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Demographic debates in the decades following the 1960s have shaped much of the discourse on population ageing across the world. This paper traces these discourses and research agendas that led to the understanding of demographic transitions in the developed and developing world. The policies were mostly articulated by demographers from the US and ageing was seen more as a challenge for the West. The questions addressed in this paper are that apart from the predictable and unchanging vulnerabilities of ageing voiced earlier by anthropologists and social workers in the 1940–1950s, what were the new risks being articulated by development experts? Once a diffused 'world' agenda was articulated and largely left adrift without resources, what were its afterlives? How did experts in various parts of the world redeploy the global ageing agenda and plan to assert various other alignments? Where did China and India figure in this? The paper locates the debates on India and China in the afterlives of the World Assembly on Ageing held in Vienna in 1982. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute malnutrition is linked to child mortality and morbidity. Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programs can be instrumental in large-scale detection and treatment of undernutrition. The World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 weight-for-height/length tables are diagnostic tools available to screen for acute malnutrition. Frontline workers (FWs) in a CMAM program in Dharavi, Mumbai, were using CommCare, a mobile application, for monitoring and case management of children in combination with the paper-based WHO simplified tables. A strategy was undertaken to digitize the WHO tables into the CommCare application.Objective: To measure differences in diagnostic accuracy in community-based screening for acute malnutrition, by FWs, using a mobile-based solution.Methods: Twenty-seven FWs initially used the paper-based tables and then switched to an updated mobile application that included a nutritional grade calculator. Human error rates specifically associated with grade classification were calculated by comparison of the grade assigned by the FW to the grade each child should have received based on the same WHO tables. Cohen kappa coefficient, sensitivity and specificity rates were also calculated and compared for paper-based grade assignments and calculator grade assignments.Results: Comparing FWs (N = 14) who completed at least 40 screenings without and 40 with the calculator, the error rates were 5.5% and 0.7%, respectively (p < .0001). Interrater reliability (κ) increased to an almost perfect level (>.90), from .79 to .97, after switching to the mobile calculator. Sensitivity and specificity also improved significantly.Conclusion: The mobile calculator significantly reduces an important component of human error in using the WHO tables to assess acute malnutrition at the community level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses changes in perception among world population on climate change focusing on environmental disruptions. Climate change and it's impacts on Zimbabwe's socio-economic sectors and farmer's dependence on rainfall and temperature dynamics is discussed. Topics include droughts and floods in Turkey, impacts of agriculture on Turkish economy, and agricultural productivity losses in India. Also discusses is high population density in Bangladesh and urban expansion in Latin America.

