The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is distributing wheat seeds that will benefit over half a million farming families, or nearly five million people, whose seed supplies were destroyed during the recent flood disaster. The floods, which began in late July and inundated one fifth of the country, claimed more than 1,800 lives and have affected more than 20 million others. Agriculture is the mainstay for over 80 per cent...
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India leads Commonwealth tally in underweight children by Himanshi Dhawan
India may rank second in the medals tally, but it is on top of the heap among the Commonwealth countries as the home to the highest number of underweight children. About 43% of India's children are underweight, and 7 million under fives are severely malnourished, says a new report "Commonwealth or Common Hunger", released by Save the Children, a child rights NGO. The report reveals that 64% of the world's underweight children...
More »Despite economic growth, India still a top home for childhood hunger by Katy Daigle
India, a global breadbasket with economic growth that rivals China's, is still home to 42 per cent of the world's underweight children. The stark statistic, released by the Washington-based Food Policy Institute ahead of World Food Day on Saturday, stands in contrast to the country's burgeoning economy and hopes of boosting its global stature as exemplified by its hosting of this year's Commonwealth Games. "We need to be asking ourselves, what or...
More »P Sainath, rural editor of The Hindu interviewed by Himal South Asia
The amount of rural reportage in the Indian media remains far too low, with even important stories such as those on farmer suicides tending to be ignored. One of the outspoken critics of this trend has been P Sainath, rural-affairs editor of The Hindu and 2007 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. He was also the journalist who originally broke the story on...
More »Much more than Commonwealth Games needed for lasting national prestige by Nandini Oomman
“India is Shining” in many ways, but the major hiccups in the run up to the Commonwealth Games (CWG), which opened on October 3 in New Delhi, highlight India's serious problems. Despite the colourful display of India's arts and culture at the grand opening ceremony, the frantic last minute interventions —including enlisting the Army (who did a remarkable job) to help with the final preparations — reveal the gross inefficiencies...
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