XUAN CANH, Vietnam: Truong Thi Nha stands just 4

With 30 crore poor people in India, the number of poor has barely changed over the last three decades. According to 11th Five year Plan, total number of poor people counted 32.13 crore in 1973, 32.29 crore in 1983, 32.03 crore in 1993-94 and 30.17 crore in 2004-05. This means the number of poor in the country has declined between 1993-94 and 2004-05 by roughly two crore. Even after sixty years of independence, over a quarter of our population still remains poor. However, the country has successfully reduced the share of the poor in the population from 54.8 in 1973 to 27.5 in 2004.

UN agencies and the World Bank pledged on Tuesday to set up a task force to tackle an unprecedented rise in global food prices that is threatening to spread social unrest. The international bodies called on countries not to restrict exports of food to secure supplies at home, warning that could make the problem worse.

Governments could take a big step towards ending world hunger by spending just $1.2 billion a year in developing nations on dietary supplements and education about the food needs of babies, a study showed. Such targeted spending to help a billion of the poorest people in Africa and Asia could save millions of lives and bring annual economic benefits of more than $15 billion in lower health bills and longer and more productive lives, it said.

Being beaten up at home could be making Indian women and children frail and undernourished. In an interesting research, a team of social scientists from Harvard School of Public Health has for the first time found a strong association between domestic violence and chronic malnutrition among Indian women and children.

: Surveys reveal that malnutrition and underweight childbirths are increasing in rural areas chiefly due to underage marriage of girls, a Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said. He said Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva revealed these findings recently and according to the findings most rural women get married early and have children as soon as they get married.