-Down to Earth   This defies logic. Despite rapid economic growth, India has often been placed below sub-Saharan African countries that have very high number of malnourished children. But the government has no data to clarify its position. In the first week of September, Parliament’s Committee on Estimates criticised the government, saying: “The committee is surprised to note that in the modern era of Information and Technology, there is no recent official...

-The United Nations United Nations independent experts today called on Indian authorities to immediately halt the construction of a massive steel plant in the eastern state of Odisha - formerly known as Orissa - which threatens to displace more than 22,000 people Jagatsinghpur District and disrupt the livelihoods of thousands more in the surrounding area. "The construction of a massive steel plant and port in Odisha by multinational steel corporation POSCO must...

-The Business Standard Onion crisis is a reminder of the need for retail reform Onion prices in towns have begun, finally, to come down. That follows a fresh harvest of onions in Karnataka and Maharashtra. But the price rise could happen again - unless its causes are realistically ascertained, and the right lessons drawn. The crisis was generally believed to have been triggered by low production, high exports and rampant hoarding. However,...

-Deccan Herald One important feature of Aadhaar is its immense potential to violate privacy and civil liberty of the people. This is one of the main issues highlighted by the petitioners in the Supreme Court. Aadhaar envisages a centralised database of Indian residents. At present, the data on each individual is available only in separate "silos" and it is near impossible to link a person's information in one silo to that in...

-The Hindu Every biomedical and health research involving human participants, whether in conventional areas, or in new evolving specialised fields, will have to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the proposed Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013. Research on human subjects in the specified areas like assisted reproductive technology (ART); organ, tissue and cell therapy; genetic and genomic studies including techniques of genetic engineering and gene therapy; nano medicines;...