Attempts by the Indian government to combat poverty are not working, according to the World Bank. The governing coalition spends billions of dollars - more than 2% of its gross domestic product - on helping the poor. But a new World Bank report says Aid programmes are beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments. As an example, the report cites grain: only 40% of grain handed out for the poor reaches its intended...

Mass leaders in India have a tradition of broaching BSP —bijli, sadak and pani — issues to strike a chord during election rallies. However, in almost each of her 150-plus rallies across the state in the election season, Mamata Banerjee deviated from the conventional mix and squeezed into her speech phrases like debt burden, public finance and economic recovery. Whether such esoteric terms found resonance or not, Mamata did get across the...

-The Hindu   Representatives of government institutions at a meeting on new initiatives in community health in Rajasthan at Swasthya Bhavan here on Monday sAid health care delivery should be strengthened in the remote areas and free treatment provided to all sections of poor and under-privileged people in the State. The two-day meeting was presided over by State Planning Board Member and eminent neurologist Ashok Panagariya and attended by Medical and Health...

-Irin   Changing the food the US government supplies as Aid could deliver better results and still save money, a new study says. The review for the US Agency for International Development (USAid) by researchers at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy has been welcomed by NGOs and US food Aid experts, but the findings have also come in for some criticism. The two-year review considered if USAid...

Migrant workers and minorities are among groups that continue to face discrimination in the labour market as a result of the global economic crisis, despite positive advances in anti-discrimination laws, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) sAid in a report unveiled today. “Economically adverse times are a breeding ground for discrimination at work and in society more broadly. We see this with the rise of populist solutions,” sAid ILO Director-General...