-IPS News NEW DELHI: Despite being one of the world's fastest expanding economies, projected to clock seven-percent GDP growth in 2017, India - a nation of 1.2 billion - is trailing behind on many vital social development indices while also hosting one-fourth of the world's poor. While the United Nations prepares to wrap up a decade-and-a-half of poverty alleviation efforts, framed through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by the...

-The Hindu The challenge for the Modi government is to evaluate what works in development programming before making large spending decisions Governments in India have always launched big-ticket social development programmes with ambitious goals. The Narendra Modi government is no exception. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to make India open defecation-free by 2019. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana's financial inclusion programme set a target of opening 10 crore bank accounts by January...

-The Hindu Public health experts agree that the response to the pandemic depends on constant surveillance and monitoring the evolution of the viral strain A viral storm is raging across the country. More than 200 deaths due to Influenza A (H1N1), known as swine flu, have been recorded within a short period of over a month. Telangana, has the dubious distinction of recording over 50 deaths and more than 600 H1N1-positive cases...

-Business Standard The World Bank on Wednesday expressed concern over the disturbing malnutrion of children and gender inequality in Himachal Pradesh The World Bank on Wednesday expressed concern over the disturbing malnutrion of children and gender inequality in Himachal Pradesh. Despite an impressive economic growth and reduction in poverty during the past years, the hill state needs to tackle malnutrion, falling sex ratio of girls and the challenge of looking after growing...

-The Hindustan Times India is likely to face a cotton glut this year. The surplus, however, will be of little comfort to suicide-prone and highly indebted farmers, who stare at a sharp drop in earnings - prices are already down 14% compared with last year. The crisis has to do with a slowdown in China, which is forecast to slash by half the amount of cotton it will import this year, most...