In India, 96.5% kids go to school: Survey

NEW DELHI: India took another step towards universal elementary education last year, with 96.5% of all children aged 6-14 years being enrolled in schools, an extensive private audit has revealed. NGO Pratham`s Annual Survey of Education Report says the proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 years too increased to 94.1% although quality of education remained a big concern.

The survey, the only private audit of elementary education in the country, found an increase of half a percentage point in enrolment over 2009. But it said there was an overall decline in students` ability to do basic mathematics and only 53.4% of children in Class V could read Class II level textbooks.

Teacher attendance also showed consistent decline which could be one of reasons for a big increase in enrolment in private schools and tuitions. Bucking the trend was Punjab, where students showed an exceptional improvement in mathematical ability.

Overall, Bihar emerged as a star performer with steady improvement in enrolment. Enrolment of boys in the state was 95.6% and that of girls 95.4%. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls in Bihar were out of school.

Among states continuing to return poor numbers in girl`s education, Rajasthan had 12.1% girls aged 11-14 years out of school and Uttar Pradesh 9.7%. In both states, there has been no change in the percentage of out-of-school girls.

The survey conducted in all the districts of the country shows a large number of schools in the country fulfilling norms laid down in the Right to Education Act.

At the same time, the report showed a big increase in enrolments in private schools — from 21.8% of all school-going children in 2009 to 24.3% last year. The trend has been holding since 2005. Southern states have more students going to private schools. In Andhra Pradesh, enrolment increased from 29.7% in 2009 to 36.1% while in Tamil Nadu it jumped from 19.7% to 25.1%. Kerala had 54.2% of children in private schools, up from 51.5% last year, and Karnataka 20% (16.8% in 2009).

Among northern states, enrolment in private schools grew rapidly in Punjab — from 30.5% in 2009 to 38% in 2010.

Mathematics proved to be a big bugbear for students across the country. The proportion of Class I students who could recognize numbers fell from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8%. Barely 36.5% of Class III students could handle two-digit subtraction problems, as compared to 39% in 2009. The proportion of children in Class V who could do simple division dropped from 38% to 35.9%.

Notably, Punjab bucked the trend. While 56.3% of students in Class II in the state could recognize numbers one to 100 in 2008, the figure jumped to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Class IV children who could do subtraction went up from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4%.

In Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, there was a perceptible rise in the proportion of children studying in Class I who could recognize letters.

West Bengal led in private tuitions with the survey showing more than 75% of Class V students in government schools going to private tutors. In Bihar, the proportion was 55.5% and in Orissa, 49.9%.

A positive feature of the report was the increasing number of five-year-olds in school. Nationally, it increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8%. Karnataka emerged as an big achiever on this score with enrolment of five-year-olds jumping from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6% in 2010. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Assam also showed healthy increases in enrolment.

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Malaria vaccine a reality by 2015?

NEW DELHI: A malaria vaccine could be a reality by 2015. The most promising candidate now showing that it can protect children for 15 months.

The efficacy of the vaccine, whose phase-II trial results have just been published in the British medical journal " The Lancet", reduced from 53% for eight months (during the phase-I study in 2008) to 46% when it protected for 15 months.

Indian experts, however, claim that for a vaccine to be effective in the field, it has to give protection of over 75%. "At present, long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets give 60% protection, and it's per capital cost is very low. Hence, a vaccine has to be at least 75% effective," a vector borne disease control programme expert said.

The vaccine (RTS,S/AS01E) worked by attacking the malaria parasite in its early stages, when it first enters the bloodstream or liver cells, with the aim of completely preventing infection of red blood cells and the development of serious symptoms.

The latest study was established to assess the safety and efficacy of the vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum infection among healthy African children. Between March 2007 and October 2008, 894 children aged 5-17 months from Kenya and Tanzania were randomly assigned to three doses of either RTS,S/AS01E (447 children) or rabies vaccine (447). Blood samples were taken before vaccination, and at regular intervals.

During the phase-I study in 2008, initial results showed that the RTS,S/AS01E vaccine gave 53% protection against clinical malaria for at least eight months. In this study, the Kenya Medical Research Institute followed up the children for a further seven months

In the longer-term, the efficacy of the vaccine did not wane and protection against clinical malaria lasted for at least 15 months after vaccination.

