-The Times of India Is wealth trickling up instead of down? Yes, says rockstar economist Thomas Piketty whose new book proposing a wealth tax on the super rich has sparked off a firestorm. Excerpts from an exclusive interview... His book Capital in the Twenty-First Century has put the spotlight on Thomas Piketty, transforming the Paris School of Economics professor to global superstar. In these troubled times, he highlights a troubling issue:...
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Deciphering India through data -Padmaparna Ghosh
-The Times of India Prem Das Rai, an MP from Sikkim, knew that development indicators from his state were exceptional. But his office didn't know how to showcase them. He reached out to Swaniti, a Delhi-based not-for-profit organization that has been working "consulting style" with parliamentarians. Their portal called Jigyasa aims to answer questions like Rai's. Rwitwika Bhattacharya, Swaniti's founder-CEO, was surprised at what they uncovered. "I always thought that the...
More »The case against privatisation of education-Pulapre Balakrishnan
-The Hindu The state must remain in higher education as the private sector is yet to demonstrate its capacity to create knowledge on a sufficient scale The impending inauguration of a new government finds interested parties bringing into the public arena matters of importance to them. One of the issues that has been raised recently is whether higher education in India should be privatised. This question merits serious attention. And though interest...
More »UN study shows decrease in maternal deaths
-The Hindu Fresh data released by the United Nations shows a 45 per cent decrease in maternal deaths since 1990. An estimated 2.89 lakh women died in 2013 from complications in pregnancy and childbirth as against 5.23 lakh maternal deaths in 1990. Another WHO study, also published in "The Lancet Global Health", adds a new dimension to maternal mortality by stating that more than one in four mothers die due to...
More »Unchanging destinies of the poor-Harsh Mander
-Live Mint The Musahar communities of eastern UP and Bihar have been unable to escape the trap of desperate poverty India has been conspicuously less successful than many other emerging economies in the scale, speed and depth of its reversal of poverty. But many scholars say that whatever one's measures of poverty, young people on an average have better educational and economic prospects today than those of their parents and grandparents. They...
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