-Down to Earth Social, cultural stigmas reasons for lack of improvement The present-day education system has come a long way and age-old traditions have undergone a drastic change. One of the biggest achievements of India was the increase in literacy rate to 74.04 per cent in 2010-11 from 18.3 per cent in 1950-51. The country has been making great strides in educating children; at the time of Independence, India was largely illiterate (nine...

Commenting on the recently released fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data for 17 states and five Union Territories (UTs) in an article published in The Indian Express (dated 6th January, 2021), Arvind Subramanian and his co-authors have stated that India has made progress on certain outcomes, including infant mortality rate (IMR), under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and neonatal mortality rate (NNMR). Relying on various rounds of NFHS data,...

-Down to Earth Mushrooms in one’s daily diet will eventually promote a healthy body, behaviour and brain power The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted some experts to look at the consumption of mushrooms, known for their immunity-boosting anti-viral properties, with renewed vigour. In fact, immunity has been one of the most-searched keywords on the internet since the last few months. Immunity is basically the foremost defence system against all sorts of viruses,...

-The Indian Express Considering the critical importance of agriculture for livelihoods, health, food security, and also keeping in mind the vulnerability of Indian farmers, it is necessary to go beyond reductionist expediency in considering agricultural reforms. In his speech on December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the three controversial farm laws will finally deliver justice to the vast majority of small farmers who have been ignored by successive governments. As...

-IndiaSpend.com Many health issues were neglected as COVID-19 hogged global attention in 2020. Apart from the COVID-19 vaccine, what other health issues should be in focus in 2021? New Delhi: COVID-19 demanded the single-minded focus of India's entire healthcare infrastructure all through 2020. In fact, the pandemic hogged so much attention across all aspects of our lives that most other issues of public health were put on the back-burner. Issues such as tackling...