Studies revealed children vaccinated with RTS,S/AS01E were 45.8% less likely to be infected with the P falciparum parasite. Frequent serious adverse events included pneumonia, febrile convulsion and gasteroenteritis.

However, fewer serious adverse events were reported in the RTS,S/AS01E group (11.4%) than in the rabies group (19.7%).

The authors maintain, "further studies are needed to establish vaccine efficacy in children with HIV infection or those who are malnourished. Furthermore, phase III studies should include study sites at different transmission intensities to confirm how generalisable our results are."

Late-stage trials of this vaccine among 16,000 children in seven countries across Africa are on, and immunisation is due to end in February. If data show the vaccine is effective, it could be licensed and rolled out in 2015.

Globally, around 300 million people become infected with malaria annually, and at least 2.5 million succumb to it -- primarily children in Africa and Asia. A child is killed by malaria every 30 seconds around the world. In India, on an average, five lakh people are affected and over 18,000 die of malaria. In some countries with a very heavy malaria burden, the disease accounts for as much as 40% of public health expenditure. Almost 60% of malaria cases occur among the poorest 20% of the world's population.

Malaria remains a major health problem in south-east Asia, and 83% of its population is at risk.

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104 killed in Sabarimala stampede, 50 injured

VANDIPERIYAR, KERALA: At least 104 Sabarimala devotees were killed and over 40 injured in a stampede when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala's Idukki district, in the worst tragedy to strike the worshippers of the famed shrine in a decade.

Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the toll in the stampede that took place last night has climbed to 104.

"The pilgrims were coming to catch a bus when there was a stampede at Pulmedu. This resulted in the death of 104 people, while more than 40 were injured," Balakrishnan, who is in Kolkata for the CPI(M) politburo meeting, told reporters.

Out of the dead, only 54 have been identified so far and they belong to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

"The inquest and post-mortem will be done today of the identified bodies," the minister said.

State DGP Jacob Punnoose said over 50 bodies have been identified so far. They are mostly from the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said. Eighteen of the dead hailed from Tamil Nadu, 12 from Karnataka and two each from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the death of the pilgrims.

Singh sanctioned a relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in the stampede and Rs 50,000 to those injured from the Prime Minister's relief fund.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi also expresses her deep anguish and shock over the tragedy in Sabarimala.

Most of the victims who perished were from Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. They were returning home through the forest route after the Makarajyoti darshan, considered a celestial phenomenon, at the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa.

The tragedy occurred at Pulmedu in Vandiperiyar when a jeep carrying pilgrims ploughed into a crowd and overturned, killing some on the spot and triggering the stampede, rescuers said.

Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan, who has called an emergency meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss rescue operations, said the Prime Minister has assured the state all help.

"The Kerala government has decided to compensate all those who lost their families. We have also set up a special team and the collector is monitoring rescue operations in Sabarimala. A probe will also be constituted to find out the cause of the incident," he said.

The state government has also declared a three-day mourning.

Kerala finance minister T M Thomas Issac said a crime branch probe would be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of the tragedy.

Aneesh, one of the early rescuers to reach the spot, said the mishap was caused by the jeep which ran into the crowd and turned turtle.

While some people who got trapped under the jeep died, it also set off a wave of panic, triggering a stampede as thousands of pilgrims had converged at Pulmedu area, used mostly by devotees from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for returning home after darshan, he said.

I have never seen such a huge crowd at Pulmedu in my life. The flow of pilgrims returning was much more than anybody's expectations", Aneesh, who hails from the area, said.

The two-month long pilgrimage which began in mid-November was, by and large, incident-free till last night.

Over 30 million devotees had visited the shrine during the season.

Ten years ago, a stampede at Pampa on way to the hill shrine killed 50 people on the occasion of Makar Jyoti.

Defence minister A K Antony has offered the Kerala government all help from defence forces for rescue operations.

A special team of the National Disaster Response Force is at the spot. A helpline number - 04869222049 - has been set up to help the families of the victims.

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Sensex dips below 19k level on interest rate concerns

STAFF WRITER 15:4 HRS IST

Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) BSE benchmark Sensex today dipped below crucial 19,000 points level for the first time in two months in pre-close selling today, spiked by concerns that RBI may hike key interest rates to tame inflation.

After a weak start, the Sensex tumbled 289.81 points down to 18,893.01 points at 1445 hrs, a level last seen on November 26, 2010.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 91.15 points to 5,660.75 level, with a notable fall in interest-sensitive stocks of realty, auto and banking sectors.

