India's abysmal track record at ensuring basic levels of nutrition is the greatest contributor to its poverty as measured by the new international Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI). About 645 million people or 55% of India's population is poor as measured by this composite indicator made up of ten markers of education, health and standard of living achievement levels. Developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) for the...

The HRD ministry wants the midday meal (MDM) scheme to become a part of the proposed National Food Security Bill. The National Advisory Council (NAC), which is to meet here on Wednesday, has been trying to walk a tightrope between the politically advantageous act that brings in all nutrition schemes under its ambit and the overall foodgrain supply situation across the country. The NAC meeting is expected to see a...

The 1,600 families in Haryana’s Panchkula district which line up at fair price shops for foodgrains and kerosene can do away with their prized ration cards, pieces of paper that entitle the poor to subsidized food and fuel. Beginning Tuesday, while they still have to queue up, these families will receive their rations after a biometric identification using smart cards. That’s a small beginning for an ambitious Rs138 crore Centrally funded project...

A new United Nations report says that a radically simplified approach to ensuring access to HIV treatment for everyone who needs it could prevent 10 million deaths by 2025 and 1 million new infections annually. The so-called Treatment 2.0, says the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), could lower the cost of treatment, simplify treatment regimens, ease the burden on health systems, and improve the quality of life for people living...

State governments on Monday submitted their recommendations to the Centre on how to improve the public distribution system (PDS), including steps to ensure timely distribution and reduce leakages. The states presented their views at a two-day conference of Food Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories, which began on Monday. The meeting assumes   mportance as the Centre is enacting a National Food Security Act to provide cheap foodgrains to...