-PTI   India is the lowest performing country among the BRICS nations in all categories of the HDI with the exception of life expectancy, which is lower in South Africa as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic  In a sign that shows India has a lot of catching up to do, the country's ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) remained unchanged at 135 in 2013, reflecting little improvement in the living standard...

-Down to Earth While northeast states such as Manipur and Nagaland have shown a sharp deterioration in child sex ratio, the skewed ratio has improved marginally in Punjab and Haryana The steadily declining child sex ratio in India has reached emergency proportions and urgent action must be taken to alleviate this crisis, warned a latest United Nations (UN) study. The report, released on Tuesday, has attributed much of the declining numbers to...

-Down to Earth Blog The performance of nutrition indicators amongst Dalits is improving, it is nowhere near the catch-up pace Does a new government and a strong Prime Minister claiming to hail from the backward caste augur Achche Din for Dalits too? We hope so! But political commitment-or lack of it-has multiple manifestations. In a deeply stratified society like India with entrenched elitism, people from the Scheduled Caste (referred to as Dalits...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Finance   The Economic Survey 2013-14 presented by the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitely has asked policy makers to design and execute development strategies targeting the young population that was approximately 58 per cent in 2001 and will increase to more than 64 per cent in 2021. The Government has to take timely action to make people healthy, educated and adequately skilled. Social-sector expenditure Expenditure on social services...

-The Telegraph The increase in enrolment in primary education in South Asian countries between 2001 and 2010 has not been matched by an increase in learning outcome of children, threatening economic growth in the region, a World Bank report has said. The report titled Student Learning in South Asia has analysed several studies in areas of learning outcome and the link between poor quality primary education and its impact on economic growth. The...