-The Hindu Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu): After free and cashless deliveries, newborn babies and mothers were transported back home free of cost by the Government Headquarters hospital here, thanks to the implementation of Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) scheme. The scheme rolled out by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is being implemented in the hospital since October 15, making available a host of benefits to the young mothers free of cost. After delivery and...

-The United Nations The world will need 70 per cent more food, as measured by calories, to feed a global population of 9.6 billion in 2050, and must achieve this through improvements in the way people produce and consume, according to a report released today by the United Nations and its partners. "Over the next several decades, the world faces a grand challenge - and opportunity - at the intersection of food...

-Economic and Political Weekly There are few areas where the statistics are as dismal as child health in India. This paper analyses four interrelated child health indicators in West Bengal - child malnourishment (measured by the rates of stunting and wasting), prenatal, infant, and child mortality rates. It also provides evidence on how these rates vary with the gender of the child, parental education, and the wealth status of households. West...

-The World Bank   Policy Interventions Can Turn the Tide, Says World Bank Report WASHINGTON: A new World Bank report warns that risky behaviors -smoking, using illicit drugs, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets, and unsafe sex- are increasing globally and pose a growing threat to the health of individuals, particularly in developing countries. The report looks at how individual choices that lead to these behaviors are formed and reviews the effectiveness of interventions...

-DNA An allocation of Rs 17,700 crore in the 2013-2014 Union Budget but not a single accountable rupee spent for pre-school education or a plate of food for the homeless children in Mumbai. Yoshita Sengupta investigates the absence of homeless children from ICDS registers Mumbai: In 2010, Ms. Rekha, a homeless woman living on the footpath in Mumbai in her last month of pregnancy, slipped while trying to cross a wall. She...