9 of 12 infant car seats fail group's tests

Nine out of 12 infant car seats, all designed to meet a federal standard for protecting the smallest passengers in autos, vans and SUVs, "failed disastrously" when subjected to the higher-speed front- and side-impact crash tests used to rate vehicles' crashworthiness, Consumer Reports said yesterday. The car seats "twisted violently or flew off their bases," the magazine said. In one case, a test dummy was hurled 30 feet across a lab in a test on an unenclosed sled, designed to simulate a crash in a Ford Explorer SUV. The test results prompted the magazine's parent organization, Consumers Union, to call for a more stringent safety standard for the rear-facing infant seats. Don Mays, senior director for product safety and consumer science at Consumers Union, said the different standards for cars and infant seats meant that safety-conscious parents could walk away from a crash that kills or injures their child.

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Little children go hungry in India

India is on the go to achieve greater heights but in the rush to get there, are we leaving our younger and defenceless citizens behind? A report suggests that our under 6 year olds are malnourished, stunted and usually not immunised against dieseases. In fact, their plight may be worse that expected. India has the highest rate of malnourished children, India also has the dubious record of having the highest number of children who are sexually abused and the highest rate of child labour. As usual, India seems to score the highest in the worst possible denominations. The recent National Family Health Survey shows that 79% are anaemic, 46% are undernourished and 27% are stunted. Economist and Right to Food activist, Jean Dreze told CNBC-TV18, "These figures are embarrassing in several ways.

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Study places Tennessee children 45th in success index

Tennessee ranks 45th in the nation in the likelihood that its children will achieve academic and professional success, according to a report issued Thursday. But the outlook for kids growing up in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is considerably better than for other children in Tennessee, say some involved with education here. .

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