Among the various macroeconomic problems afflicting India in the recent past, the industrial slowdown is one of major concern. While supply side factors such as infrastructure and input constraints, have dented confidence in the economy, this article argues that a host of demand-side factors explain the current slowdown.

India accounts for 19% of global maternal deaths, three-quarters of which come from nine states. In 2005, India launched a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), to reduce maternal mortality ratio (MMR) through promotion of institutional births. JSY is the largest CCT in the world. In the nine states with relatively lower socioeconomic levels, JSY provides a cash incentive to all women on birthing in health institution. The cash incentive is intended to reduce financial barriers to accessing institutional care for delivery.

Maternal undernutrition contributes to 800 000 neonatal deaths annually through small for gestational age births; stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies are estimated to underlie nearly 3·1 million child deaths annually. Progress has been made with many interventions implemented at scale and the evidence for effectiveness of nutrition interventions and delivery strategies has grown.

In the early weeks of January 2012, a report of four cases of tuberculosis from Mumbai, India, stirred up a storm.1 India bears a giant's share of the world's multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) burden, but these cases were different even though they came from a centre (Hinduja Hospital and Research Center) which has been reporting on the alarming escalation in drug-resistant TB in Mumbai over the last two decades. (Editorial)