-Scroll.in Quality of life seems to have more do with social factors in India than economic growth. In 2008, frustrated by the agitation against forcible land acquisition, Tata Motors announced it would exit West Bengal. The company chose to move its Nano car plant to Gujarat. The then chief minister Modi claimed that he made Tata’s entry hassle free, inviting Ratan Tata with an SMS. The incident underlined the gap between Bengal and...

-The Indian Express Raising the diet of our people from subsistence level to higher levels of nourishment by overcoming the triple deficit is the only way to improve the nutritional indicators of our population — amongst children, adolescents and adults. It is nearly a month since the first phase of the NFHS-5 Survey was published. While we await a response from the government or any policy-making authority, several articles by public health/policy...

-Down to Earth Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andhra Pradesh had the lowest consumption of iodized salt in the country Deficiency of iodine is the one of the greatest reasons for mental health problems. Iodine, a metallic trace element, is an important component of thyroid hormones. It is needed for optimal mental and physical development and the regulation of body metabolism through the generation and utilisation of body energy. The...

-The Indian Express Though overall trends do suggest an improvement in population control, use of modern contraception, reproductive and child health, immunisation and social determinants of health, a complete overhaul is needed to identify and address the multidimensional aspects of child malnutrition. Population-based Surveys form the bedrock of the country’s health information systems. Use of accurate and nationally representative data can be instrumental in policy planning, programme design, health system monitoring and...

-Down to Earth Social, cultural stigmas reasons for lack of improvement The present-day education system has come a long way and age-old traditions have undergone a drastic change. One of the biggest achievements of India was the increase in literacy rate to 74.04 per cent in 2010-11 from 18.3 per cent in 1950-51. The country has been making great strides in educating children; at the time of Independence, India was largely illiterate (nine...