GIRL CHILD EDUCATION IN RURAL RAJASTHAN

In today’s competitive world education is a necessity. Education for women is even more significant as she plays a crucial role in nurturing the society. While checkup the data of literacy rate in India (74.04%), women scores only 65.46% (census, 2011). Girls tend to show higher dropout rates than boys. School dropout rate among adolescent girls is also high (63.5%) (MoSPI, 2012). Rajasthan is known for low girl child enrolment and retention in all levels. Especially in the state of Rajasthan, the birth of girl child not welcomed as it does with boys. Discrimination on the basis of gender is common in school and home. Keeping the above context in perspective, the present study tries to identify the available institutional mechanism for promoting girl child education in rural Rajasthan and factors that contribute to dropping out of a girl child at the secondary or higher secondary level. The study is descriptive in nature focusing on girls who are enrolled in govt. schools of the villages in secondary or higher secondary level especially in Kishangarh block of Ajmer district. The Findings clearly indicates discrimination faced by girls in getting quality education at all levels

One Health approach for elimination of human anthrax in a tribal district of Odisha: Study protocol.

BackgroundAnthrax is a major but neglected zoonotic disease of public health concern in India with Odisha contributing a major share to the disease burden. Bacillus anthracis spores can be found naturally in soil and commonly affect both animals and humans around the world. Domestic and wild animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and deer can become infected when they inhale or ingest spores from contaminated soil, plants, or water. Anthrax can be fatal if patients are not treated promptly with antibiotics. This protocol aims to describe the implementation and evaluation of the 'One Health' intervention model based on the principles of Theory of Change (ToC) to eliminate human anthrax from a tribal district in Odisha, India.MethodsThis study would test the effectiveness of a complex public health intervention package developed using the ToC framework for the elimination of human anthrax in Koraput district by a comparative analysis of baseline and end-line data. We plan to enroll 2640 adults across 14 geographically divided blocks in Koraput district of Odisha for baseline and end-line surveys. After baseline, we would provide capacity building training to stakeholders from the department of health, veterinary, forest, academic and allied health institutions followed by workshops on sensitization and awareness through IEC (Information Education Communication)/BCC (Behavior Change Communication) activities in the community. We would establish a state-level laboratory facility as a robust system for timely diagnosis and management of human anthrax cases. Surveillance network will be strengthened to track the cases in early stage and risk zoning will be done for focused surveillance in endemic areas. Advocacy with district level administration will be done for maximizing the coverage of livestock vaccination in the entire district. Interdepartmental coordination would be established for the effective implementation of the intervention package.ConclusionThis would be a first study applying One Health concept for the elimination of human anthrax in India. The findings from this study will offer important insights for policy-making and further replication in other endemic regions of the state and country.Trial registrationThe authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this intervention are prospectively registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India [CTRI/2020/05/025325] on 22 May 2020

Suspected human anthrax outbreak investigation in a tribal village of Koraput, India, 2021

Abstract Background Odisha is a state in India endemic to anthrax disease with frequent reports of suspected animal cases. A suspected outbreak of anthrax in humans was reported on 24 October 2021 at Tukum village in Koraput district of Odisha, India after a bullock was found dead and consumed by the locals on 17 October 2021. Methods This extended outbreak investigation was carried out through house‐to‐house active surveillance from 24 October to 2 November 2021 in the Koraput district. Eschar skin swabs from wounds were collected and processed at District Public Health Laboratory, Koraput, and analyzed in Indian Council of Medical Research‐Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar for molecular confirmation. Samples from bone, soil, and dried meat were collected from the contaminated sites and were transported to Animal Diseases Research Institute, Cuttack for confirmation. Results Four suspected cases of human anthrax were identified who had handled and consumed dead bullock meat, among which one human had died later. The attack rate of the persons at risk in the village was calculated to be 1.23%. However, no Bacillus anthracis were identified in human swab samples when tested in real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Samples collected from contaminated sites were confirmed to have anthrax bacilli. Conclusion Investigation revealed that a suspected anthrax cluster outbreak was due to butchering/de‐skinning and consumption of the anthrax‐infected dead animal. The presence of bacilli in human samples could not be confirmed due to the intake of antibiotics before the collection of sample. This finding highlighted the importance of sample collection at a suitable time and a possible need for one health approach for better coordination among the different responsible departments

