Trends and Sub-National Disparities in Neonatal Mortality in India from 1981 to 2011

Despite progress made in recent decades, infant and neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) in India have remained high compared to neighbouring developing countries. This study aims at establishing quantitative links between the relatively slow progress in fight against neonatal death at national level and strikingly varying mortality patterns at sub-national level. It appears that the tempo and quantum of reductions in neonatal mortality have been inconsistent across time, states, and urban and rural sub-populations. Decompositions have shown that the total NMR decrease in India, since the early 1980s has been largely driven by mortality changes in poorer states and rural areas, whereas compositional changes had negligible impact. The disparity in NMRs across the sub-populations which had been declining earlier stabilised in the 2000s. These disparities produce a heavy burden of avoidable death. While the mortality excess in poorer states and rural areas constitutes the core of bulk of excess deaths, some richer states, and urban areas, also show unexpected slower mortality decreases. However, the experience of the two states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu highlights the potential for declines in NMRs in low-income settings with sensible health and social policies.     

First ancient bovine DNA evidence from India: difficult but not impossible

Ancient DNA isolation from the tropical countries has been shown to be very difficult in the past. Here for the first time we have been successful in isolating ancient DNA from Indian cattle samples. We were able to obtain DNA and sequence the partial mitochondrial D-loop in 3 of the 15 bovine fossil samples ranging in age from 2000 BC to 1000 AD, and were able to further identify the most recent sample as being of Bos indicus origin. Our results on ancient DNA extraction from India will encourage other researchers in this field to carry out further studies of ancient DNA from Indian bovine samples. Our results represent the first successful extraction and amplification of bovine ancient DNA from India, and thus may pave the road for a better understanding of demographic and historical processes of cattle domestication that has taken place in this region.     

NDVI Variability in North East India

Abstract

The variability of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in north east India in response to rainfall and temperature was analysed using twice-monthly NOAA/AVHRR satellite imagery acquired during 1982–2002 from the GIMMS (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies) data-set. Corresponding rainfall and temperature estimates were extracted from the Climate Research Unit's CR TS 2.1 data-set for 34 study sites, chosen using the GLC 2000 land use categories. The selected sites represent nine land use categories under differing institutional frameworks. Results showed a weak linear relationship between the growing season rainfall and NDVI range when plotted in a scatter diagram. The negative correlation between NDVI and rainfall and temperature and NDVI in the study area was accentuated during the growing season and a one- and two-month lag for rainfall and temperature respectively was operating. A gain coefficient image to determine the temporal change in NDVI during the 21-year period indicated a consistent decline for much of the study area. Among the study sites those under state protection fared better than sites under other institutional frameworks. Along with rainfall and temperature, land use and institutional frameworks emerged as causative factors in the dynamics of vegetation greenness in north east India.