-The Indian Express While decadal growth rates are declining among all religious communities, the decline has been sharper among Muslims than among Hindus over the last three decades. The Census 2011 data on Population by Religious Communities, released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, confirms the declining trend in population growth rate in the country. While decadal growth rates are declining among all religious communities, the decline has been...

-The Indian Express 4.56 lakh girls were missing on average every year for the period 2001-12. The reason is sex-selective abortions, which though declining in number, continues in the country. Pune: Around 2.9 lakh girls were missing at birth due to sex selection in 2012, lower than the annual average of 3.3 lakh for the period 2007-12, according to data compiled under the Sample Registration System (SRS) and released by the...

The India Country Report 2015 on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comes at a time when the Union Budget 2015-16 allegedly cut expenditure on several social sector schemes and programmes. This year's MDG country report says that India will fail to achieve two important targets pertaining to reducing hunger and maternal mortality by 2015, among others. Released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the report says that India is...

-Hindustan Times Jaipur: The village is called Piplantri. It could very well be re-named ‘pi-plant-tree'. For, this village in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district celebrates the birth of a girl by planting 111 trees, a unique achievement in a state where female foeticide is rampant and the sex ratio is one of the most skewed in the country. For Piplantri, the international Women's Day on March 8 may not mean anything but for...

-Business Standard The World Bank on Wednesday expressed concern over the disturbing malnutrion of children and gender inequality in Himachal Pradesh The World Bank on Wednesday expressed concern over the disturbing malnutrion of children and gender inequality in Himachal Pradesh. Despite an impressive economic growth and reduction in poverty during the past years, the hill state needs to tackle malnutrion, falling sex ratio of girls and the challenge of looking after growing...