According to a new Oxford University study, 55 percent of India’s population of 1.1 billion, or 645 million people, are living in poverty. Using a newly-developed index, the study found that about one-third of the world’s poor live in India. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has been developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a more precise and comprehensive means of...

The legacy of Industrial Agriculture With the world population passing the 6 billion mark last October, the debate over our ability to sustain a fast growing population is heating up. Biotechnology advocates in particular are becoming very vocal in their claim that there is no alternative to using genetically modified crops in agriculture if "we want to feed the world". Actually, that quote might be true. It depends what they mean...

Pickers say waste-to-energy incineration plants increase emissions and take away their only means of survival. The waste-pickers who scour the world's rubbish dumps and daily recycle thousands of tonnes of metal, paper and plastics are up in arms against the U.N., which they claim is forcing them out of work and increasing climate change emissions. Their complaint, heard on Wednesday in Bonn where the U.N. global climate change talks have resumed. The...

The government is likely to provide subsidised wheat and rice to 1.5 crore additional BPL families from October 2, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said the Planning Commission will give the revised number of people living below poverty line (BPL) in a month's time. The revision is being done based on the parameter decided by the...

After a long wait, a legislation aimed at protecting whistleblowers will be taken up by the Cabinet on Thursday. The Bill has provisions to prevent victimization or disciplinary action against those who expose corruption in government. The proposed law is expected to encourage disclosure of information in public interest and will cover central, state and public sector employees. According to the bill, if a person making a disclosure is victimized...