-Frontline Childhood TB has been neglected for decades, but in the past few years the WHO has begun to realise its real impact in terms of incidence, prevalence and mortality. THE number of annual new tuberculosis (TB) cases in India has been nearly 2.2 million for the past couple of years. Many of these infected people would have been in contact with children aged under five years before being diagnosed and,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: An Indian government laboratory released a formulation of salt fortified with iodine and iron for mass consumption, calling it a tool to combat anaemia and iodine deficiency, without adequate and rigorous evidence to show that it increases blood haemoglobin levels, scientists have said. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, has shared the formulation and production technology for its double fortified salt (DFS) with seven salt-producing companies, some...

-Outlook Baripada (Odisha): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched a scheme for providing financial assistance to women self-help-groups (SHG) here. One lakh SHGs have been identified to be covered under the scheme in Odisha of which Mayurbhanj district accounted for 8000. Each SHG would be provided a financial assistance of Rs 10,000 with an expenditure Rs 100 crore from the exchequer, the Chief Minister said. Stating that SHGs comprising SC, ST, BPL...

-The Business Standard But urban homelessness has increased As part of the 2011 census operations the government took a count of homeless people across the country on the night of February 28, 2011. The numbers of India's homeless population emerging from that survey were made public a few days ago. Although a single-day exercise has many advantages, some people have also contested it - at least one non-governmental organisation working in the...

-Frontline In a situation of increasing life expectancy and crumbling traditional support structures, a universal social pension scheme that does not rely on contribution by a person or an employer can help the elderly. INDIA prides itself on being a "young" society, likely to benefit from a demographic dividend as children and young people move into working age groups over the next decade. This optimistic view assumes that society will be able...