The inflation shot up to 8.43 per cent in December, from 7.48 per cent in the previous month, as prices of certain food and non-food items continued to show an upward trend.

Food inflation unacceptably high; FM meet on Jan 19

STAFF WRITER 12:53 HRS IST

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Terming food inflation as unacceptably high, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said he will meet his state counterparts on January 19 to discuss ways to rein in the rising food prices.

"Food inflation at this level is not acceptable and we are trying our best to control it along with the cooperation of state governments," Mukherjee told reporters here.

He said he would be meeting the state finance ministers on January 19 to discuss among other issues, price rise.

Food inflation fell for the first time in six weeks to 16.91 per cent for the week ended January 1, but still remains high as vegetables like onion, and protein-based items turned expensive.

Rising food prices also pushed up overall inflation for December to 8.43 per cent, from 7.48 per cent in the previous month.

Inflation rises to 8.43%, RBI may hike rates

NEW DELHI: Inflation shot up to 8.43% in December, from 7.48% in the previous month, as prices of certain food and non-food items continued to show an upward trend.

After moderating somewhat in November, the overall inflation, measured on the basis of wholesale prices, rose in December as vegetable, like onion, and other protein-based items became expensive.

With the inflation showing no signs of moderation, it is widely expected that RBI will raise the key policy rates during its quarterly monetary policy review on January 25.

For October, the figure has been revised upwards to 9.12% from the provisional number of 8.58%.

It may be recalled, the food inflation, which accounts for over 14% in the overall WPI inflation, has remained high through December and stood at 16.91%.

A worried government yesterday announced a slew of measures to contain price rise including de-hoarding operations and closely monitoring export and import of food items.

As per the WPI data, prices of primary articles -- food, non-food articles and minerals -- shot up by 16.46% on an annual basis, official data released here showed.

However, prices of certain food items declined on an year-on-year.

While wheat became cheaper by 5.09%, pulses fell by 10.89% and potatoes went down by 26.57%.

During the month, fuel and power prices went up by 11.19%, while manufactured goods became expensive by 4.46% on an annual basis.

Manufactured items have the highest weight of 64.9% in the wholesale price index, on the basis of which inflation is calculated.

Within manufactured products, however, sugar prices eased by 9.91% and leather and leather goods by 1.23% on an annual basis.

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Rupee falls by 6 paise against dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee opened 6 paise lower against the dollar today, as the American currency strengthened against other major currencies.

The domestic unit early morning today was trading at Rs 45.30 a dollar, 6 paise lower from the yesterday's close at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. Yesterday, it had closed 11 paise lower at Rs 45.24/25 a dollar.

Dollar's gains against major currencies overseas and lower opening on the stock market weighed on the rupee sentiment, said the dealers.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex fell by 90.53 points at 19,092.29 points in the opening trade.

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Nifty bounces back, touches 5800 level

MUMBAI: Nifty bounced back and recovered the morning losses to touch 5800 level. At 12.30 pm, BSE benchmark Sensex was up 162.48 points to be at 19345.30. National Stock Exchange index Nifty had moved up 42.55 points to be at 5794.45.

Scrips of technology and banks, which had dragged the markets on Thursday, were performing well and pushed it up.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in SAIL, Tata Motors, L&T, HDFC, Maruti and Tata Steel.

At 9.15 am BSE sensex shed 37 points to be at 19145. Nifty was down 22 points to be at 5729.

In the morning session, the Sensex shed 90 points in the opening trade on Friday, extending yesterday's losses on mixed trend overseas and continued selling by funds and retail investors fearing hike in key interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India.

The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange barometer lost 90.53 points to 19,092.29 level, with financial, realty, auto and metal sector stocks leading the fall. It had plunged 351.28 points in the previous session.

The broad-based index Nifty also declined by 30.20 points to 5,721.70 points today.

Brokers said continued offloading of positions by funds, particularly, in banking and realty stocks amid fears of a interest rate hike this month by the RBI to curb inflation, dampened the trading sentiment here.

Among banking stocks, the country's largest lender State Bank of India fell by 0.45 per cent to Rs 2,549 a share, while ICICI Bank shed 0.90 per cent at Rs 1,018.50 a share.

In other markets in Asia, Japan's Nikkei shed 0.40 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 0.28 per cent cent in the morning trade today.

In the US, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.20 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.

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