-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...

-The Times of India In a recent election rally, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi advised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, one of the country's top economists, to follow the Gujarat model of development , to cure the country of its ills. "Mr Prime Minister, if you try to follow the path of Gujarat state, the condition of the country will be transformed." Modi, who is projecting himself as the champion of economic...

-Outlook Newly-appointed Minister of Housing and Urban poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken today said the state governments would be asked to issue an executive order to provide property rights to slum dwellers till the Model Bill on the issue is passed. Soon after taking charge of the ministry today, Maken told reporters that a Model Property Rights to Slum Dwellers Bill, 2011 will be passed at the earliest and the states would be...

-The Hindu The Centre will soon implement Phase II of the Rajiv Awas Yojna with a focus on providing long-term and bankable property rights to slum dwellers, Union Housing and Urban poverty Alleviation Minister Ajay Maken said, soon after taking charge of his new Ministry on Tuesday. Talking to journalists at his office in Nirman Bhavan, Mr. Maken said the Centre will adopt the twin strategy of funding and “mandatory reforms” in...

-Live Mint While natural disasters grab our attention, everyday events like illness drag most people into poverty  In a small town of Gujarat, I met Chandibai, a woman, about 50 years of age. Fifteen years previously, her husband, Gokalji, had owned a general-purpose shop in the town centre. The family also owned a house and some agricultural land. In 1989, Gokalji developed an illness that confined him to bed, sometimes at home...