-Reuters   After Indians migrate from rural to urban areas, the longer they live in a city the worse they score on measures of cardiac health and diabetes risk compared to those who remained in rural areas, according to an Indian study. Body fat, blood pressure and fasting insulin levels -- a measure of diabetes risk - all increased within a decade of moving to a city, and for decades after, blood...

The University Grants Commission has set up four committees to review educational development schemes for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities and women, the relook prompted by statistics that show the measures haven’t been all that effective. While the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education for all categories in 2007-08 was 13.58, the corresponding percentage for SCs was 11.62 and for STs 9.86 per cent, according to HRD ministry figures for...

Rural households having a member earning more than Rs 10,000 a month or anyone serving in a government or government-aided organisation or owning a landline phone will not be included in the below poverty line (BPL) category in the new poverty census being conducted by states. However, the new census, which also includes questions about religion and castes, will compulsory include rural households without shelter, destitutes living on alms, manual scavengers,...

Indian women don't believe in donating blood. According to the first ever data bank on gender distribution of blood donors, India has among the lowest number of female blood donors in the world. Compiled by the World Health Organisation, the data bank says that of the 4.6 million donations in 2008, only 6% donations were by women. The rest 94% were male donors. There were only 13 countries including India among the...

Obituaries for the PDS system are a bit premature, based as they are on outdated data and presumptions. Despite flaws like pilfering and leakages, the system shows signs of improvement in certain states. States have demonstrated the political will to invest in the PDS, by putting in state resources to make it work. Cash transfers (CTs) are increasingly advocated as an alternative to the Public Distribution System (PDS). The proponents of...