-The Times of India RANCHI: Right to food campaign, conglomerate of NGOs working for implementation of Food Security Act (FSA), had demanded the state government to restart 'dal-bhaat' scheme under which special outlets were opened by the state government to provide 'dal-bhaat' at cheap rate. The campaign activists convened their state-level meeting here on Sunday to discuss various aspects of the FSA and draw a comprehensive plan to intensify their stir,...

-PTI Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Sunday appealed to people to focus on building centralised kitchens to feed children instead of constructing temples. "If we can provide quality food to children under the mid-day meal scheme, we can drastically reduce the dropout ratio. I believe that it's better to build kitchens to feed children than building temples," Ms. Patel said, inaugurating a fully-automated kitchen, built by an NGO, The Akshaya...

-The Times of India JALPAIGURI/ALIPURDUAR: The picturesque tea estates of North Bengal hide a gruesome truth - malnutrition deaths. Nearly 100 people have reportedly died in five closed tea gardens since January, with 10 deaths reported this month. It's a chilling reminder of the starvation deaths in Amlasole, West Midnapore, 10 years ago following which Supreme Court had ordered an inquiry. But just like the Left Front government then, the Mamata Banerjee...

-The Hindu   Obesity among children due to rampant consumption of junk food has reached epidemic proportions. With India already in the grip of this dangerous global trend, the government needs to remove its blinkers on the processed food industry One of the first declarations of the newly elected government in June was a proposal to ban unhealthy or junk food (defined as food high on fat, sugar and salt) in school...

-The Economic Times The rationale for embedding nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programmes in a development agenda is compelling. And yet, strangely, it has been ignored. Planning and implementation of such programmes require collaborative, consistent and aligned effort across multiple sectors. Currently, we have a myopic vision to pursue narrow agendas. Transformational change requires tackling one of the most obdurate challenges: malnutrition. This blight has a large human impact and a larger economic impact...