A high maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) indicates low status of women in the society apart from poor functioning of the health services delivery system. Recently released data by the Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin indicates that for the country as a whole the MMRatio has steadily declined from 398.0 in 1997-98 to 122.0 in 2015-17, which is a fall by -69.3 percent. Table-1 shows that India's MMRatio was 398.0 in 1997-98,...

-The Hindu Business Line India’s over-dependence on private players for vaccines is promoting irrational use and restricting access that leads to unacceptable fatalities The death of an eight-year-old girl, Anju, this August after denial of anti-rabies vaccine at Agra’s Sarojini Naidu Medical College (SNMC) is followed by the admission by Health Ministry that fatality rate for rabies in India is 100 per cent. Although the circumstance of Anju’s death is particularly Kafkaesque...

-Down to Earth Telangana not among top five aby more; Maharshtra, Karnataka still at top The Narendra Modi government finally released the farm sector suicide data for 2016 after three years on November 8, 2019. According to it farmers' suicide numbers has declined sharply from previous years though the number of agricultural labourers taking their lives have jumped 11 percent. The 2016 report continued to underline the country's grim Agrarian crisis. In...

-Livemint.com * Farm distress, stagnant incomes have eroded demand, shows Nielsen data * Consumption in rural areas grew at 5% in terms of value in the Sep quarter, while in urban India, the growth was 8% Rural household consumption slumped to a seven-year low in the September quarter, in a sign that the prolonged Agrarian distress and near-stagnant rural incomes have eroded demand for consumer goods, market researcher Nielsen said. Consumption of packaged consumer...

-Livemint.com * The slowdown was more pronounced in northern India * Rural India contributes 36% to overall FMCG spends New Delhi: Consumption in rural India fell to a seven-year low in the September quarter, growing at a slower pace than that witnessed in urban areas, in a sign that prolonged Agrarian distress, uneven rainfall spread, and stagnant rural incomes have hit sales of branded packaged goods, market researcher Nielsen said in its quarterly...