-PTI     India could add USD 7.7 billion every year to its economic productivity if its young girls are able to study and work till their 20s instead of becoming mothers at an adolescent age, according to a UN report. The United Nations Population Fund released the 'Motherhood in childhood: facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy' report which said more than 7.3 million girls in poor countries give birth each year before turning...

-Associated Press London: Teen pregnancies in the developing world are declining, but more than 7 million girls under the age of 18 are still giving birth each year, according to a United Nations report released Wednesday. The UN Population Fund expressed particular alarm about the dangers facing girls 14 or younger, who account for 2 million of the 7.3 million births to women under 18 in developing countries. This group faces the...

-Rediff.com Fairs are commonplace in the festive season but in tribal West Midnapore, which falls in the erstwhile Maoist-hit Jangalmahal area, it is child marriage fairs which are drawing large crowds. Such tribal child marriage fairs are held each year during this festive season. With the decline in Maoist violence, more tribals are fearlessly participating in the fairs being held this year, according to a report by women rights Non-Governmental Organisation 'Suchetna',...

-The Times of India LONDON: India, the world's child marriage capital, has once again failed its under-age brides. The country has refused to sign the first-ever global resolution on early and forced marriage of children led by the UN. The resolution was supported by a cross-regional group of over 107 countries, including almost all countries with high rates of child marriage-Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Guatemala, Honduras and Yemen. The resolution floated by...

-Governance Now The UNESCO report, which points at a direct link between quality education for women and lower child mortality rates, will be released in early 2014 As India has one of the world's highest child mortality rates, the latest UN study says that rate would have been down by three-fifths had women in the country completed secondary education. "If all women in India had completed secondary education, the under-five mortality rate would...