Analyses of frequency profiles of markers on disease or drug-response related genes in diverse populations are important for the dissection of common diseases. We report the results of analyses of data on 405 SNPs from 75 such genes and a 5.2 Mb chromosome, 22 genomic region in 1871 individuals from diverse 55 endogamous Indian populations. These include 32 large (>10 million individuals) and 23 isolated populations, representing a large fraction of the people of India. We observe high levels of genetic divergence between groups of populations that cluster largely on the basis of ethnicity and language. Indian populations not only overlap with the diversity of HapMap populations, but also contain population groups that are genetically distinct. These data and results are useful for addressing stratification and study design issues in complex traits especially for heterogeneous populations.

The chemokine receptor CCR5 plays a crucial role during CD4-mediated entry of HIV-1 in macrophages and a 32 bp deletion in the CCR5 gene (CCR5-∆32) confers protection against HIV infection and AIDS progression. To evaluate the contribution of this host genetic factor in aggravating India's HIV/AIDS problem, we exclusively examined the frequency of CCR5-∆32 in 43 different ethnic endogamous Indian populations comprising 1,882 individuals and its latitude-wise distribution in India. This is the first report of prevalence and latitude-wise distribution of CCR5-∆32 in such large scale in India, which indicates that most of the Indian populations lack the CCR5-∆32 mutation. This mutation was exhibited in only 13 out of the 43 ethnic populations of India studied with allelic frequency 0.62 -5%. Southward decreasing cline was observed for frequencies of CCR5-∆32 (0.79% to 5.0% in North vs. 0.62% to 1.4% South). These results are in accordance with HIV/AIDS prevalence in India, and suggest that absence of CCR5-∆32 mutation may be one of the important factors for HIV/AIDS incidence in India.

Since seventy years of Indian independence, the northeast states are nowhere near a satisfactory solution in terms of socio-demographic development. It is more prevalent in Manipur, the easternmost state internationally bordering with Myanmar (Burma). With a unique feature that "a maximum number of dialect with least number of population", the tribal people here are having more serious demographic imbalances than other tribes in the country. Under research question -'what are the levels of fertility indices of women residing in valley and hill areas?' it is to investigate the regional variations in the fertility indicators between hill and valley populations in Manipur. An empirical study was conducted under cross sectional survey design during the eight months period from May, 2015 to December, 2015 taking 1335 eligible women having at least one live birth under cluster sampling scheme in two districts of Manipur in such one in valley -Thoubal, and other in hill -Chandel. In addition to classical statistical tests, regression models are utilized to identify the causal factors of the differentials in the fertility indices. Statistically significant variations have been reported in age at marriage, desire of son, post partum amenorrhoea, contraceptive uses etc. each at P<0.001 and also in age at menarche, infant and child mortality, still birth, age at menopause etc. each at P<0.01. The processing of these significant indicators at a level consistent with the national target of stable population in India is highly needed to have a linkage with social development.

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