Per capita income, once regarded as the best index of the welfare of a society, has long since been dethroned from this status. People have argued persuasively that it is a measure that ignores not only income distribution but also the quality of life. Alternative approaches have been designed to explore these nuances of measurement and alternative indices constructed. Amartya Sen has developed a ‘capabilities approach’ to the question of...

782474317884. Ranjana Sadashiv Sonawane is unable to read the 12-digit number printed on a piece of paper given to her. But the 41-year-old resident of Tembhli village in Nandurbar district, who created history on Wednesday by becoming the first person to get an unique identity number under the UPA government’s Aadhar project, is not willing to let such minor issues mar the celebrations. “We will get many benefits. This will provide...

The body of Arjun K. Sengupta, a developmental economist of repute and Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, was cremated at the Lodhi Crematorium here on Monday. He was 73. Dr. Sengupta, who died on Sunday evening at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences after a brief illness, is survived by his wife Jayshree and daughter Madhura. Born in Kolkata on June 10, 1937, Dr. Sengupta finished high school at the Mitra...

Considerable sections of the urban population may face serious food insecurity even while the urban economy grows. There is a need for urgent action on this front. Over the two decades of rapid growth of the Indian economy, the urban economy is generally perceived as having done very well. However, high urban economic growth need not by itself imply improved living standards for all urban residents. In particular, the recent and...

The minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh’s order stopping Vedanta Aluminum Ltd and the Orissa Mining Corporation from mining bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills to feed the company’s adjacent Lanjigarh aluminum refinery plant located in one of the country’s poorest districts in the name of tribal interest tends to miss the wood for the trees. It is based on the report of a four-member expert group under N C...