From the bed of an intensive care unit, Samavedam Sriramachari today recalled his two decades of research that helped demystify the poison gas which caused the worst chemical disaster in human history. The Indian pathologist, who helped the world fathom how the methyl isocyanate gas that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal 25 years ago killed and harmed thousands of people, is now himself fighting a lung disease probably...

KEY TRENDS  • The eight leading cause-groups of deaths in 2008 based on Medical Certification of Cause of Death are: 1. Diseases of the Circulatory System; 2. Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases; 3. Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes; 4. Diseases of the Respiratory System; 5. Certain Conditions Originating in the Perinatal Period; 6. Neoplasm (C00-D48); 7. Endocrine, Nutritional, Metabolic Diseases; and 8. Symptoms, Sign and Abnormal Clinical...

KEY TRENDS    • The 2019 India TB report says that the country accounted for a quarter of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden with an estimated 27 lakh cases in 2018. In 2018, the country was able to achieve a total notification of 21.5 lakh TB cases, of which 25 percent was from private sector. Majority of the TB burden is among the working age group. Nearly 89 percent of TB cases came from the age group 15-69 years....

KEY TRENDS    • Extreme temperature shocks reduce farmer incomes by 4.3 percent and 4.1 percent during kharif and rabi respectively, whereas extreme rainfall shocks reduce incomes by 13.7 percent and 5.5 percent *&    • It is estimated that to cover 50 percent (5 million ha) of the total acreage under rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) in India, about 60000 Turbo Happy Seeders and 30000 super SMS fitted combines will be required; at present, there are only about 3000...