-The Economic Times Extreme poverty afflicts more than one in five people, according to the World Bank. The institution's new president, Jim Yong Kim, speaks of the need to "bend the arc of history in order to eliminate extreme poverty and achieve shared prosperity". At a time when his bank's resources as well as the budgetary resources of governments are limited, Brazil offers important lessons on how to eliminate extreme poverty and...

-Live Mint Indians who live in slums are not very different from those who live elsewhere, in terms of ownership of assets Indians who live in slums are not very different from those who live elsewhere, in terms of their ownership of assets, including consumer products and houses, although they may not have the same access to water and sanitation. The finding, reflected in Census 2011 data that was released on Thursday, reinforces...

-Live Mint Research conducted in 10 European cities; results comparable to the burden associated with passive smoking Exposure to vehicular pollution near busy roads is responsible for 14% of chronic childhood asthma cases, according to a new research conducted in 10 European cities. The results are comparable to the burden associated with passive smoking which, the World Health Organization estimates, causes between 4% and 18% of asthma cases in children. The study was...

-The Economic Times The government wants to roll out cash benefit transfers throughout the country before the end of its term in 2014. It is a laudable goal, but will require speedy generation of Aadhaar, the unique identification number, and of Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. About 40% of Indians have no access to formal financial services. So, the government wants to step up efforts to open a bank account for every beneficiary and...

-PTI As many as 1.74 lakh people are unemployed in Delhi, the Economic Survey of Delhi said on Tuesday. The figure constitutes 3.18 per cent of the metropolis' total labour force. Quoting National Sample Survey Organisation survey between July 2009 and June 2010, the survey said there are 1,74,189 unemployed workers in Delhi, of which 15,024 belong to rural areas while 1,59,165 are from urban region. Of the total 52,96,761 employed people, 51,71,968 belong...