Female Infanticide in India

Five million girls were eliminated between 1986 and 2001 because of foetal sex determination done by unethical medical professionals. The rate of extermination continues to increase after census 2001.Sex determination and sex selective abortion was traced to an Amritsar clinic in 1979 and has now grown into an Rs.1000 -crore country wide industry. In recent years the misuse of ultrasound has reached remote tribal areas of Rajasthan, Bundelkhand and emerged even in parts of India where women were better treated such as Assam, Kerala and the Kashmir valley. China as of 2000 census was eliminating one million girls annually but present trends suggest that India is likely to overtake China in less than a decade. Son preference has become daughter hatred in India in the recent decades due to the widespread legitimization of this form of violence against women. In 1994 Parliament responded to the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques by enacting PNDT Act. However it was not implemented. The Supreme Court directed the government to implement the PNDT Act in May 2001.Later it was amended to make it more stringent. The health ministry has to be more proactive to stop female foeticide.The ministry surrendered one crore rupees of the meagre funds allocated to the PNDT cell in this budget year. In 2005 the health ministry released full-page advertisements calling female foeticide a sin. Converting crimes into sins is dangerous as it will only fuel further decline in sex-ratios. There are attempts by some politicians to limit abortion as a means to stop female foeticide. Such anti-women actions would endanger women's health though it may be acceptable to religious fundamentalists. Efforts of the media have certainly contributed to the increased public discourse on this issue over the years. Today reports of female fetuses found in drains or dug from dry wells or floating in lakes or eaten by dogs are headline news. There have been stories on the consequences like trafficking of women for marriage and emergence of polyandry. The government of India should set a target date by which the country will have balanced sex-ratios at birth. The coming plan needs to give a fair deal to women by abandoning fertility targets and replacing it with solid commitments to restore sex-ratio at birth. There has to be official recognition that small families are increasingly achieved by eliminating girls.

FARMERS SUICIDES
India is an Agrarian country with around 60% of its people directly or indirectly depend upon Agriculture. Agriculture in India is often attributed as gambling with Monsoon because of its almost exclusive dependency on Monsoons. The failure of these monsoons leading to series of droughts, lack of better prices, exploitation by Middlemen have been leading to series of suicides committed by farmers across India. Farmers in India became the centre of considerable concern in the 1990s when the journalist P Sainath highlighted the large number of suicides among them. Official reports initially denied the farmer suicides but as more and more information came to light the government began to accept that farmers in India were under considerable stress. On figures there was much debate since the issue was so emotive. The government tried to underplay the cases of farmer deaths, intellectual supporters of the farmers preferred to inflate them. More than 17,500 farmers a year killed themselves between 2002 and 2006, according to experts who have analyzed government statistics. Others traced the increase in farmer suicides to the early 1990s. It was said, a comprehensive all-India study is still awaited, that most suicides occurred in states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab. The situation was grim enough to force at least the Maharashtra government to set up a dedicated office to deal with farmers distress. In 2006, the state of Maharashtra, with 4,453 farmers suicides accounted for over a quarter of the allIndia total of 17,060, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB also stated that there were at least 16,196 farmers' suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132.[10] According to another study by the Bureau, while the number of farm suicides increased since 2001, the number of farmers has fallen, as thousands abandoning agriculture in distress.[11] According to government data, over 5,000 farmers committed suicide in 2005-2009 in Maharashtra, while 1,313 cases reported by Andhra Pradesh between 2005 and 2007. In Karnataka the number stood at 1,003, since 2005-06 till August 2009. In the last four years, cases in Kerala were about 905, Gujarat 387, Punjab 75 and Tamil Nadu 26.[12] In April 2009, the state of Chattisgarh reported 1,500 farmers committed suicide due to debt and crop failure.[13] At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).In the initial years when farmers distress came to attract public attention it was said[who?] that indebtedness through use of Bt Cotton were the main cause for farmers suicide. Here it is important to notice that in the context of Indian history [21] the moneylender is considered to be a particularly evil person and the farmer an unwitting subject of his machinations]. Moreover, in recent times there has been a considerable ideologically driven movement[against the use of Bt crops.Research by various investigators like Raj Patel, Nagraj, Meeta and Rajivlochan,[22] identified a variety of causes. India was transforming rapidly into a primarily urban, industrial society with industry as its main source of income; the government and society had begun to be unconcerned about the condition of the countryside; moreover, a downturn in the urban economy was pushing a large number of distressed non-farmers to try their hand at cultivation; the farmer was also caught in a Scissors Crisis; in the absence of any responsible counselling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many into a corner where suicide became an option for them Research has also pointed to a certain types of technological change as having played an instrumental role in the problem. One study from the Punjab showed dramatic misuse of agricultural chemicals in farmer households in the absence of any guidance on how to correctly use these deadly chemicals and linked it to the rise in farm suicides wherever farm chemicals were in widespread use.[24] Important research in Andhra Pradesh showed the very rapid change in seed and pesticide products to have caused "deskilling" in the cotton sector

FEMALE EDUCATION
Female education is a catch-all term for a complex of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education and health education in particular) for females. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, and its connection to the alleviation of poverty and wasps. Also involved are the issues of single-sex education and religious education, in that the division of education along gender lines, and religious teachings on education, have been traditionally dominant, and are still highly relevant in contemporary discussion of female education as a global consideration.While the feminist movement has certainly promoted the importance of the issues attached to female education, discussion is wide-ranging and by no means confined to narrow terms of reference: it includes for example AIDS.[1] Universal education, meaning state-provided primary and secondary education independent of gender, is not yet a global norm, even if it is assumed in most developed countries. In 1878, the University of Calcutta became one of the first universities to admit female graduates to its academic degree programmes, before any of the British universities had later done the same. This point was raised during the Ilbert Bill controversy in 1883, when it was being considered whether Indian judges should be given the right to judge British offenders. The role of women featured prominently in the controversy, where English women who opposed the bill argued that Bengali women, who they stereotyped as "ignorant", are neglected by their men, and that Indian men should therefore not be given the right to judge cases involving English women. Bengali women who supported the bill responded by claiming that they were more educated than the English women opposed to the bill, and pointed out that more Indian women had degrees than British women did at the time. In the Roman Catholic tradition, concern for female education has expressed itself in the foundation of religious orders, with ministries addressing the area. These include the Ursulines (1535) and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (1849).[23] A convent education is an education for girls by nuns, within a convent building. This was already being practised in England before 1275 and later become more popular in France during the seventeenth century, and thereafter spread worldwide. Contemporary convent schools are not restricted to Catholic pupils. Students in contemporary convent education may be boys (particularly in India). In the developed world, women have surpassed men at many levels of education. For example, in the United States in 2005/2006, women earned 62% of Associate's degrees, 58% of Bachelor's degrees, 60% of Master's degrees, and 50% of Doctorates. Education for women with handicaps has also improved. In 2011, Giusi Spagnolo became the first woman with Down Syndrome to graduate college in Europe (she graduated from the University of Palermo in Italy) Higher rates of high school and university education among women, particularly in developing countries, have helped them make inroads to professional careers and better-paying salaries and wages. Education increases a woman's (and her partner and the family's) level of health and health awareness. Furthering women's levels of education and advanced training also tends to lead to later ages of initiation of sexual activity and first intercourse, later age at first marriage, and later age at first childbirth (and an increased likelihood to remain single, have no children, or have no formal marriage and alternatively, have increasing levels of long-term partnerships). It can lead to higher rates of barrier and chemical contraceptive use (and a lower level of sexually transmitted infections among women and their partners and children), and can increase the level of resources available to women who divorce or are in a situation of domestic violence. It has been shown, in addition, to increase women's communication with their partners and their employers, and to improve rates of civic participation such as voting or the holding of office.

MALNUTRITION
Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients. Causes, incidence, and risk factors There are a number of causes of malnutrition. It may result from: Inadequate or unbalanced diet Problems with digestion or absorption Certain medical conditions

Malnutrition can occur if you do not eat enough food. Starvation is a form of malnutrition. You may develop malnutrition if you lack of a single vitamin in the diet. In some cases, malnutrition is very mild and causes no symptoms. However, sometimes it can be so severe that the damage done to the body is permanent, even though you survive. Malnutrition continues to be a significant problem all over the world, especially among children. Poverty, natural disasters, political problems, and war all contribute to conditions -- even epidemics -- of malnutrition and starvation, and not just in developing countries. Symptoms Symptoms vary and depend on what is causing the malnutrition. However, some general symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. Signs and tests Testing depends on the specific disorder. Most work-ups include nutritional assessments and blood work. Treatment Treatment usually consists of replacing missing nutrients, treating symptoms as needed, and treating any underlying medical condition. Expectations (prognosis) The outlook depends on the cause of the malnutrition. Most nutritional deficiencies can be corrected. However, if malnutrition is caused by a medical condition, that illness has to be treated in order to reverse the nutritional deficiency. Complications If untreated, malnutrition can lead to mental or physical disability, illness, and possibly death. Calling your health care provider Discuss the risk of malnutrition with your health care provider. Treatment is necessary if you or your child have any changes in the body's ability to function. Contact your health care provider if the following symptoms develop: Fainting Lack of menstruation Lack of growth in children Rapid hair loss