-The Hindu   Signalling an end to the practice in rural Maharashtra of naming a girl child Nakusha (unwanted), especially if the family was expecting the birth of a boy, the authorities will “rename” 266 such girls as Aishwarya (wealth) on Saturday. “The Government has identified 266 girls named Nakusha in Satara district and organised a renaming ceremony tomorrow [On Saturday],” Satara District Collector N. Ramaswami told PTI over telephone. The function has been...

-PTI   Over a half of Indian women suffer from anaemia and a higher number of Muslim infants compared to national average (in 2005-06) lived beyond their first birthday, says a report released on Friday. The "India Human Development Report 2011", prepared by the Institute of Applied Manpower research, a Planning Commission body, says there is an increasing trend of anaemia among women of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims. The report says Scheduled...

-The Hindu Business Line   Inter-state inequalities have significantly narrowed in the last decade, but nutrition and sanitation are still big concerns, says the Human Development Report 2011. The findings of the report are significant as they come a day before the full National Development Council meeting, headed by the Prime Minister, on Saturday. The report, brought out by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR) and the Planning Commission, measures the human...

Malaria is a mass killer, taking just under 800,000 lives a year. Most of them are babies and children under five. A significant number are pregnant women. It is an entirely preventable disease, caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquito bite, but the millions who live under its curse are too poor and have too few options to be able to avoid it. The malaria vaccine [ See: “Malaria vaccine partly...

The members of Bhartiya Kisan Union on Tuesday threatened to take a six-month holiday every year for 10 years from framing if the government fails to take note of the hardship faced by farmers over rising prices and acquisition of farm land for commercial activity. Rakesh Tikait of Uttar Pradesh said with increasing input costs, farmers were finding it difficult to cultivate round the year. “If the government does not pay...