Best and worst places to be a global mother, Save the Children (REPORT)

(PHOTO: HeroKids)(HN, 5/9/12) - The just released State of World's Mothers 2012 report by international child rights NGO  'Save the Children' has seen India slipping 1 position down from the 75th spot of last year's report; now at 76. Afghanistan is no longer the worst place in the world for mothers; Niger is. According to the annual survey which looks at how good the life of a mother is around the globe, one out of every 140 women in India runs the risk of dying during childbirth, as compared to neighboring China where 1 in 1,500 women runs the risk of maternal death, while it is 1 in 1,100 in Sri Lanka & 1 in 180 in Myanmar. Africa's Niger is the world's worst place to be a mother because both mothers & babies face a mounting range of obstacles to survival & wellbeing due to a lack of basic medical care; poor access to contraception; child malnutrition & illness. Additionally, low primary school enrollment & extremely low economic opportunity for women, as well as deepening humanitarian crises as a result of crop failures & high food prices all contribute to the endemic issues which often impacts the most critical first 1000 days of life.  The legacy can last a lifetime. (Read more at Sydney Morning Herald)

World Wildlife Fund-India captures rare Snow Leopard's in Kashmir

(PHOTO: WWF-INDIA)Conservationists have caught a pair of rare & reclusive snow leopards on camera wandering a remote, mountain region once ravaged by conflict between India & Pakistan in 1999; killing hundreds of soldiers on both sides before a cease-fire was established with US mediation.  Infrared camera traps set up months ago by World Wildlife Fund-India filmed the adult snow leopards in Kargil district just a few kilometres from the heavily militarised Line of Control that runs through the disputed territory of Kashmir.

(PHOTO: Kargil town, India, Kashmir region/Wikipedia) WWF-India says it's the 2nd photo sighting of endangered snow leopards in Kargil, after 1 was photographed hunting a herd of Asiatic Ibex in 2009.  Snow leopards are thought to be the most endangered of big cats, facing threats from poaching & habitat loss. It's believed there are between 4,000 & 6,500 left in the wild in the Himalayan regions of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Siberia, Mongolia, Pakistan & India. The recent sighting has encouraged environmentalists as it suggests the big cats were not scared away from the Kargil mountains by the war.  (Read More at The Indian Express)