The deaths of 18 lakh girl children in India in the past two decades have for the first time been linked to domestic violence against their mothers. After examining over 1.58 lakh births that took place between 1985 and 2005, an international team of researchers found that spousal violence against wives increased the risk of death among female children, but not male children, in both the first year and the first...

One out of every five children from the tribal talukas of Thane could be suffering from a serious heart ailment. This was the diagnosis of a medical camp conducted by the district health officer at Wada, 75 km from Thane, recently. Of the 125 children in the 4-15 age group, who underwent the echocardiogram test, 25 were detected with abnormal heart movements, setting off alarm bells in the local medical...

The directorate of education (DoE) has finally decided to crack down on schools flouting the nursery admission rules in the city. Acting on the complaints from parents, the DoE on Wednesday decided to serve notices to errant schools asking them to either rectify their admission criteria or face cancellation of the entire process. The education officials are expected to visit schools from Thursday onwards to keep a check on the...

The Census Bureau took a baby step toward redefining what is considered poor in America on Tuesday when it released several alternative measurements of poverty, fundamentally revising a one-size-fits-all formula developed in the 1960s by a civil servant. Under a complex series of eight alternative measurements, the Census Bureau calculated that in 2009, the number of Americans living in poverty could have been as few as 39 million or as...

Nearly 100 days after the nondescript Tembhali in Nandurbar district was swamped with promises of development, nothing has changed for the better in the tribal village. For over a week in September, the tribal village basked in public and official attention. Prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi landed to launch the ambitious Unique Identity (UID) card — Aadhaar — project amid great fanfare. Great promises to improve the...