-PTI The study says, although India is a leading producer and exporter of vaccines, the country has the greatest number of deaths among children under five, a prime reason for these deaths are delays in immunization. Washington: India is a leading producer and exporter of vaccines but two-thirds of Indian children do not receive vaccinations on time which makes them susceptible to diseases and contributes to untimely deaths, according to American...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

Although there is sufficient data and evidence available in the public domain to argue whether there has been halving of poverty between 1990 and 2015, the same cannot be said with conviction about the halving of hunger—one of the targets set under the erstwhile Millennium Development Goals framework (replaced recently by SDGs). This is because the recently released data by the National Family Health Survey-4 (conducted in 2015-16) and the...

-Frontline The new crop insurance scheme introduced by the NDA government in an election year does not provide for a comprehensive coverage of all crops, against all forms of damage and at all stages of the crop cycle. IN AN election year, it is but natural that incumbent governments will introduce welfare policies and schemes. But the problem is that distribution of such largesse in a neoliberal dispensation can only be...

-The Hindu Bengaluru: Although the 2013 District-Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-4) reveals that the maternal mortality rate in Karnataka has dropped from 178 in 2008 to 133 in 2013, Karnataka is still way behind its southern peers on maternal health. For every 1,00,000 childbirths in Karnataka, 133 mothers die, ranking the State fourth in south India and seventh in India. While Kerala tops the list, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have...