-The Hindu These families are on the brink of urban poverty, forced to do what they once thought was impossible — borrowing for their children's school fees, defaulting on EMIs, falling back on rent, cutting down on necessities. Mumbai: MANY locks in the nation’s financial capital are being opened one by one, new Covid numbers are falling but most doors — or windows — to any opportunity to earn are still firmly...

-The New Indian Express As for our media, it’s more interested in a Bihar-born actor, his girlfriend and her brother. So India is in the ‘serious’ category on the Global Hunger Index. No surprises there. There’s dismal relief only in the fact that 94th out of 107 countries is a notch better than previous years—a slow, dispiriting crawl, and below our entire neighbourhood. Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan, though also in GHI 2020’s...

-The Hindu Resilient food systems will have to be built back as the world is not on track to achieve global targets Food is the essence of life and the bedrock of our cultures and communities. It can be a powerful means to bring people together to grow, nourish and sustain the planet. The exceptional circumstances we have all been living in through 2020 underscores this — not only does COVID-19 pose...

-The Indian Express The gap between the current and year-ago stocks, too, has narrowed down from over 15 mt to 1.5 mt between June 1 and October 1. Covid-19 may have unleashed all-round economic devastation, but has also turned into an opportunity for whittling down the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) massive grain mountain. At 68.49 million tonnes (mt), the total wheat and rice stocks in the Central pool as on October 1...

-The Hindu Analysis of NFHS-4 data finds skewed distribution of BPL cards that provide access to various welfare schemes, including food ration A first-ever study on the linkages between the availability of PDS (public distribution system) ration and the prevalence of malnutrition finds that the poorest households most in need of free food grains are often left out of the scheme. The study is authored by Basant K. Panda, Sanjay K. Mohanty, Itishree...