-The Business Standard India has to come to terms with a growing obesity problem that is rapidly becoming a crisis Obesity, an epidemic often thought to be exclusive to wealthy countries, is becoming a rapidly growing crisis for India. The National Family Health Survey of 2006 revealed that roughly one in four urban Indians was overweight or obese, and several more recent studies indicate that these numbers are increasing. A new study...

-PTI     India could add USD 7.7 billion every year to its economic productivity if its young girls are able to study and work till their 20s instead of becoming mothers at an adolescent age, according to a UN report. The United Nations Population Fund released the 'Motherhood in childhood: facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy' report which said more than 7.3 million girls in poor countries give birth each year before turning...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Against the backdrop of increasing violence against women and children across the country, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had launched the ‘Ahimsa Messenger' Programme in last August to address the critical issue at the grass roots level through creating numerous Ahimsa Messengers. The messengers would be generating awareness on basic legal rights, procedures and provisions amongst women and children; they would also serve as link...

-Associated Press London: Teen pregnancies in the developing world are declining, but more than 7 million girls under the age of 18 are still giving birth each year, according to a United Nations report released Wednesday. The UN Population Fund expressed particular alarm about the dangers facing girls 14 or younger, who account for 2 million of the 7.3 million births to women under 18 in developing countries. This group faces the...

-Rediff.com Fairs are commonplace in the festive season but in tribal West Midnapore, which falls in the erstwhile Maoist-hit Jangalmahal area, it is child marriage fairs which are drawing large crowds. Such tribal child marriage fairs are held each year during this festive season. With the decline in Maoist violence, more tribals are fearlessly participating in the fairs being held this year, according to a report by women rights Non-Governmental Organisation 'Suchetna',...