-Down to Earth RTI reponse of Union health ministry shows states with better health track record have reported higher number of vaccine deaths How accurate is the enumeration of deaths caused by the five-in-one pentavalent vaccine in India? Reports from different states show information about adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is not very reliable. It would be difficult to reach any conclusion about the efficacy of the vaccine on the basis of...

-The Hindustan Times punjab: Having seen my uncle hard at work in a farm and his decision to quit school to till land, I have often felt that popular imagination tends to see farming as an esoteric profession and food production as something that will somehow magically take care of itself. A young man/woman (who has had secondary education) seems to consider agriculture as far too back-breaking and tedious to be taken...

-The Hindustan Times A "progressive punjab agriculture summit", scheduled in SAS Nagar from February 16 to 19 is a welcome step. The event comes close on the heels of an earlier summit on industry. Together, agriculture and industry form a strong fulcrum for punjab's economic growth and prosperity. However, at present, both are in a grip of crisis; and perhaps unable to face the future challenges/opportunities on their own. It calls for...

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Probably, this can be said about the ‘Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2012', which carries the latest figures on the social sector by far. The report has provided some interesting trends in child mortality indicators for India and its bigger states during 2012 (see the links below). It says that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which have consistently...

-Outlook Thane: As much as 1,94,502 metric tonnes of food grain worth crores of rupees was wasted in India due to various reasons between 2005 and March 2013. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has given this information in reply to an RTI query sought by a city-based activist Om Prakash Sharma. He had filed an RTI query last month and sought information about the food grain wastage in India, which he got...