-The Hindu Country needs to double its efforts to control malnutrition Almost one in three Indian children under five years will still be stunted by 2022 going by current trends, according to an analysis of the country’s food and nutrition security released on Tuesday. Over the last decade, child stunting — which is a measure of chronic malnutrition — has reduced at a rate of about 1% per year, the slowest decline...

-The Hindu The National Crime Records Bureau must be more prompt and open in releasing data Indian prisons make news when there is a jail break, a prison riot or when the lawyers of high-profile businessmen or economic evaders fight against their extradition to India. And in the midst of the election process this year, the release of the data-driven report, the Prison Statistics India 2016, published by the National Crime Records...

-The Hindu Just as individuals are punished for legal violations, the government of the day must also be punished for the violation of these basic rights. Three thoughts occur to me in the aftermath of the horrific tragedy in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where the systemic failure of health care has killed over a hundred children. First, like the constitutional principle of a basic structure, it is time to articulate an equally robust...

-The Hindu Business Line About 85 per cent of the India has experienced “deficiency” or “large deficiency” in rainfall this monsoon season An umbrella body of farmer groups on Saturday urged the government to declare districts which are under severe water stress as ‘drought-hit’ immediately and not wait till the end of the monsoon season as is the usual practice. “There must not be any delay in the declaration of drought. Instead of...

-The Hindu Three agencies have come up with varying figures, ranging from 7-120% of GDP, it said The Standing Committee on Finance has shied away from estimating the quantum of black money in and outside India, saying that different methods by various agencies are yielding vastly differing figures. The Standing Committee relied on three institutes — the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the National Institute of Financial Management and the...