-TheNewsMinute.com As COVID-19 cases rise to 75 across the country, state governments are suspending the various touch points that could be a potential source of infection. The Kerala government’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department has decided to suspend biometric authentication for the public distribution system (PDS), popularly known as fair price or ration shops, in all districts till March 31. The number of people confirmed to have the COVID-19 DISEase...

-The Indian Express India’s premier farm research and education institute has a full-time director after nearly four years. It is an institution whose blockbuster varieties account for more than 95% of the country’s Rs 32,800-crore annual basmati rice export revenues, nearly half of its total wheat area, and a quarter of that sown under mustard. Yet, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI, better known as Pusa Institute) has an annual research budget...

-The Pioneer All stakeholders must engage in educating the population about sexual and reproductive health and highlight the multi-sectoral approach that will be necessary for improving adolescent health and breaking inter-generational cycles of DISEase Investing in adolescent health is essential to realising multiple sustainable development goals set by the UN, to be achieved by 2030. Given that India houses more than 253 million adolescents, it is pertinent to realise that neglecting their...

-The Indian Express What economists do not like to dwell on and what Karl Polanyi had noted a long time ago is that the economy is ultimately embedded in society, institutions and politics. When these are damaged, the economy begins to stall. With India’s deep political troubles, and protest marches breaking out all over the country, it may seem odd to be writing on economics. Yet, it would also be wrong not...

-The Hindu Report finds one in seven Indians suffered from mental health issues in 2017. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh account for a higher prevalence of mental disorders that manifest primarily during adulthood in depression and anxiety, according to the first comprehensive estimates of DISEase burden attributable to mental health from 1990 prepared by the India State-Level DISEase Burden Initiative and published in the Lancet Psychiatry. The study finds that...