Asian Population Association

The first meeting of the Establishment Committee (EC) of the Asian Population Association (APA) was held at the Department of Demography of the University of Tehran (UT) during 1-4 December 2007. The inaugural meeting of the Establishment Committee was held on 1 December at the UT which was followed by two days meeting of the EC as well as a one day workshop on population issues in the Asian region. The EC meeting produced a draft Constitution and made decisions on the APA membership drive as well as the Nomination Committee for the upcoming election of the Council of the association. People who consider themselves specialists on population issues in Asia should consider applying for membership. Please see below the documents related to the first EC meeting in Tehran. The next meeting of the EC will be held at the College of Population Studies at the Chulalongkorn University during 28-30 May 2008. We are delighted that the idea of an Asia wide population association has materialised.

It is hoped that upwards of 500 members will be registered by May 2008. The review of applications for membership will be undertaken by the EC and the Secretariat during 27-29 May. Foundation members will *NOT* be charged any fee for the first year of membership (2008). All members registered by 31 July 2008 will be deemed to be Foundation Members, eligible to stand and vote in the elections for the Foundation Council. Online Registrations

Jalal Abbasi
Chair of the Establishment Committee Asian Population Association

Contact the APA: APA@chula.ac.th

Constitution of the APA
Membership Application Form
Inaugural Address by Dr Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi

OBITUARY:Sudden demise of Prof. P.N. Mari Bhat, head of IIPS

It is with great grief and sorrow that the faculty, staff and students of the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) announced the demise of Mr. P.N. Mari Bhat, Director and Senior Professor, in Mumbai on 30 July 2007.
Prof. P.N. Bhat died of a heart attack, at age 56. He was one of India’s leading demographers.

Prof. P.N. Bhat had joined IIPS --India’s premier demographic teaching and research institute -- in June 2005, after being a Professor at the Delhi-based Institute for Economic Growth and having excelled in conducting various creative research including on religious differentials in fertility and mortality in India. He had published numerous papers in leading population journals.

Mr. Bhat had also served in several well-known research institutions in India and had been a visiting research scholar in distinguished universities such as Harvard University and the Universities of Minnesota and Manitoba. He had provided consultancy services to the United Nations Population Division and Statistic Division, as well as UNFPA, WHO, Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics and a few other international organizations.

Prof. Bhat had obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Mysore in India in 1970 and his first Master’s degree in Psychology from Andhra University in 1972. He turned to the field of population, enrolling in IIPS’ Diploma in Population Studies in 1975. He completed a second Master’s degree in Demography in 1981 and a PhD in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, United States, in 1987.

As explained by Senior Social Scientist Monica Das Gupta in an article entitled “Using facts to counter propaganda – P.N. Mari Bhat (1951-2007)”, Prof. Bhat “chose to live life on his own terms, focusing his high level of energy and passion solely on the work he wanted to do, avoiding other job-related distractions. It also meant living and working in India, and contributing to debates in the country in a hands-on fashion”.

“The most creative phase of his career began when he moved to the quiet life of a pure researcher, as Director of the Population Research Centre in Dharwad (1991-1997). His publications during this phase are peppered with papers exploring new issues. His approach to such research was typically iconoclastic. In a paper co-authored with Irudaya Rajan, he added a twist to the accepted wisdom that women have more autonomy in south India than in the north, Ms. Das Gupta noted.

“Other fascinating work during this period includes an analysis of how changing availability of spouses may have contributed to rises in dowry payments over the twentieth century in India”, she said. Ms. Das Gupta also referred to some of Prof. Bhat’s other creative research, in particular, on the fiercely debated topic of religious differentials in fertility and mortality in India.

“This is a highly politicized subject on which much baseless propaganda is disseminated. Mari countered such propaganda with an authoritative assessment of exactly how much of a differential there is between religious groups in their fertility levels, and how this varies over time and between states. His data show that Muslims in India do indeed have higher fertility than Hindus, but that this gap is shrinking quite rapidly. By the time India’s population growth stabilizes by the mid-21st century, the proportion of Muslims will have increased by 18 per cent of the total population – certainly higher than that of today, but a far cry from the claims of fear-mongers”, Ms. Das Gupta noted.
In the wake of IIPS Golden Jubilee celebrated in December 2006, the January-February 2007 issue of Population Headliners (No. 316) had published an interview with Prof. Bhat, in which he looked back at the Institute’s contribution to the advancement of population issues in the region and shared his views on the population issues of great concern in India at the moment.

Prof. P.N. Mari Bhat will be greatly missed and his demise is a severe blow to the demographic profession. Prof. Bhat is survived by his wife and two daughters.

GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE HONORS SANDRA G. GARCÍA
WITH THE DARROCH AWARD

The Guttmacher Institute is pleased to honor Sandra G. García, Sc.D., director of reproductive health for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Population Council, as the second recipient of the Darroch Award for Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research. Dr. García’s research documenting abortion-related knowledge, attitudes and practices in Mexico played an important role in the country’s recent decision to legalize first-trimester abortion. Her collaboration with local nongovernmental organizations, universities, professional associations and the Mexican government helped bring about this groundbreaking legislation. Dr. Garcia is originally from Canutillo, Texas.

“Sandy is highly deserving of this award,” said Sharon L. Camp, Guttmacher’s president and CEO. “Her publication record and her ability to foster excellence among her research team make it clear that she has an absolute commitment to improving sexual and reproductive rights through sound research that can be easily applied to public policy.”

Dr. García’s dedication to advancing women’s sexual and reproductive rights has led to important progress in the field beyond the recent change in Mexico’s abortion law. Her more than 30 peer-reviewed publications cover a wide range of topics, including applied research on new reproductive technologies, surveys of women’s knowledge about emergency contraception, programs to prevent STDs among newborns and innovative methods for measuring abortion incidence.

The Darroch Award was established in 2005 to recognize excellence among sexual and reproductive health researchers who are in the early or middle years of their career. It is named for Jacqueline E. Darroch, Ph.D., former senior vice president for science at Guttmacher, whose three decades at the Institute exemplified rigorous and innovative work on sexual and reproductive health issues, and commitment to the practical application of research to policy and programs. The first recipient of the award was Elizabeth G. Raymond, M.D., M.P.H., a researcher at Family Health International and a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist.

For more information about the award, please visit
http://www.guttmacher.org/media/resources/JEDaward.html