-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Half of India's pregnant women are anaemic enhancing the risk of maternal mortality as well as chances of delivering babies with low birth weight, according to a study. The study by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) shows rising incidence of malnutrition-related diseases among women, as compared to men and children. While incidence of overweight and obesity in women have increased by 34% over past three...

-United Nations Just one third of countries have achieved all the measurable education goals set in 2000 and only half of all countries have achieved universal primary enrolment, the United Nations agency mandated with promoting learning spotlighted today, urging countries to bridge the $22 billion annual finance gap needed to achieve quality basic education for all by 2030. "The world has made tremendous progress towards 'Education for All'...however the agenda is far...

-IANS The NHRC on Tuesday said it has rescued 101 bonded labourers from Madhubani in Bihar, after an NGO complained they were being made to work forcefully on agricultural lands and not being paid minimum wages. The 101 labourers from 38 families were Musahars, a community classified as Scheduled Caste. The rescue operation was carried out following a complaint received from an NGO in December 2014. The labourers have been provided relief under various...

-Hindustan Times The government plans to relax child labour laws and allow children below the age of 14 to work in select family enterprises if it doesn't hamper their education, saying it wants to encourage learning at home as it leads to entrepreneurship. A draft provision in the Child Labour Prohibition Act says the prohibition on child labour will not apply if they are helping the family in fields, forests and home-based...

-Tehelka Shamefully, in India, a large percentage of the population still defecates in the open. However, a village in Tamil Nadu has scripted a rare success story by becoming an Open Defecation-Free Village. Nisha Ponthathil documents how the people of Amarambedu near Chennai triumphed over habit with a little help from the civil society Twenty-nine-year-old R Karthick, a resident of Amarambedu village, situated about 65 kilometres away from Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai,...