-First Post In an interview with Firstpost, Ajay Chhibber, Regional Director of the UNDP, tells us why India ranks low on the Human Development Index, below China, Sri Lanka and Iran, what we need to do to improve our standing and why welfare schemes are not to be blamed for poor growth or inflation. Excerpts from the interview: * Why does India lag other BRIC countries in the HDI ratings? Compared to the other...
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The long and short of open defecation-Dean Spears
-The Hindu There is statistical data to show that the height of Indian children is correlated to their and their neighbourhood’s access to toilets You can learn a lot from measuring children’s height. How tall a child has grown by the time she is a few years old is one of the most important indicators of her well-being. This is not because height is important in itself, but because height reflects a...
More »World Bank president steps into 'world of the poor'
-The Hindustan Times Kanpur: The district administration here made best of efforts to present a pretty picture. But the World Bank chief Dr Jim Yong Kim was obviously not moved. What touched him instead was the rampant poverty that he saw everywhere. "People here are extremely poor. They don't have access to clean drinking water, roads, sanitation and electricity," he said after visiting a Gwaltoli slum in Kanpur. "They (the people) struggle...
More »New UN survey ‘My World’ lets citizens vote on future development priorities
-The United Nations Citizens from all over the world can help shape the future global development agenda through their participation in the United Nations survey ‘My World’, which allows them to vote on issues they believe are priorities and should be addressed by world leaders. Launched this week, the survey seeks to build on the momentum generated by the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and tackle challenges that...
More »Displaced slum-dwellers out on a limb for 17 days
-The Hindu 144 families desperately seek temporary shelter Bangalore: Dozens of slum-dwellers from Laggere, who were recently displaced from their homes as part of a slum rejuvenation project, staged a protest outside the office of the Karnataka Slum Development Board here on Thursday demanding immediate relief. Over a fortnight ago, bulldozers hired by the board razed 144 huts in the Lakshmidevi slum in Laggere, displacing at least 500 people. The demolition drive was...
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