-The Hindu   A Central team of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has praised the implementation of various health care and nutrition schemes in Rajasthan and expressed hope that the constant decline in infant and maternal mortality rates would help improve the status of health indicators in the State. The 12-member team, divided into two sub-groups, visited Chittorgarh and Barmer districts and reviewed the progress of initiatives taken under the NRHM, mid-day...

-Express News Service   For a country making strides as an emerging economic power, gender inequality remains an area where it compares poorly with the rest of the world. India is placed 129th among 146 countries in terms of GII, or gender inequality index, far behind neighbouring Sri Lanka at 74 and lagging most other countries in the region. Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan are ranked 112, 113 and 115 in terms of this...

India's abysmal gender inequality statistics seem to have taken a turn for the worse. New data shows the country's Gender Inequality Index (GII) worsened between 2008 and 2011, and India now ranks 129 out of 146 countries on the GII, better only than Afghanistan in south Asia. On the Human Development Index (HDI), India ranks 134 out of 187 countries. When inequality is factored in, it experiences a 30% drop in...

When put in charge, women in India are better than men at providing clean water and adequate sanitation for their communities. And despite the gains women have made in the developed world, they’re still doing about as much of the housework and childcare as women in India. The World Bank’s recently released 2012 World Development Report on gender equality and development shows progress in some areas, while in others gaps in...

India has markedly improved the access of girls to education, besides bringing down fertility and infant mortality rates, but the World Development Report 2012 on ‘Gender and Development’ issued warnings on other fronts—women’s labour participation rates remain stagnant and domestic violence is alarmingly high. The report, launched on Thursday at the World Bank, also highlighted high rates of domestic abuse and their relationship to reproductive health apart from high maternal mortality...