-The Hindu A total of 9.27 lakh severely acute malnourished children between the age of six months and six years have been identified in the country till November 2020, the government told Parliament. Over 40% of such children were found in Uttar Pradesh alone. "As per ICDS-RRS (Rapid Reporting System) Portal, as on 30th November, 2020, 9,27,606 severely acute malnourished (SAM) children (6 months - 6 years) have been identified in the country,...

-The Hindu Lower stunting among children with mothers who had access to free school lunches, shows data from 1993-2016. Girls who had access to the free lunches provided at government schools, had children with a higher height-to-age ratio than those who did not, says a new study on the inter-generational benefits of India’s midday meal scheme published in Nature Communications this week. Using nationally representative data on cohorts of mothers and their children...

-TheIndiaForum.in Claims that the livestock sector is a high emitter of greenhouse gases have led to calls for moving towards plant-based diets. These prescriptions rest on flawed assumptions; they also ignore the nutritional needs of the working poor in the Global South. The livestock sector has widely been reported to be a high emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs). International media outlets have — wrongly — claimed that ‘cows emit more than...

-Newsclick.in Prices of basic sources of protein like meat, eggs, pulses, and cooking oils have zoomed up, as has the cost of cooking gas. Prices of some essential food items have jumped up steadily over the past few months causing devastation of nutritional levels of families and denting already stressed budgets. Adding to this misery is the inordinate hikes in cooking gas prices which have sky-rocketed by 46% since subsidies were all...

The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...