-Al Jazeera The UN claims that its Millennium Development Campaign has reduced poverty globally, an assertion that is far from true. The received wisdom comes to us from all directions: Poverty rates are declining and extreme poverty will soon be eradicated. The World Bank, the governments of wealthy countries, and - most importantly - the United Nations Millennium Campaign all agree on this narrative. Relax, they tell us. The world is getting...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The sarkari babu will have to make every minute count. The Narendra Modi government has ordered that an Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) be implemented in all central government offices. A circular issued to all central government offices in the capital today has also asked employees, of all ranks, to submit their contact details (email ID, residential address, telephone and personal mobile phone numbers) to the department of...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: Police have finally become sensitive to juvenile offenders and victims, with cops now being trained to be appointed as special juvenile police officers (SJPO) at law and order police stations. As per the recently published National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the united Andhra Pradesh stood third after Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in number of juvenile offenders sent to court. In 2013, the Andhra Pradesh police had...

-IPS News MALKANGIRI (Odisha)- Scattered across 31 remote hilltop villages on a mountain range that towers 1,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, in the Malkangiri district of India's eastern Odisha state, the Upper Bonda people are considered one of this country's most ancient tribes, having barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years. Resistant to contact with the outside world and fiercely skeptical of modern development, this community of under...

-The Hindu Reason: inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by Centre Theni (Tamil Nadu): Thousands of labourers, who registered their names with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), in rain-fed and drought-prone areas of the district are jobless due to the inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by the Centre. The delay has not only stalled ongoing works but also affected implementation of new ones, according to officials in village...