Sarita Agarwal

India does not compost enough. Today we opened pit 1 and were greeted with herbaceous smell of fresh manure (pic 1). 40 days ago it carried garden waste, kitchen waste and food waste (pic 2). We added bio digesters and covered it for 6 weeks (pic 3). We have two pits that run alternatively. Decentralised one can run organic gardens without any chemicals (pic 4) . Wet waste is the most easy to be addressed at source yet India spends lot of precious bandwidth carrying it that comprises mostly moisture as the bulkiest part to landfills.

ICMR is raising concern about increasing obesity in India - calling it a “belly alarm.” Around 1 in 4 Indian adults (25%+) are overweight or obese, and the number is rising. This is driving lifestyle diseases like: Type 2 diabetes Hypertension Heart disease Fatty liver The problem is widespread - both urban and rural India, with rural areas now also seeing rising obesity alongside undernutrition. Despite years of: various diets fitness programs awareness campaigns there is no clear consensus on what works best. So, ICMR has launched a national initiative to: study what actually works for weight loss compare diet, exercise, and behavioral interventions understand why some people respond and others don’t generate India-specific evidence Important shift: Weight alone is no longer a reliable marker Some normal-weight people have metabolic issues Some overweight people may not show immediate complications My Take. Here is the elephant in the room: Insulin resistance We are still looking at: weight calories activity But ignoring the central driver of most metabolic diseases. You can be: normal weight → and still insulin resistant overweight → but metabolically improving Until we measure and address: fasting insulin HOMA-IR postprandial glucose & insulin response we will keep chasing symptoms, not the root cause. My simple, practical solution: Fix the food environment first - not just carbs, but Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) Eliminate or drastically reduce UPFs:packaged snacks biscuits, namkeens, bakery items sugary beverages ready-to-eat foods foods made with refined flours + industrial seed oils + additives These are the real drivers of:chronic overeating insulin resistance inflammation India doesn’t just have a “weight problem.” India has a metabolic health problem driven by insulin resistance. Fix the root - and weight, diabetes, BP, fatty liver will follow. Image credit: Soumen Das from Linkedin

A mom's role in a child's life

This is Modi’s dream project, right under his nose. And look at how well it has turned out. The collapse of governance is just not in Manipur, it is visible everywhere else, including in the Central Vista.