials told BusinessLine. Changes in weather and higher moisture content in the air coupled with the use of synthetic Pyrethroids for killing pink bollworms has lead to the ingress of whiteflies, such pesticides act...

-The Telegraph There is an urgent need to address chronic delays in Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana payments Malti Devi (name changed) gave birth to her first child in May 2017. She submitted an application for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana three months later. The PMMVY is a Centrally-sponsored conditional cash transfer scheme that guarantees women Rs 5,000 for their first live birth. This amount is disbursed in three instalments during...

-The Hindu Breastfeeding is inversely proportional to household wealth and other factors, says study. Malnutrition among children in urban India is characterised by relatively poor levels of breastfeeding, higher prevalence of iron and Vitamin D deficiency as well as obesity due to long commute by working mothers, prosperity and lifestyle patterns, while rural parts of the country see higher percentage of children suffering from stunting, underweight and wasting and lower consumption of...

-The Hindu Business Line The rise in female malnutrition can be countered by integrating a women-focussed initiative with the National Nutrition Mission India is home to the largest proportion of malnourished children in the world, with widespread prevalence of stunting, wasting and people being underweight. That said, a more pertinent factor is that malnutrition is the most significant contributor of the under-five mortality in India. According to the United Nations, India has...