Migration to India has been one of the key livelihood strategies amongst marginal households in the middle hills of Nepal. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in western and far-western hill villages in Nepal, including tracing the experience of young men who take on adult responsibility to travel to find work opportunities in Mumbai and Nainital in India, this article discusses how the steady flow of marginal migrants from the middle hills is shaped and sustained by gendered and generational considerations. An intriguing aspect of young migrants’ lives in India is their participation in consumption of modern commodities despite their marginal position and difficult working condition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Very early onset schizophrenia (VEOS) has been rarely reported in children before six years [1, 2]. The diagnosis of VEOS is often missed or delayed due to the variability in its clinical presentation. The authors report a case of VEOS in which the symptoms of psychosis developed at 5 years of age. We also discuss the varied clinical features, differential diagnosis, diagnostic and treatment processes and follow-up of this particular case. This report aims to highlight the fact that schizophrenia can occur at such an early age, the variability in its clinical presentation and adds to the limited literature on VEOS in the Indian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is a description of the apparent cross-purposes at which certain limbs of the Indian government, specifically the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke (NPDCS), seem to be functioning: Some of the workings of the PDS contribute to poor health and non-communicable diseases, while the NPDCS endeavours to control non-communicable diseases. The lacunae and setbacks in public health engendered by the non-convergence of the goals of programmes geared to assure nutritional security and disease prevention are discussed. The ramifications of national policies on the conservation of local culture are alluded to. Faced as India is with multiple challenges of population health, piecemeal approaches such as ad hoc subsidies and policies that skew health behaviours will not answer. It is vital for a holistic view of the country’s problems and potential to be taken, and for this process to begin with the steering of all the government’s policies to the achievement of shared goals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increasing population, poverty and low status of socio-economic development have put more pressure on available resources in India. It has also posed several policy implications, in which the basic need of healthcare provision is one of the prime administrative tasks for the respective state governments in India. Higher proportion of child and elderly population in total, and the resultant higher dependency ratio in a particular area/region, will necessitate a commensurate increase in public healthcare facilities and hence higher monetary allocation. If a province has comparatively higher fertility rate it would necessitate higher allocation for maternal and child healthcare services. In this paper an attempt is made to examine the relationship between dependency ratio and healthcare expenditure (medical, public health and family welfare), as well as the proportion of healthcare expenditure in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in select four southern states of India. The analysis is based on available secondary data for various years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The population census is probably the most prolific and fundamental source of information (Datta, 2011) about a nation, providing data on population, employment, labour force, age distribution, fertility, mortality and migration. In India census is the main source of data on migration. The other sources providing migration information are Bureau of Immigration, Protector General of Emigrants (Ministry of Labour), Ministry Of External Affairs, and National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). All these sources have their own method of data collection and limitation too. This present study is devoted to focus on scope and limitation of migration data obtained from Indian census only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides examining the gigantic nature of works carried out by the census operators at various levels, the paper also attempts to analyze the course of development of census operation in the country during the last one hundred and fifty years. The evolutionary course of census in india has been discussed in the paper under four phases. viz. the Formative, the Constructive, the Emprical and the Development phases. Though the seeds of census operation in india were sown by the British during the mid-19th century, but it should not be considered that we have been just carrying on the colonial legacy; instead, during the last six decades census of india has markedly undergone certain changes. During the initial decades after independence, it was also influenced by the concepts of some American anthropologists, and gradually, by introducing new elements in census operation, Census of india has been establishing its own identity. Role of anthropology is increasingly realized in census today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Malabar population is an amalgam of various religious communities sharing the same rich cultural heritage, tradition and language. Soft tissue cephalometric norms of Indians exhibit considerable variability and differ from inhabitants of one state to another in India. No soft tissue study has been conducted for the Malabar population of Northern Kerala. The aim of this study is to formulate soft tissue norms for the population of this area. Materials and methods: Subjects in the age group of 18 to 28 years were checked for their cephalometric parameters. These measurements were then compared with the normal values of the Caucasian population. Statistical comparisons were made using students 't' -test. p value <0.05 was set as statistically significant. Results: Malabar population has a protrusive profile when compared to the Caucasian population as indicated by an increase in the values of lower lip to H-line, skeletal convexity, upper and lower lip to the Ricketts-E plane and H angle. The lip protrusion that is present was found to be acceptable because of the prominent nose and chin. Conclusion: When planning treatment for the Malabar population, it is not always necessary to have an orthognathic profile in mind. A slightly protrusive profile may sometimes be more acceptable when compared to the Caucasian population. Clinical significance: Planning for facial esthetics is both a science and an art, which requires clinical capability, right judgment and skill to evaluate the esthetic needs of an individual. This study will serve to highlight the fact that beauty of the face encompasses all of its segments in harmony; however, interracial characteristics differ in harmonious relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yet rural in nature, Asia is proceeding with a wide-ranging scale and fast pace of urbanization, resulting in accelerated economic growth. This article attempts a comparison on urbanization of six largest Asian countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Among these countries, urban transition is underway in China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which are also on track to mature as middle-income countries. India and Pakistan will soon graduate from low-income to lower-middle income countries, reaching the platform for faster urbanization with consequent economic growth. Regardless of the level of urbanization across countries, cities generate four-fifths of national income and the prominence of cities in generating country's national income is escalating. Still, urbanization primarily takes place through the development of large cities with surrounding industrial zones. Large cities will continue to play a significant role in absorbing future anticipated growth, but a decrease of growth rates in large cities is expected. Most of future city growth will occur in medium- and small-sized cities where existing coverage of basic public services is grossly inadequate, that entails greater concentration of power, investment, and services. To maximize the benefits of urbanization, countries need to judiciously plan the course of future urbanization--whether it should be a concentrated growth, a balanced growth, or a distributed growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise pollution, an urban territorial phenomenon, is assuming serious proportions in Delhi, the third largest urban centre of India. The frequency and intensity of pollution has been increasing day by day. The present study reviews the data on sources, intensity and health implications of pollutants collected through household survey using questionnaires from two contrasting density areas; one from high-density area and another from low-density area. The analysis reveals that tremendous increase in population, industrial activities, unchecked growth in vehicular traffic and rapidly changing life style are the major factors that have created and aggravated the problem of pollution in the study area. The major health implications include annoyance, disturbance in sleep, interference with communication and other harmful effects. With the help of regression analysis, the cause and effect relationship between the intensity of pollution and occurrence of diseases among sampled households of Delhi has been established by this study. Some suggestions such as land use and transportation planning are also given in this paper for mitigating and managing the noise pollution problem in the sustainable urban development perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitions and indicators play an important role in determining success. In the context of the Millennium Development Goals, the global target of reducing the proportion of population without access to improved sources of water is expected to be met. A major contributor to success is India, where the proportion of population with access to water has increased from 68% in 1990 to 86% in 2002. However, micro-level evidence does not necessarily tally with the national picture of "tremendous progress." This article attempts to probe deeper into access to water supply in India and draw important policy implications based on a brief institutional mapping of water supply, a critical analysis of national water policies, and a detailed case study of Chennai. This analysis highlights that issues of inequality, quality, and affordability are important in terms of access for the poor. An alternative entitlements-based indicator is proposed and some important challenges considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central problematic of this essay, the process of caste identity formation, is explored here with a focus on the fishing and riverfaring group of castes, the Mallah or Nishad, of the Bhojpuri-speaking region in eastern UP and Bihar. The process is analysed with reference to different sources of information, both colonial and post-colonial, which include the census, the system of scheduling whereby the Mallah/Nishad was labelled as both a criminal tribe and a backward caste, and finally, through yokes from within the community. The essay is concerned with both the emergence of the Nishad identity as a result of and in reaction to the interventions of the colonial state and with the effects of the latter on identity-formation in the post-colonial era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of caste in Gujarat, India. Hindu society is usually described as divided into a number of castes the boundaries of which are maintained by the rule of caste endogamy. There is enormous literature on these caste divisions from about the middle of the nineteenth century. The census operations in particular, spread as they were over large areas, gave a great impetus to writings, which has been called the horizontal dimension of caste. What may be called the census approach influenced a great deal of scholarly work. Census officials turned-scholars, has written many of the earlier general works on caste. With the exclusion of caste from the census since 1951 practically since 1941, because the census of that year did not result in much reporting, writings on castes as horizontal units greatly declined. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. Typically, a village consists of the sections of various castes, ranging from those with just one household to those with over a hundred Village studies, as far as caste is a part of them, have been, therefore, concerned with the interrelations between sections of various castes in the local context.

