The number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all time low compared to boys

A report by the UK charity, ActionAid, says increasing numbers of female foetuses were being aborted and baby girls deliberately neglected and left to die. In one site in the Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families, it says. ActionAid says India faces a "bleak" future if it does not end its practice of cultural preference for boys.