The death of a human rights activist is rarely a lead story of newspapers, especially in Andhra Pradesh. However, that has what happened when K Balagopal died in Hyderabad on Thursday night. All the three leading Telugu newspapers in the state, Eenadu, Saakshi and Andhra Jyothi, carried the news prominently in the front page either as lead or second lead. The New Indian Express also carried it as a lead...

KEY TRENDS    • According to The State of the World's Children 2019 report, the proportion of children under 5 years who are either stunted, wasted or overweight was 54 percent for India in 2015, 49 percent for Afganistan, 46 percent for Bangladesh in 2014, 43 percent for Nepal in 2016, 43 percent for Pakistan in 2018, 40 percent for Bhutan in 2010, 32 percent for Maldives in 2009, 28 percent for Sri Lanka and 50...

KEY TRENDS   • In 2018, India's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking was 129th (HDI value 0.647) among 189 countries and UN recognized territories, while China's ranking was 85th (HDI value 0.758), Sri Lanka's 71st (HDI value 0.780), Bhutan's 134th (HDI value 0.617), Bangladesh's 135th (HDI value 0.614) and Pakistan's 152th (HDI value 0.560) *8    • In 2017, India's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking was 130th (HDI value 0.640) among 189 countries, while China's ranking was 86th (HDI...

‘Entitlements under NREGA violated’       Jean Drèze is a Development Economist of Belgian origin (now an Indian citizen) and has co-authored several books with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. He studied Mathematical Economics at the University of Essex and did his PhD (Economics) at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Jean has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public economics, with special reference to India. He is currently a visiting...