Madhya Pradesh, Democratic Republic of Congo show near identical poverty level India ranks 63rd in the new poverty index, after Togo, before Haiti Quarter of the world lives on $1.25 a day or less: World Bank estimate New U.N. index builds up fuller picture of poor lives; Madhya Pradesh ‘comparable to Congo.' There are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a study reveals...

Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto turned classical capitalism on its head with his trickle-up theory: that if you create wealth at the bottom of the pyramid, it will find its way up. de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, speaks to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV’s Walk the Talk on the need for the poor to be able to participate in the global economy...

At the beginning of this millennium in year 2000, 189 countries and 23 international health agencies had pledged to reduce child under-5 mortality by two-thirds and maternal mortality by three-fourths by 2015. These were called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number 4 and 5. With only five years left for the target year, a clutch of international health agencies and NGOs have come out with ‘‘Countdown to 2015 — Decade...

Better care for babies during the first month after they are born is key to reducing child mortality rates in developing countries, the United Nations health agency said today, in an update on measures that are essential for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). An estimated 40 per cent of deaths of children under the age of five occur in the first month of life, most in the...

Study based on better data, more sophisticated statistical methods Among poor countries progress varied considerably The improvements represent “hope at last” For the first time in decades, researchers are reporting a significant drop worldwide in the number of women dying each year from pregnancy and childbirth, to about 342,900 in 2008 from 526,300 in 1980.The findings, published in the medical journal The Lancet, challenge the prevailing view of maternal mortality as an intractable...