NORPLANT, an implant which when inserted in a woman's body prevents conception for five years if it is not removed, is to be introduced into the Indian family planning programme in selected centres. This has provoked much debate and not all are happy with this decision.

Pakistan emerged as an independent state on August 14,1947, nearly 45 years ago, when the British presided over the partition of the Indian subcontinent. The country came about as a demand for an independent, Muslim state.

Bangladesh, the eighth most populous nation in the world is also one of the poorest with a per capita income of less than US200. Although it enjoys a tropical monsoon climate, it is a country with unique geographic peculiarities, which distinguish it from the rest of the sub-continent.

New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs): This term denotes the entire spectrum of modern medical techniques targeted at women's bodies, affecting their control over their bodies, bodily processes or products, they include –
• Sex Selection Techniques

There is a plethora of information on the analyses of fertility differentials by various socio-economic factors.

Status literally means position in relation to others. The status enjoyed by women in any society is an index of the standard of its social organisation.

In recent years, fertility has become an important subject of inquiry for economists. The decision to have children and their number and timing involve trade-offs which constrain the purchase and consumption of durables and other household items vying for the family's scarce resources.

Breast-feeding has its socioeconomic, psychological, biological and immunological aspects. Human milk is known to be an ideal, safe and complete food for infants and being available at a suitable temperature, it helps promote normal dental and facial development.

After Ritter and Hinkelmann, Kirk and his Colleagues Kirk also reported that in matings where the father is in-compatible with the mother with respect to the ABO groups, the children show a higher frequency of the Hp1 gene.

The practice of breast-feeding is almost universal in India. Protecting, promoting and supporting breast-feed in should be the foremost aim of all the communities. Compare the body of a lactating mother to a baby food factory and we find that she is far and away the most efficient [1].