News Watch - Kids Sold as Donors?

Kids Sold as Donors ?
"If you have baby markets, you cannot stop people from exposing those children to harm," the Organs Watch director said. "There could be real instrumental reasons of wanting that child, which could include wanting that child to serve as a donor to an older child."

Wealth 'may not lead to health'
"The figures for child mortality in India are shocking," said Shireen Miller, from Save the Children India. "They are close to sub-Saharan Africa, and one does ask that if we can make such rapid development economically then why can we not do the same socially?

Nutrition plan way off target, report finds
According to Saxena, the poorest compliance is in states that need the programme the most: “25% of India’s districts are responsible for more than 50% of malnourished children, and these districts are mostly located in the poorer states. Yet, the poorest states and those with the highest levels of under-nutrition have the lowest levels of programme funding, supervisory staff, capacity to utilize funds and monitor progress, resulting in poor outcomes.”

‘Malnutrition should be tackled in first two years’
“Malnutrition must be addressed in the first two years of life, the crucial period for a child’s physical and cognitive development,” according to Marie Ruel, lead author of The Lancet article and director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at IFPRI. “If nutrition programmes wait until children have already become malnourished, their benefits are significantly diminished.”

Move to make primary education a fundamental right
"The main component of this legislation will be 'free and compulsory' education. This was the main problem faced by the flagship Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All programme)," said a senior official in the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD).