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Though India and China jointly share one-third of the burden of mental illness, the nature of it differs, a Lancet study published on Thursday said. While, India showed similarities with other developing countries on this count, China resembled developed countries. The study finds that the burden is going to increase considerably in the coming years. It says, “The burden of mental, neurological, and substance-use disorders is estimated to increase by 10 per cent in China and 23 per cent in India between 2013 and 2025.” The overall population growth in India explains a greater proportion of the increase in mental, neurological and substance-use disorder burden, the study adds. Not so serious threat for China, India The research paper highlights that the nature of mental illness prevailing in these two countries are not severe. As per the study, common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety account for a greater proportion of mental, neurological and substance-use disor...

Nine out of every ten children within the age-group of 6–23 months in Bihar and Jharkhand do not get adequate diet, as the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4, 2015-16) data highlights. In a series of startling revelations, the nutrition and health status of children in the two states are found to remain critically low in comparison to the national standard, even though the trend recorded some welcome improvement compared to that of the previous NFHS data published almost a decade ago. Only 7.5 per cent of children in Bihar and 7.2 per cent of children in Jharkhand within the age group of 6–23 months receive adequate diet, whereas in states like Tamilnadu the situation is comparatively better as the figure stands at 31 per cent, according to the trend analysis done by CRY–Child Rights and You, based on the latest NFHS findings. Undernutrition in children linked to poor maternal health Malnourishment in early years is directly linked to maternal health. Provision of qual...

If our commitments are honest, India and Bangladesh can achieve many things that are beneficial to our people Maintenance of good relations with the neighbours; friendship to all, malice to none is the policy I pursue throughout my life. My only desire in my political thought is to build a society for common people where none will suffer from the curse of poverty while their basic needs will be met. In other words, they will get the opportunity to have the right to food, clothing, shelter, medicare, education, improved livelihood and a decent life. I received the teaching of such sacrifice from my father. My father, Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, did his politics with a motto to change the lot of the people. Wherever there was an injustice, he would protest it. This was the policy of Bangabandhu and he was always vocal for establishing the rights of the people. And, for that reason, he had to embrace imprisonment time and again and endure persecution. But...

 man has been murdered by cow vigilantes. The murderers must be brought to book The death of a man from injuries at the hands of “cow protection” vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district rightly animated Parliament. The details of the violence inflicted by a mob on Saturday are chilling and vividly caught on mobile phone video, and demand an assurance from the government that justice will be done. It is unfortunate that as the opposition raised the issue, the response from the treasury benches was anything but satisfactory. In fact, coupled with comments from spokespersons of the BJP and even the Rajasthan Home Minister, the message from the authorities indicates that an outrageous equivalence is being sought to be made between the lynch mob’s actions and the victims’ alleged — simply “alleged” — actions. The facts are these. Pehlu Khan, the deceased, and four others were on their way back to Haryana after buying cattle in Jaipur. A mob set itself upon them in Behror on the Jaip...

The Centre must pay heed to Governor Urjit Patel’s plainspeak The central bank was not expected to tinker with key policy rates in its first monetary policy review of 2017-18 unveiled on Thursday, following its decision to shift from an accommodative to a neutral monetary policy stance in February. The Monetary Policy Committee chaired by Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has, in fact, decided to raise the rate at which the central bank borrows funds from banks (the reverse repo rate) by 25 basis points, from 5.75% to 6%, while leaving other policy rates untouched. This marginal change is aimed at sucking out from the system excess liquidity that remains a lingering concern, despite coming off its peak in the aftermath of the demonetisation exercise. The RBI has also proposed a new liquidity management tool that awaits government approval, making the draining of surplus liquidity a critical priority all through this year. The efficacy of the RBI’s liquidity management toolk...