Sharda, a 17-year-old mother, gave birth to her first child in February in a village in Noida, just a few hours' drive outside New Delhi. Though her son was born premature and weak, he received no treatment. In many parts of India, particularly in poor and marginalized communities, a woman is considered impure for a fortnight after giving birth. After labor, Sharda was relegated to a makeshift room outside her...
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Hungry for action by Harsh Mander
India has long been simultaneously a country of enormous wealth and desperate poverty. In recent decades, the distance has only grown between those who enjoy living standards comparable to the finest in the world, and the millions left far behind. Even as Indians crowd the lists of the world’s richest dollar billionaires, an estimated 200 million people sleep hungry. Half our children are malnourished and nearly a fifth severely so....
More »Differently-abled children under-reported by John Samuel & Raja D
The differently-abled account for 5-7% of India’s population in the age group of 6-14 years, but they make up only 0.4% of its workforce. This large variance in the space of a few years can be explained by the disadvantages and discrimination the differently-abled face at every step, starting from the first: being counted. Civil society activists say various attempts by the government to identify and enumerate the differently-abled in...
More »UN to award Bangladesh for reducing child mortality
Bangladesh is set to achieve a United Nations award this week for reducing child mortality rate nearly by two-thirds well ahead of the stipulated time-frame, UN officials said on Sunday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will hand over the award to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the UN summit on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York. Ban convened the summit of the MDGs on the sidelines of the United Nations 65th...
More »Rotting Foodgrains in Asia: The Case Of India And The Philippines by Arpita Mathur
A common incidence of rotting food grains has been reported in India and the Philippines even as millions are starving. The problem has to be tackled with dexterity at both the domestic and regional levels to curb this alarming wastage of food that contributes to food insecurity at large. RECENT NEWS reports from the Philippines and India interestingly surfaced with one common problem -- rotting food grains in both countries, even...
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