-The Business Standard Growth, not entitlement, reduces poverty, according to the latest data The numbers may seem unrealistic, but the broad indication is loud and clear: among all available medicines, growth seems to be the most effective medicine against poverty at the moment. According to the recently released poverty data, states like Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan have done well when it comes to reducing poverty in the last seven years. And these...

-The Indian Express What caused the steep fall in poverty reported by the Planning Commission? The evidence is mixed Earlier this week, the Planning Commission released estimates of the incidence of poverty in 2011-12. As in virtually the entire literature on the measurement of poverty in India, these estimates are based on data on per capita consumption expenditure collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation. The estimates show that there has been...

-The Hindu Notional poverty line will stand at a per capita expenditure of around Rs. 50 per day in rural areas and Rs. 62 in urban areas While the Opposition pillories the Planning Commission for using a formal definition of poverty that ensures the percentage of people below the poverty line is lower than what it ought to be, the government has begun moving to a broader and more realistic de facto...

-The Telegraph Guwahati: Assam will implement the UPA government's National Food Security scheme from November 19, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said today. The much-hyped National Food Security Ordinance, which is expected to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament, will ensure access to quality food by all people in the country, especially those in the BPL category. Gogoi told reporters here that a group of ministers (GoM) has already been constituted to...

-The Hindu Kochi: An artificial scarcity of drugs looms large with the new drug pricing regime, slashing prices for 348 essential drugs, set to prevail from July 29. Many retailers who stock medicines for a week are not picking up medicines and are keeping a minimum inventory. Some retailers said distributors were not making medicines available. It has sent medical retail stores into a tizzy about the fate of already available stocks. J.S....