The latest UNICEF report presents a hard-hitting view of the condition of poor children in urban areas.

Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh.
IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children died this year. These are deaths that occurred in hospitals and hence were reported; the actual toll could be far higher.

The rates of maternal and infant mortality have improved only marginally, according to the latest Sample Registration System.

Haryana records the lowest adult sex ratio in the country, and its Jhajjar district has the worst adult and child sex ratios.
THE results of the provisional Census revealed that Haryana as a whole registered the lowest adult sex ratio in the country and also had the lowest child sex ratio (CSR).

A Human Rights Watch report emphasises the need for a system of recording and investigating all maternal deaths.
A scene inside the Government Maternity Hospital in Kothi, Andhra Pradesh. In this file photograph, two lactating mothers, with their babies, are seen sharing the same bed. The lack of proper post-natal care often proves fatal.

In India, the ILO report says, casual workers earn 45 per cent less than regular workers.

THE efforts of a Geneva-based organisation called Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to set up an infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) alliance in India have raised the hackles of groups involved in the promotion of breastfeeding and child and infant survival.

A CAG report on health services in four major Delhi hospitals reveals the plight of the urban poor.

In a slum in New Delhi. With more agrarian distress and fewer employment opportunities in rural areas, the population of the urban poor will only grow.