-United Nations News Across the globe, at least one-in-three children under-five are malnourished and not developing properly, UNICEF revealed on Tuesday, in its most comprehensive report on children, food and nutrition in 20 years. “An alarmingly high number of children are suffering the consequences of poor diets and a food system that is failing them,” the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) warned.   Around 200 million children under-five are either undernourished or overweight,...

-Hindustan Times Undernutrition, alcohol abuse and smoking are the biggest risk factors for tuberculosis (TB) in India, where the infection affected an estimated 2.69 million people and killed 449,000 in 2018, according to World Health Organisation Global TB Report 2019 released this week. While the poor with little or no access to treatment are at highest risk of disease and death, the airborne infection – it spreads through droplets from coughing —...

-Frontline.in The first ever Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey exposes the shocking state of Indian children’s nutritional status, but this is apparently not an issue of major concern for the government or the opposition. The findings of one of the largest nutrition surveys ever conducted in the country on the shifting conditions of undernutrition, over-nutrition and obesity expose the disconnect between the one-sided and much-eulogised India growth story and the abysmal state of...

-Livemint.com/ howindialives.com Residents in Hyderabad enjoy the best access to schools and public healthcare facilities among five of the country’s metros, suggests a Mint analysis Millions move to India’s metros in search of a better life, but which metro delivers this the best? Answering this is difficult, but one measure could be access to education and public healthcare. Access to schools and health facilities are the first steps to a prosperous life....

-The Telegraph There is an urgent need to address chronic delays in Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana payments Malti Devi (name changed) gave birth to her first child in May 2017. She submitted an application for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana three months later. The PMMVY is a Centrally-sponsored conditional cash transfer scheme that guarantees women Rs 5,000 for their first live birth. This amount is disbursed in three instalments during...