-The World Bank It is generally thought that two groups are the big winners of the past two decades of globalization: the very rich, and the middle classes of emerging market economies. The statistical evidence for this has been cobbled together from a number of disparate sources. The evidence includes high GDP growth in emerging market economies, strong income gains recorded for those at the top of the income pyramid in the...

-Live Mint The solutions to India’s growth problems require a more holistic approach Whether rightly or wrongly, there is a growing critique of India’s current development strategy: of a top-down, trickle-down theory that rides on an extraordinary growth momentum. They are disparate, but when the dots are connected they do present a coherent reminder that this strategy may not be the best and, worse, it is not sustainable. To a large extent this...

-The Telegraph India’s education system is marked by poor quality and produces “functional illiterates”, the chief of a UN body told The Telegraph here today. “India has made a lot of progress in achieving education for all, but what kind of education is being imparted and whether there are adequate teachers are issues of concern. The result is functional illiteracy,” Unesco director-general Irina Bokova said on the sidelines of a conference by...

-Live Mint Flexible labour laws in India cannot solve the problem of weak job growth and the poor quality of employment  The theme of the World Bank’s World Development Report this year is, appropriately enough, jobs. The report recognizes that creating jobs is the surest way of reducing inequality and poverty, particularly in the developing world. But the cliché it offers as a solution is disappointing: relax labour laws. The bank has...

-Kafila.org Even though Hiamchal Pradesh voted on November 4, Gujarat has been hogging all the limelight. The election in Gujarat is only in the third week of December. Gujarat captures our political imagination as a ‘role model state’ whereas Hiamchal Pradesh is just in our tourism agenda as a top holiday destination. It is hard for anyone to notice Himachal as a political entity among the big brothers like Uttar Pradesh,...