Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the major causes of cardiovascular diseases in developing countries. CHD among neonates and young children is responsible for the largest proportion of mortality (30–50%) caused by birth defects . Though there is a significantly reducing trend observed in both overall and infant mortality resulting from CHD in developed countries like USA and Europe, CHD contributes 14% among 10.3 million total deaths in India, with 1931 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000.

This communication examines nutritional status and its impact on infant mortality rate (IMR) in Saiha district, Mizoram, India. We conducted a case study of 17 villages and 1650 mothers were surveyed, using random sampling method. The district has very high IMR (219.6), significantly higher than Mizoram (35). Meanwhile, per day per capita calorie intake is 1703, which is less than the recommended dietary intake (2400 kcal). All food items which people consume daily were collected and nutritional status was assessed.

Tumor suppressor p53 is a critical player in the fight against cancer as it controls the cell cycle check point, apoptotic pathways and genomic stability. It is known to be the most frequently mutated gene in a wide variety of human cancers. Single-nucleotide polymorphism of p53 at codon72 leading to substitution of proline (Pro) in place of arginine (Arg) has been identified as a risk factor for development of many cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Since 1976, in the northeastern hill region of Mizoram intensive collections of maize landraces were made by ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi and diversity of landraces maize from this region comprised 36% of the total collection from whole India, which was the highest number of accession among other regions . The maize landraces in this region were reported to show extensive variability for plant, tassel, ear and kernel characteristics, and are interesting from the viewpoints of breeding, diffusion and evolution of maize. (Correspondence)