-Frontline The midday meal scheme is a grand idea in a flawed school system. "THEY played here, studied here and got buried here!" (Yahin khela, yahin padha aur yahin ho gaya dafan). With these emphatic words, grieving parents buried the bodies of two children within the compound of the Dharmasati Gandaman Primary School of Masharakh block in Saran district of Bihar. This sentiment was expressed with great dignity even in the...

-The Hindu Younger daughters-in-law in rural families have shorter children on average, says research There is new evidence that the unequal social status of women could play a significant - and as yet ignored - role in explaining India's "inexplicably" high under-nutrition levels. For its per capita income, India has stubbornly higher than expected levels of stunting and under-weight among children and adults - the so-called "Asian enigma" which, with countries like...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Admitting to increased stances of rejection of food consignments by EU in the last three years, government today said it is taking steps to ensure compliance with the European norms. To a question that whether reports about increase in notifications by the European Union against food exports from India due to presence of contaminants are correct, Minister of State for Commerce D Purandeswari said: "Yes". There have been an increase...

-Tehelka.com The media went on a overdrive and misreported facts. Hundreds of children fell sick in the last two weeks in Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra after consuming iron and folic acid supplements given to them under under state sponsored programmes to combat anemia. Though the authorities later clarified that mild side-effects like abdominal pain and nausea were expected - there are few takers for this explanation, especially in the backdrop of the...

-The Times of India The ongoing 'Bhagwati versus Sen' debate has generated more heat than light, necessitating correction. As an equal co-author of India's Tryst with Destiny, which defines the Bhagwati position, my stake in the debate is second to none. Two extreme characterisations of the positions of the two sides have emerged. The first has it that the differences between them are minimal with each side expressing the same ideas in...