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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Malnutrition Is A Serious Problem In India

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-10-18 07:56:45

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2022 is out and the bad news is that India has slipped 6 positions from last year to stand at 107th position in a list of 121 countries. According to the detailed report in GHI, "the level of hunger in India is serious". The authors have claimed they have relied on reports put in public domain by the respective countries. This is true to an extent as the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) had reported earlier this year that more than 20 percent of children in India suffered from serious malnutrition to the effect that they were underweight for their age and not as tall as they should be. This wasting at childhood is a serious problem. But the government has rubbished the report and has questioned the methodology. It is being widely reported that the index is based on a survey and if true, it definitely is not a scietific study. 

Technically, the malnutrition factor that leads to wasting does not mean that the children are hungry or government policy does not provide them with food, especailly after the huge free distribution of foodgrain since the pandemic started. What it really means is that even though they might be getting two or more square meals a day, those meals are not nutritious enough to provide them with all that is needed for their proper growth. It is in this respect that instead of quibbling, the government should focus on ensuring that proper and nutritious food is made available to these children to reduce and eliminate wasting. 

The government has already introduced Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a scheme that will address the issue of malnutrition, promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing and address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies, as per the PIB release. With this, it should also work to make the Mid-Day meal scheme more efficient by providing nutritious food to the children, preferably by adding one small meal in the morning along with the lunch that is now being provided. The benefits will far outweigh the costs incurred on such expansion. Also, strict watch must be kept to ensure that the delivery of the Mid-Day meal is proper and there are no leakages. It should let its work do the talking instead of disputing international reports. 

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