-Down to Earth In 2019, India imported around 15 million tons of edible oils worth approximately Rs 7,300 crore Edible oils are indispensable in the Indian kitchen. But it might be surprising to many that India imports most of the oil it consumes, unlike most other agricultural products which are produced locally. Even after having a diverse agro-climatic conditions, abundant land and large sections of population depending on agriculture, why does India have...

-The Indian Express Raising the diet of our people from subsistence level to higher levels of nourishment by overcoming the triple deficit is the only way to improve the nutritional indicators of our population — amongst children, adolescents and adults. It is nearly a month since the first phase of the NFHS-5 survey was published. While we await a response from the government or any policy-making authority, several articles by public health/policy...

Commenting on the recently released fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data for 17 states and five Union Territories (UTs) in an article published in The Indian Express (dated 6th January, 2021), Arvind Subramanian and his co-authors have stated that India has made progress on certain outcomes, including infant mortality rate (IMR), under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and neonatal mortality rate (NNMR). Relying on various rounds of NFHS data,...

-Mongabay.com * A latest government study has found that mining activities in the coal-rich Tamnar area of Chhattisgarh have put the local population, mainly tribal people, at an increased risk of acute respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. * The study reveals that in the case of tuberculosis, the disease burden rate in Tamnar is nearly double the national rate and almost triple the rate in the state, highlighting the adverse impact of mining. *...

-The Indian Express Certain communities such as the Denotified Tribes (DNTs), which have a history of persecution by the criminal justice system, are targeted under specific laws and legal provisions. In August, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the annual Prison Statistics Report for 2019. This compilation provides demographic information on prison inmates for administrative categories such as age, gender, religion and caste. It has consistently highlighted to lawmakers the overrepresentation...