KEY TRENDS   • According to National Sample Survey report no. 583: Persons with Disabilities in India, the percentage of persons with disability who received aid/help from Government was 21.8 percent, 1.8 percent received aid/help from organisation other than Government and another 76.4 percent did not receive aid/ help *8   • As per National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), the Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR) was 57.2 per 1,000 live births (for the non-STs it was 38.5)...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi might be wanting to encash 'brand Gujarat' in 2014, but the state he rules still prohibits information under the RTI, which can check corruption to a great extent. In 2011-12, the Gujarat Information Commissioner received 5,224 complaints and appeals, of which 2,699 were disposed off - the disposal rate was 51.66 per cent. Of the 5,224 applications, 70 per cent were appeals. The report tabled in...

-The Hindu     Enhancing the basket of contraceptive choices can reduce maternal mortality rate, says a family planning review Family planning has made a silent comeback in the national discourses. This time, focussing more on concomitant improvement in the health of the people rather than limiting the number of children. India had changed its strategy on family planning in 2010 with the other developing countries from that of merely reducing population to that of...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Only three institutes in the country, all of them Indian Institutes of Technology, feature among the top 100 universities in Asia, according to the first Asia University Rankings released by "Times Higher Education" magazine. While IIT-Kharagpur is ranked 30th, IIT-Bombay is 33rd and IIT-Roorkee 56th, the University of Tokyo secured the pole position with an overall score of 78.3, followed by the National University of Singapore...

-Tehelka With 65 percent of the population below the age of 35, India boasts of an unparalleled generational dividend, but are we turning this potential into a disaster? Avalok Langer spots a ticking time bomb Nutrition & Health* 40% of children in India are malnourished 43% of children in the age group of 12-23 months receive full immunisation 48%+ of children are underweight 50%+ of all deaths under age 5 are related to malnutrition 45% of children...