Child Care

World Children's Day 2024: Wishes, quotes and messages to send your kids

World Children's Day is celebrated every year on November 20 to take steps towards children's welfare, protect vulnerable children and advocate children's rights for a better world for children

182 mn kids in low-, middle-income nations lack access to nurture: Study

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), three-fourths of those aged three or four years lack -- nearly 182 million children -- access to adequate nurture, thereby risking healthy development, according to a new series paper, published in The Lancet journal. The series builds on the foundation of the first 1,000 days of life -- referring to the time period starting conception until two years old -- and highlights how the 'next 1,000 days' (from age two to age five) is a crucial window of opportunity for providing nurturing care to children, researchers said. During this stage of 'next 1,000 days', children are often not in direct regular contact with health or education services, with fewer than one in three children aged three or four attending early childhood care and education programmes in LMICs, said the researchers. The authors called for an increased investment for this stage of child development, with a particular focus on improving access to high quality childhood care

Rising demand sparks expansion of women, child care services by hospitals

Hospital sector insiders say that there is rising demand for specialised maternal and child healthcare services such as obstetrics, gynaecology, infertility, neonatology, and paediatrics

Pet care explosion: Why we're spending more on pets than children

People in the US are spending more on their furry companions than on childcare, with billions pouring into everything from premium food to vet visits

Kamala Harris seeks to cap child care costs at 7% for working families

It's sadly the state of affairs in our country that working people often have to decide to either be able to work or be able to have child care, Harris said

Fixing child care would not be expensive: Trump as he proposes tax hikes

Asked recently how he would bring down the high cost of child care, former President Donald Trump said doing so would be relatively not very expensive at least, not compared with revenue from tax hikes he would impose on foreign goods. Economists are skeptical tariffs would raise enough to cover Trump's tax cuts as well as a large-scale child care program, and Democrats said higher tariffs would raise costs for families by increasing the prices of consumer goods. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond to questions on his plans for child care. On one point, some child care experts agree with Trump: Fixing the child care system would not be very expensive compared with some other government expenditures. But as past proposals have shown, the price tags associated with a federally funded child care system make it difficult politically to achieve. I do think his comments are somewhat accurate that fixes to child care, making child care more accessible and more affordabl

Need to integrate HMIS portal with other portals of ministry: Health secy

There is a need to integrate the Health Management Information System (HMIS) portal with the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal and other portals of the health ministry to ensure that the data is uploaded timely and analysed carefully, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said On Monday. Chandra made the remarks as he released "Health Dynamics of India (Infrastructure and Human Resources) 2022-23", an annual publication formerly known as "Rural Health Statistics", here. The document has been published since 1992. Highlighting the document as a source of reliable and authentic information on various aspects of the National Health Mission (NHM), Chandra said, "The annual publication is a valuable document furnishing much-needed information on manpower and infrastructure within the NHM, helpful in policy making, improving processes and problem solving." He added that the document gives a cross-analysis across the states on the availability and deficiencies in manpower and ...

Govt employees to get six-month maternity, child care leave for surrogacy

In cases of surrogacy involving government servants, both the surrogate and the commissioning mother (with less than two surviving children) may receive 180 days of maternity leave

IPO-bound FirstCry plans to scale up its operations in global markets

The company plans to set up new modern stores and warehouses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), according to the sources

Denying women childcare leave violation of Constitution: Supreme Court

Assistant professor alleged government college in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh, had denied hear leave to care for child with special needs

Adoptions in India reach pre-pandemic levels at over 4,000 in a year

Of the 4,009 adoptions between April 2023 and March 2024, 449 were inter-country adoptions, the government data showed

Indira IVF on global expansion spree, eyes overseas centre in Nepal first

This expansion is driven by a combination of factors, including the growing demand for IVF treatment in underserved markets and foreign customers coming in

Both parents responsible for child maintenance, not just father: HC

A single judge bench in Uttarakhand High Court observed that in cases of divorce both parents shared responsibility over a child

Child Helpline receives over 310 mn calls in last five years: Govt

More than 31 crore calls were received on the Child Helpline in the past five years, the government said on Wednesday. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said there is a provision for integration of the Child Helpline with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' Emergency Response Support System-112 (ERSS-112) and the transition is being done in a phased manner. In a written response in the Rajya Sabha, Irani said, "In the first phase, integration of the Child Helpline with ERSS-112 has been completed in nine states -- Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Ladakh, Puducherry and Mizoram." According to a report received from the home ministry, over 26.05 crore calls have been handled since ERSS-112 became operational, the minister said. However, state-wise call details are not maintained centrally, she added. According to the data shared by Irani, a total 31 crore calls were received on the 1098 Child ...

3,410 inspections of child-care homes carried out through govt's MASI app

About 3,410 inspections of child-care homes have so far been carried out across the country through the government's MASI (Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection) since its launch in 2021, officials said on Monday. The portal was launched in January 2021 with the first inspection in Chennai but then, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the inspections could not be carried out, a senior official said, adding that they were resumed again after the curbs were lifted. Explaining the functioning of the MASI portal, a senior official at the women and child development ministry said there was a need for a monitoring mechanism for the child-care institutions in the country and hence, the app was developed. "Through this, the children's home database has been synced with an app and the authorities in districts or child welfare committee (CWC) members are on this app.... They can choose a child home randomly on the system to ensure that the inspection of child-care homes is carried out periodically

LIVE: Indian-origin Ajay Banga confirmed as next World Bank president

Catch live updates from across the globe here

India among 14 nations who don't adhere to IPCA protocols, says US report

India is among the 14 countries that do not adhere to any protocols concerning international parental child abduction (IPCA), according to a United States report. The Department of State's 2023 annual report on IPCA that was submitted to the US Congress on Tuesday was referring to a pattern of noncompliance. "India does not adhere to any protocols with respect to international parental child abduction. In 2022, India continued to demonstrate a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the competent authorities in India persistently failed to work with the Department of State to resolve abduction cases," it said. "As a result of this failure, 65 per cent of requests for the return of abducted children remained unresolved for more than 12 months," the report added. The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980), signed by 96 countries, provides for a mechanism to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another. On .

AI-based machine improves nourishment level of Gadchiroli's tribal children

"To tackle this, there was a need to distribute quality nutritious food to the students, with the help of equipment developed by modern technology," they said

Rishi Sunak declares wife's shareholding in childcare firm amid probe

The UK Prime Minister is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, over whether he properly declared his wife's shareholdings

Parl panel slams govt over lack of basic amenities in Anganwadi centres

Govt has been under fire from key Parliamentary committee for paying Anganwadi workers, helpers inadequate salary and has been urged to increase the pay in a way that is appropriate with their labour