If the malnourished in India formed a country, it would be the world's fifth largest — almost the size of Indonesia. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 237.7 million Indians are currently undernourished (up from 224.6 million in 2008). And it is far worse if we use the minimal calorie intake norms accepted officially in India. By those counts (2200 rural/2100 urban), the number of Indians who cannot afford...

The Centre's National Food Security Bill could face some hitches, irrespective to which party forms government in Punjab as both the Congress and Akali Dal-BJP have promised to diversify agricultural production by moving towards cash or commercial crops.  The poll promise by political parties to influence Punjab farmer to also grow crops other than wheat and paddy gives further weight to agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's warning that implementation of food security...

-The Telegraph A judge in a key Gujarat riot case today walked down the alleys where the pogrom occurred a decade back, video-graphing the spots and talking to some of the 95 victims’ families. Jyotsna Yagnik’s visit to Ahmedabad’s Naroda Patia, where one of the worst episodes of violence unfolded during the 2002 riots, came at the request of defence lawyers. Mobs allegedly instigated by Mayaben Kodnani, a former minister in the Narendra...

-PTI   At a time when the issue of quota for backward class Muslims has stirred a political controversy, National Minority Commission chief Wajahat Habibullah has made a strong plea for granting Scheduled Caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits to get them reservation benefits.  Referring to the Constitution Order of 1950 that asks for inclusion of those Dalits, who converted to Buddhism and Sikhism in the SC category, Habibullah said, "Our case...

-PTI  A Dalit man’s hands and legs were chopped off by three persons in Rajgarh district because he had complained to police that they were tapping electricity from a power meter in his field. The victim, identified as Jagdish, was taken to Bhopal for treatment yesterday and was in a serious condition, the police said. Yesterday morning, at Pagari Bangla village in Rajgarh, Arjun Thakur, Shiva Gurjar and Madan attacked Jagdish with an...