-The Telegraph New Delhi: A community-managed meal scheme that has shown encouraging results in improving the nutrition level of pregnant women and lactating mothers in Andhra Pradesh may be replicated across the country. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh told The Telegraph that Andhra’s Nutrition cum Day Care Centre (NDCC) scheme was being studied and could be replicated in rural areas under the Centre’s Aajeevika scheme. “The NDCC scheme is being implemented by self-help...

-The Economic Times The state-run Rubber Board is turning to the rural employment guarantee programme to increase India's natural rubber output from the present 9 million tonne a year. With rising global demand for rubber, the board is keen to extend the area under cultivation. It has identified 400,000 hectare in the North East, 100,000 hectare in Odisha and 50,000 hectare each in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as areas with potential...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com Kozhikode: Dubai's agriculture minister recently chartered a flight to Kozhikode and, accompanied by a horticulture consultant, headed to the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Anakkayam nearby. There the minister, Abdulla Jassim Abdulla M Almarzooqi, placed orders for fruits, spices and ornamental plants. But on his mind was something bigger. He offered free visas and air tickets to the 100 members of the research station's agricultural army, which rather grandly goes...

-The United Nations The United Nations children's agency today commended the Government of Bangladesh for committing to end preventable child deaths in the country before 2035, building on its success of lowering maternal and child mortality. "There's a lot to learn from Bangladesh. Between 1991 and 2011, under-five deaths fell by almost 75 per cent, thanks, in part, to its commitment to innovation and knowledge-sharing," said UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: If cronyism and callousness led to the Bihar midday meal tragedy earlier this month, Jharkhand is staring at a credit crisis that is barely able to put food on plates in schools and anganwadis. Jharkhand's multi-crore food-for-children schemes - midday meal for schools and supplementary nutrition for anganwadis - are starved of funds and limping on credit, a survey conducted by the state adviser to the commissioner of Supreme...