The article presents primary and secondary characteristics in peasant politics at the micro-level in an Indian constituency. This paper has two purposes. The first is to examine the classic ascription-achievement dichotomy in the context of elections in an Indian constituency. The relationships between primary and secondary population characteristics and voting are analyzed over three elections in the 1960s, using as the unit of analysis the polling booth, an area comprising on the average about 900 voters. The second purpose is to illustrate a number of methods of performing aggregate data analysis at the micro-level in the hope that they will be of interest to other scholars concerned with ecological analysis in South Asia and that they will invite others to offer alternate and more effective methods of studying these phenomena. In between the village and higher levels lies the arena most central to Indian electoral behaviour, that of the Constituency of the Member of the Legislative Assembly.

This article discusses the processes of regional balance in relation to social ecology. There are two and only two areas on the surface of the earth, China and India, which deserve comparison with Europe in so far as they support a denser population by intensive agriculture. China and India together constitute nearly 36 per cent of the world's population and yet in these regions the proportion of cultivable land to total area is smaller than in Europe. The greater the density in rural areas, the closer and more stable is the adjustment of the arts of living to natural conditions. In the crowded regions of the industrial west, the conditions of living equilibrium are maintained by the importation of food from abroad and export of manufactured goods which buy food. As a basic principle the appropriate natural region for intensive studies in social ecology are those wherein the environment operating for a long time has developed a stable bio-economic balance. Further, agricultural research indicates that there is a limitation in the improvement of crops by plant breeding and that limitation depends upon the indigenous farming practice. Similarly, the indigenous agricultural practices differ strikingly from region to region even with reference to the same crop.

Epidemiological data of HIV affected individuals of aged 50 years and above in India are lacking for various reasons. Diagnosing HIV infection among the elderly is challenging as chronic HIV/AIDS can mimic those typically associated with aging in parallel to the myth that elderly individuals lead asexual lives. In this study, low-literate, poor, urban men were the major group. The most common presentation at diagnosis was frailty or unexpected weight loss and neurocognitive impairment, whereas the incidence of TB was much less. Policy makers and social workers should be aware of this descriptive analysis in order to address the emerging issue of HIV among geriatrics and to create a broader awareness programme and more liberal HIV testing among this group. This study also highlights the need for a larger population based study involving elderly HIV infected persons in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the projected population explosion in Kerala, India. The author points out the misconception to regard population control programs as purely a medical problem. The article provides an excerpt from J.K. Galbraith's book "The Culture of Contentment," which describes how American society has changed from one in which the economically and socially fortunate were a minority.

Pachymeningitis is a rare disease of diverse etiology mainly affecting the adult population. Only 4 pediatric cases have been reported till now. We report the youngest child with pachymeningitis from India. Our case responded very well to antitubercular therapy with near complete recovery. Antitubercular therapy can be considered in children from endemic countries with hypertrophic pachymeningitis before labeling their condition as idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]