-SocialProgressImperative.org The 2014 Social Progress Index reveals striking differences across countries in their social performance, highlights the very different strengths and weaknesses of individual countries, and provides concrete guidance for national policy agendas. The Index is the sum of three dimensions: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. Each dimension is made up of four equally weighted individual components scored on an objective scale from 0-100. This scale is determined by...

-PTI He noted that India's performance in poverty reduction and public welfare schemes is now lower even than that of poor countries Vested interests of individuals and "lobbying" among political parties is acting as impediment in India's quest for poverty reduction, noted economist Jean Dreze has said. The economist said it was "ironical" that during the peak period of the country's development, the corresponding indexes for poverty reduction, nutrition and health status have...

-Society for Labour and Development The key findings of the report entitled Exploring Rural-Urban Dynamics- A Study of Inter-State Migrants in Gurgaon: Researching Labour and Migration between Home and Destination States and Developing a Holistic Rural-Urban Approach (2014) is provided below: 1. Overwhelming majority of the inter-state migrants in Gurgaon are men in the age group of 18 to 40 years. While garment industry elsewhere has majority of female workers, Gurgaon's export-oriented...

-The Hindustan Times We are a nation holding our breath. Some in eager anticipation, others in ambiguous apprehension or actual terror, but all of us transfixed by the drama of Mr Narendra Modi's arrival. Even those who do not relish the thought of the outcome seem happy to get it over, to put behind us this sad drama of the UPA's strange implosion, the decline, Lear-like, from decisiveness (if wrong-headed at times)...

-The Hindustan Times Rubina appears much older than the 40 years she admits to. She does not look you in the eye; she is hardly audible, and often trembles. Her hut, on the outskirts of Guhana village in Haryana's Mewat district, is surrounded by garbage heaps and excreta. There is no water or electricity and the hut is filled with acrid smoke from the cooking fire. "This is how our stories...