New Delhi, Feb 11 - The recent cases of a 12-year-old who died aping a TV serial suicide and a 15-year-old who stabbed his teacher to death after being reportedly influenced by watching revenge drama "Agneepath" have put the spotlight on the influence showbiz exerts on young, impressionable minds. But films and TV shows are not alone to blame, say experts.

Media literacy for kids is one way out, suggests child psychiatrist Samir Parikh.

Shillong, Feb 11 - Authorities Saturday gave the all-clear signal and calmed the panic in Meghalaya after clinical tests on dead pigeons proved negative for bird flu, a veterinary official said Saturday.

"The blood samples of the pigeons which were sent for testing at Assam-based Regional Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (RRDL) have confirmed negative for bird flu," said Meghalaya's Animal and Husbandry Veterinary director D. Lyngwa.

Shillong, Feb 10 - Fears of bird flu gripped Shillong Friday and Meghalaya state authorities sounded a general alert after a hundred pigeons were found dead in the state capital, an official said.

The pigeons have died over a month at Keating Road in the heart of Shillong City, and Thursday three more pigeons died of unnatural deaths, said Animal and Husbandry Veterinary director D. Lyngwa.

New Delhi, Feb 6 - In existence for nearly two decades, India's HIV-AIDS control mission has been the most successful global model to deal with the disease, the head of the country's AIDS control panel said Monday.

New Delhi, Feb 6 - It's that time of the year when tension runs high, anxiety grips the minds of parents and students who are concerned about just one thing -- board exams! But help is just a call away as many helpline numbers are active to overcome exam stress.

Kolkata/Nagpur, Feb. 5 : World Cancer Day was observed in India on Saturday, and saw the participation of cancer patients and locals in different events aimed at spreading a message of fighting against the deadly disease and to promote the undying spirit of life.

In Kolkata, the D S Research Centre organised a rally to spread awareness about the disease and its treatment.

Bhubaneswar, Feb 4 - Odisha has banned the movement of poultry and related products from an area in the capital Bhubaneswar after a bird flu case surfaced in the city, an official said Saturday.

The state authorities had recently sent three poultry samples from the government-run Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal after several chickens suddenly died.

Mumbai, Feb 3 : At 55, Ratnesh Shah was suffering from frequent chest pain and was advised a coronary angiography -- which involves opening up blocked vessels. Unfortunately, both his femoral (groin) arteries were closed because of a vascular disease.

His radial (wrist) arteries were also calcified and had lesser capacity to bear with an incision, with tests showing that nothing wider than 1.7 mm could enter the arteries.

New Delhi, Feb 3 - It's time you stopped saying, "It can't happen to me". Cancer is climbing the Indian graph due to rapid lifestyle changes, adding nearly a million new cases every year.

While cancer of the breast and cervix are most common among women, men suffer from neck, throat and prostate cancer.

New Delhi, Feb 3 - In India, almost 80 percent of breast cancer patients are in an advanced stage when they come to a hospital, say doctors. Among the prime factors fuelling the disease in the country, especially among urban women, are fast-paced lives and delayed reproductive activity, they add.

Agartala, Feb 2 - Over 6,200 poultry birds and ducks were culled in Tripura after reports of a fresh outbreak of bird flu, officials said here Thursday.

The culling was done in Lembuchara area of western Tripura. "Mopping up operations and disinfection of poultry farms, birds and ducks enclosures and cages have begun," Tripura animal resource development department director Manoranjan Sarkar told IANS.

New Delhi, Feb 2 - Ignorance, stigma and lack of doctors have long marred mental healthcare in India. But with stressful lifestyles and ever increasing cases of depression, this much neglected segment is now gaining importance in the country's medical scenario.

Islamabad, Jan 30 - Over two million children will be administered anti-polio vaccine drops in Pakistan's Balochistan province, which saw the highest number of polio cases in the world in 2011.

A campaign against polio was launched Monday in 27 districts, where at least 73 children were affected by the virus last year, the Daily Times reported.

New Delhi, Jan 30 - Shutting yourself from the outside world by plugging in earphones and listening to music while walking on the streets might help kill stress. But it can also kill you if one is to go by the recent accidents involving "distracted pedestrians".

Patna, Jan 30 - Bihar, which has not reported a single case of polio since September 2010, is now turning its attention to kala azar, a disease transmitted by the sand fly that killed at least 50 people and affected 15,000 in the state last year.

New Delhi, Jan 28 - Around half a million newborns in India suffer from congenital genetic disorders every year - the highest in the world - but advances like molecular pathology have helped detecting these disorders at early stages, an expert said Saturday.

Bhopal, Jan 28 - A civic agency's tableau that showed a child bathing under a cold water tap despite in the winter chill during the Republic Day parade in Madhya Pradesh' Dewas district has created much heat. With ctivists fuming, the Dewas mayor has promised action against the officials concerned.

"The incident is not only an outcome of insensitivity towards children but disrespect for law," social activist Ajay Dubey told IANS.

Bulandshahr, Jan 28 :Fourteen test tube babies were born using the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure to seven childless mothers in Bulandshahr.

The doctors carried out caesarean operations, creating a world record of the healthiest twins born within 12 hours.

Agra, Jan 28 - Pakistan's Sindh province is reported to have banned the "Mainpuri tambakoo". And Indian doctors and activists too are talking of an alarming rise in the number of oral cancer patients in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district where the tobacco is manufactured.

'Mainpuri tambakoo', as the product is called, contains betel nut, camphor, tobacco, cinnamon, clove, slaked lime as its major ingredients.

Agartala, Jan 27 - With a fresh outbreak of bird flu at a government-run farm in western Tripura, authorities Friday started culling more than 1,600 poultry birds to contain spread of the infection, officials said here.

Raipur, Jan 27 - India is not yet prepared to fight cancer despite the nation adding about a million new patients annually, warns a top healthcare expert.

"The number of cancer patients in India is rising alarmingly and from year 2020 onwards, the nation will add more than two million new cancer patients every year," R. K. Chaturvedi, adviser to metals and mining major Vedanta's cancer hospital project, told IANS in an interview.

New Delhi, Jan 27 : As a two-year-old abandoned baby suffering from multiple injuries battled for life at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Friday, police were still trying to find her parents.

Baby girl Falak, who was admitted to AIIMS Jan 18, is showing signs of recovery, but her chances of survival are only 50 percent, say the doctors.

Agartala, Jan 25 - Bird flu or avian influenza has resurfaced in Tripura, an official said here Wednesday.

Tripura animal resources development department secretary Swapan Saha told reporters: "Samples of sick poultry birds from the ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research) duck farm at Lembuchara in western Tripura were found to contain H5 strain of avian influenza virus."

New Delhi, Jan 24 - Even as the health ministry continues to be in a denial mode over cases of totally-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) surfacing in Mumbai, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Tuesday urged stakeholders working on the deadly disease to scale up services.

New Delhi, Jan 20 - Providing hope to arthritis patients in the country, a private hospital here Friday performed unique ankle replacement surgery to cure rheumatoid arthritis -- a condition causing joint inflamation.