-Hindustan Times As per the latest National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau, which has been collecting data on diet and nutritional status of rural, tribal and urban populations for almost four decades, the calorie intake of children (1-3 years) in rural areas was only about 70% of their requirement due to shortage. In India, more than 4.8 crore children suffer from stunting, which means they are below the normal height range for their...

-FIRstpost.com Development economist Jean Dreze has been vociferous critic of the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes a year back. He had famously warned that "demonetisation in a booming economy is like shooting at the tyres of a racing car". A year on, it seems his caution has come true. In the FIRst quarter of the current financial year, the GDP growth slowed to a three-year...

-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: Amid controversial reports of hunger deaths in Jharkhand due to PDS beneficiaries being turned away, economist Jean Dreze says that even official records show that a significant proportion of people are being deprived of food rations every month. In an interview with New Sunday Express, the prime mover behind the NREGA welfare scheme said “this does not mean that Aadhaar is solely responsible for the failures...

-Livemint.com Political analysts feel there is a sense of dissatisfaction in Uttar Pradesh on demonetisation, though the political dominance of the BJP continues Baghpat, Shamli and Sardhana (Uttar Pradesh): Ved Pal, a 35-year-old farmer from the village of Bodda in Baghpat district, thinks demonetisation was the right thing to do even if its immediate aftermath was painful. “Any new work undertaken by any individual or government will always face problems; so demonetisation...

-PTI Mumbai: Maharashtra government will provide cheap and assured electricity to farmers across the state through solar feeders in the next three years, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said. He was speaking after performing the Bhumipujan (ground breaking ceremony) for FIRst solar project under the ’Mukhyamantri Agricultural Solar Feeder’ scheme at Ralegan Siddhi. Veteran social activist Anna Hazare was also present. “The important decision of using solar powered feeders has been taken to become...