Daily News Mail - News of 08/02/2015

India records drop in fertility but maternal mortality is still high

• India, which have latest figure of maternal mortality ratio around 178 in 2010-12, is unlikely to meet the target of fifth Millenium Development Goals(MDG-5) of reducing maternal mortality to 109 per 1,00,000 live births by 2015, is however, confident of meeting the target for lowering the total fertility rate (TFR) by the end of the 12th Plan.
• A reduction in the TFR rates in nine of the 11 high-focus States has given Health Ministry officials reason to believe that the family planning programmes are on the right track.
• “The goal for maternal mortality rate may or may not be achieved by December 31, 2015, even though India has shown a reasonable decline in the numbers, but as far as TFR goes, we are on track to achieve the targets set for the 12th Five Year Plan which ends in 2017,” a senior official of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry said.
• India hopes to bring down the TFR to 2.1 by the end of 2017 with nine of the 11 high-focus States registering a decline of 0.05 per cent. As per the data collected by the Ministry, 24 States and Union Territories have already achieved the replacement fertility level of 2.1 or less.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Mizoram and Punjab already have a TFR of less than 2.0; only Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have a higher TFR of 3.1 and 3.3 respectively.

What is Maternal Mortality Ratio?

Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births.

YouTube blocked indefinitely in Pakistan

• YouTube will remain blocked in Pakistan ‘indefinitely as experts have failed to find a way to filter content deemed offensive and blasphemous in the Muslim majority country.
• The video-sharing website has been blocked in Pakistan since September 2012 over its hosting of the “Innocence of Muslims” movie that sparked furious protests around the world.
• The Supreme Court ruled at the time that the site should be banned until a way was found to block all so-called blasphemous content.

Ambassador of Cricket World Cup, 2015 - Sachin Tendulkar