Investigation of human anthrax outbreak in Koraput district of Odisha, India

Background: Anthrax is a zoonotic infection resulting from the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. Humans contract cutaneous anthrax by coming into contact, and gastrointestinal (GI) anthrax by consumption of infected animals or animal products. An outbreak investigation was conducted to confirm the occurrence of the anthrax outbreak, comprehend its extent, understand the epidemiological characteristics, identify the outbreak's cause, and propose control measures. Methods: A descriptive epidemiology was carried out for this outbreak investigation. We defined a suspected human cutaneous anthrax case as appearance of skin lesions and symptoms (itching/redness/swelling) and a suspected case of GI anthrax as appearance of diarrhoea/abdominal pain/vomiting in a resident of Koraput district after being associated with slaughtering and/or consumption of carcass during 5th April to 15th May 2023. The etiological hypothesis was formulated using descriptive epidemiological methods. Laboratory confirmation was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 25. Results: A total of 47 clinically suspected anthrax cases were identified during the outbreak in five villages of Koraput district in Odisha. The epidemic curve indicated multiple point-source exposures starting from 13th April 2023. About 10 cases were identified by RT-PCR testing as confirmed cases of anthrax. No death was recorded in this outbreak investigation. Conclusions: Based on a thorough examination of epidemiological survey results and laboratory findings, we conclude that the outbreak was of human cutaneous and GI anthrax. Exposures from handling dead animals were associated with cutaneous anthrax, whereas eating uncooked meat of dead sheep was associated with gastrointestinal anthrax

Co-implementation of precision nutrient management in long-term conservation agriculture-based systems: A step towards sustainable energy-water-food nexus

The conventionally managed cereal-based cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia are energy intensive that overwhelm the farm profits and the environmental footprint. This research addresses a complex nexus between yield-energy-water-GHG footprints-economics of conservation agriculture (CA)-based intensified maize-wheat-mungbean rotation. This study evaluated the effect of long-term CA (2012–2020) with optimum nutrient management (2017–20) on energy budgeting, productivity, water and C-footprints, Water productivity (WP), and economics of the CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system. CA-based permanent bed- and zero tillage flatbed with preceding crop residue retention were compared with the conventional till with preceding crop residue incorporation. These treatments were factored over three-nutrient management alternatives, i.e., GreenSeeker®-guided-N, site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), and recommended fertilizers' dose (Ad-hoc), were compared with farmers' fertilizers practices (FFP). Permanent bed and zero tillage treatments registered higher systems' productivity (18.2 and 12.0%), net returns (44.7 and 34.7%) and water productivity (35.6% and 22.1%), and C-sequestration (54.8 and 62.3%), respectively, over conventional till. Permanent bed- and zero tillage treatments increased the systems' net energy (NE), energy use efficiency (EUE), energy productivity (EP), and energy intensity (EI) by 22.6 and 14.0; 10.1 and 5.6; 9.7 and 5.4; 28.3 and 24.0%, respectively, over conventional till. Conventional till recorded higher net CO2-eq emission (26.5 and 27.2%), C-footprint (20.8 and 14.5%), and water footprint (27.3 and 18.0%) than permanent bed- and zero tillage treatments. SSNM increased the system's productivity, water productivity, and energy use efficiency, while reducing the system's water- and C-footprints and net CO2-eq emission. Thus, adopting permanent beds as a crop establishment method with SSNM could be a feasible alternative to attain higher productivity, profitability, and resource use efficiency in the maize-wheat-mungbean system in northwest India