Evidence that poverty has declined since India began to liberalise in the 1980s, that the acceleration in growth to 8-9% range since the mid-2000s has resulted in accelerated poverty reduction and that these trends hold for each broad social group rather than just the aggregate population is as irrefutable as it gets in social sciences. In the accompanying graphic, taken from a recent study by Megha Mukim and the author, show...

-Rediff.com    In this ongoing series we bring you 30 stories of struggle, survival and success to inspire you. This son of a rickshaw puller, who graduated in Mathematics chose entirely new subjects in Civils because he could not afford coaching. Here is his story On the pot-holed lanes of India's holy city Varanasi, Narayan Jaiswal used to pedal his rickety rickshaw to make a living and send his children to school in nearby...

-The Telegraph Indian women living in Canada are more likely to have male babies during their second or third deliveries, according to a new study that hints Indians may have carried the malaise of female foeticide to Canada. Researchers in Canada have found that the male-female ratio of babies born to women from India who already have children is significantly higher than the ratio observed among women from other countries, including Pakistan. Their...

The Centre for Science and Environment has extended its deadline for media fellowships 2012. If you have interest in environmental issues please go through the enclosed notification from the CSE and apply for the media fellowships. Terms and conditions are given below and can also be found on the CSE website (http://www.cseindia.org/).  For any clarification or more information please email or phone Papia Samajdar, or Souparno Banerjee at souparno@cseindia.org / 9910864339. The...

The high-handedness of the Trinamool government in West Bengal has now raised international concern. This time it's the arrest of Partho Sarothi Ray, a molecular biologist of international repute. National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy and renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky and more than four dozen other prominent scientists and public figures from across India and other countries have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to get the academician released after...