-BBC Four years ago, a group of upper-caste men arrived at Mehul Vinodbhai Kabira's modest two-room home in Gujarat and threatened to burn it down. Bhayla is a nondescript village of around 450 low slung brick-and-cement homes straddling a highway dotted by pharmaceutical, engineering and bio-tech factories. Most of the homes in this dense village are owned by land-owning upper castes, but around 70 belong to Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) like Mr...
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Every 4th person categorised as ‘beggar’ in India is Muslim -Zeeshan Shaikh
-The Indian Express Share of Muslims in official 3.7 lakh ‘beggar’ population is disproportionately larger than the community’s share in country’s population, show Census data. Mumbai: Muslims make up 14.23% of India’s population. They are, however, nearly 25% of the 3.7 lakh individuals who have been listed as beggars by the Government of India. Activists claim that the data — released last month — on the religious orientation of those deemed ‘non workers’...
More »States to be ranked on health, education parameters
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: States will now be ranked on the basis of their performance in the social sector, including health and education. The move, initiated by Niti Aayog, is aimed at encouraging states to compete among themselves and improve social sector indicators as there is growing realisation that performance in health, nutrition and education has not kept pace with the country's economic growth. A senior official said as the states...
More »NGO staff: public servants or private citizens? -G Sampath
-The Hindu They may not need to file returns of their assets for now, but they remain under the ambit of the Lokpal Act New Delhi/ Chennai: Bowing to demands from various quarters — NGOs and political, corporate and philanthropic institutions — the Centre swiftly moved an amendment to address concerns arising from the mandatory declaration of assets and liabilities under the Lok Pal and Lokayukta Act, 2013. While the amended Act continues...
More »New entrants in India's middle class: Drivers, carpenters, pani puri vendors -Hemali Chhapia
-The Times of India MUMBAI: India's middle class has seen new entrants. Pani puri vendors, dosa sellers, carpenters, welders, launderers, drivers and cable TV technicians have all pulled themselves out of the clutches of poverty and leapt into a section of the middle class — the bedrock of the economy. A paper titled 'The Rise of the New Middle Class and the Role of Offshoring of Services', co-authored by the head of...
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