The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered a probe following reports that as many as 358 children had died in Srinagar’s premier children’s hospital since January 2012. It admitted to 35 deaths having occurred in the last fortnight alone.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, “The Cabinet (which met here Wednesday) has taken a serious note of the situation in G.B. Pant Hospital.” He said Sher-i-Kashmir Instit-ute of Medical Sciences director Showkat Zargar has been asked to review functioning and report back to the Cabinet in one week.

JAIPUR: A division bench of the high court issued a showcause notice to as many as 13 mobile companies besides central and state authorities on the issue of health hazards being caused by high frequency radiations emitted by mobile towers posing serious threat to public health and safety.

The court order came on a PIL filed by a retired Judge of the Rajasthan High Court, Jusitce I S Israni and others. Counsel for Israni, Prateek Kasliwal told a division bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice N K Jain (senior), "The mobile towers are having no fixed criterion of emission of radiations and there were nine major directions given by the inter-ministerial committee in recent past but the same are also not being followed.

women working in mining or stone crushing units often give opium to their infants to keep them quiet while they are working.
JAIPUR: A report prepared by a few NGOs on child labour in Rajasthan has claimed that women working in mining or stone crushing units often give opium to their infants to keep them quiet while they are working.

JAIPUR: Jay Naidoo, chair of the GAIN Board, South Africa said 60 million children in India are malnourished, which is higher than the total population of South Africa.

Naidoo was in the city at the launch of fortified wheat flour and fortified edible oil for sale in open market. He said, "Around 60% of India's total population is living below poverty line. These people are dependant on the government. So, government plays important role in the fight against malnutrition as it passes laws, regulations and policies. These people need high quality food rich in folic acid, iron and Vitamin A."

The spectre of infant deaths continued to haunt government hospitals in West Bengal, with 19 cases reported in Malda and Bankura over the past two days. While nine infants died in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, 10 children were reported dead in the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital.

The babies who died in the Bankura hospital were “suffering from pneumonia and birth asphyxia, while some had low birth weight,” superintendent Panchanan Kundu said.

With five more babies dying at the State-run Malda Medical College and Hospital on Monday, the number of children died in the facility over the past week has reached 32.

West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan told journalists here that the State government was deeply concerned about the deaths and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was personally looking into the issue.

The death toll of infants in the last seven days has risen to 21 with five more newborn dying on Thursday in the government-run Malda Sadar Hospital here, according to acting superintendent of the hospital M.A. Rashid.

He said the cause of the death of the five new born babies, in the last 24 hours, was due to under-weight and breathing problem.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights today issued a notice to West Bengal Government on the shocking incident in Lalbag sub-divisional hospital where a woman was swabbed with acid resulting in the death of her newborn.

Sikha Bibi was admitted to the hospital in Murshidabad for a delivery on October 30 where she gave birth to a baby boy.

JAIPUR: The death of two infants in Nagaur district due to contaminated measles vaccine has shaken the medical and health department as they have decided to issue fresh guidelines for the vaccination programme in the state.