-Newsclick.in Recent studies have shown that even as India fares better than many developing regions of the world on several indicators of growth and development such as GDP, per capita, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), literacy, life expectancy, etc., the number of malnourished children in India is significantly high. What explains this paradox? The Union Cabinet recently approved a multi-sectoral nutritional programme proposed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to reduce...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: An expert panel has ranked Gujarat 12th among states in development, its findings flying in the face of Narendra Modi's claims but winning endorsement from economists The Telegraph spoke to. The committee, headed by Raghuram Rajan who has since been appointed Reserve Bank governor, assessed states on the basis of 10 criteria, which included many human development indicators. Bengal came 16th. Economist and Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen, who...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Onion prices have crashed by 25-30% from the peak of Rs 60 per kg last week after the Maharashtra government threatened onion traders with raids and new harvests eased pressure on supplies. On September 18 and 19, wholesale prices at many APMCs in Maharashtra had risen to Rs 55 per kg. A meeting held by the state's marketing director at Lasalgaon on September 19 suggesting raids if prices...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Onion hoarders and unscrupulous traders could be looking to make a killing over the next 15-20 days as 85-90% of the country's onion stock is over and only 3-4 lakh tonnes remain available for consumption. Since traders are aware of the depleting stock, and know that arrival of the kharif crop from October will ease supplies and depress prices, they seem to be trying to extract...

-The Hindu     The draft policy on the use of forest land is at odds with sound conservation principles and fails to plug holes in current guidelines that work to the advantage of project promoters The Supreme Court in July 2011 while delivering the Lafarge Judgment laid down guidelines on forest clearance procedures. These were to operate till a new regulatory mechanism was put in place. Two years after the judgment, the Ministry...