-Down to Earth Study also stresses on positive impact of sanitation on nutrition status of Children Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Mexico may be rising economic powerhouses, but these fast-expanding, middle-income countries are still home to nearly half of the world's hungry people, numbering 363 million, says a new report. In such a scenario, attention must be paid to those living in the "economic middle" to effectively combat hunger and malnutrition on a...

-Business Standard Marriages on hold, Children being returned from schools over unpaid fees; the rural economy is bearing the brunt of unseasonal rains, a crisis in the sugar cane sector and a fall in prices of farm pro Hapur/ Meerut: In the mid-afternoon, when most farmers are returning home to rest, Rana Ranjit Singh is sweating buckets on his farm in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, searching for vegetables left undamaged after untimely...

-Outlook Corporate karza maafi reaches new heights, social spending new lows This year's budget write-off in customs duty on gold, diamonds and jewellery (all aam aadmi items, of course) is Rs 75,592 crore. That's well over twice the "record" amount allocated to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. As Prof Jayati Ghosh points out, the MNREGA has given billions of person-days of work to tens of millions of poor...

-The Hindu The Parisara Mitra award-winning Keddalike school is self-sufficient MANGALURU: This school in Bantwal taluk does not have to buy vegetables and coconut to prepare the midday meal that is served to its students. The food is made from fresh and organically grown vegetables that come from a sprawling vegetable garden, cared for by students and teachers in the school's backyard. Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School, Keddalike, in Kavalamudur village, has rightly bagged...

-Business Standard The Government accords priority to the issue of nutrition, particularly in respect of Children, adolescent and women of poorer sections of the society including tribal population and has been implementing several schemes/programmes of various Ministries/Departments through State Governments/UTs. These schemes, interalia, include Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) of Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Mid Day Meals...