-Down to Earth The highest rates of aflatoxin contamination were found in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala Traces of Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), a deadly carcinogen, were found in some of the milk samples tested as part of a national survey by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The final results of the milk survey were released on October 18, 2019. Out of the 6,432 total milk samples that were tested, 368...

-Down to Earth The number of camels, pigs, donkeys, horses, mules, ponies and indigenous cattle breeds has drastically declined The number of Indian livestock has increased due to a rise in the population of sheep and goats, even as indigenous cattle and other farm animals have declined, according to the 20th Livestock Census. The livestock census has been periodically conducted once in every five years since 1919. But the 20th census was conducted...

-Down to Earth At a media interaction in New Delhi, experts from civil society organisations enumerated damages that could be caused to various sectors of the Indian economy if India signed the deal Various sectors of the Indian economy including agriculture, dairy, services and data will be facing the heat due to the forthcoming Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) according to leaked documents, experts said while talking to media on October 16,...

-Down to Earth According to high-level government sources, the survey results contradict the government’s open-defecation free status claim A copy of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)’s latest survey on the state of toilet coverage and use at the household level in India was doing the rounds among officials. The ‘draft’ report, accessed by Down to Earth, pegged toilet coverage in India at only 75 per cent. Close to 80 per cent of...

-Down to Earth GHI's 2019 essay is a review of scientific literature on increasingly clear impacts that climate changes have on the most malnourished The 2019 edition of the Global Hunger Index was accompanied by an essay focused on the climate dimensions of the hunger problem. Essays accompanying previous GHI editions have similarly shone a spotlight on forced migration (2018), inequality and power differentials (2017), the sustainable development goals (2016) and armed...