Ashish Bose is a veteran demographer whose expertise in analysing population data persuaded the former Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi to make him an advisor on issues ranging from urbanisation to poverty alleviation. He is best known for coining the term Bimaru (shorthand for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) for states with the worst socio-economic indicators. An author of 24 books, he is now working on a...

The Budget provides proof of the United Progressive Alliance government having forgotten the importance of its own “flagship schemes”. BUDGET 2012-13 provides conclusive proof that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has lost its way. It has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting almost everyone and making no one happy. The Budget is highly regressive in both taxation and spending terms and will raise prices of essentials, so aam aurat and...

-The Economic Times   Anna Hazare and his team were once again on the confrontation course with the Manmohan Singh government, with the activist setting 2014 - which coincides with the next general elections - as the deadline for converting the Jan Lokpal bill, drafted by them, into a law.  "Government's intention is not clear on removing corruption and that is why they are not bringing Jan Lokpal Bill," alleged Hazare while staging...

-IANS Debunking the government's claim that the number of poor  in India has come down, a top adviser has claimed that around 70 % of the country's 1.2 billion population is poor, and stressed the need for a multi-dimensional assessment of poverty.  "The government claim that poverty has come down is not valid... there is a need for a multi-dimensional assessment of poverty as around 70% of the population is poor," National Advisory...

CNN-IBN   Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal's comments calling for FIRs against 14 ministers rocked Parliament on Monday. Team Anna got it left and right in Parliament as politicians hit out at Arvind Kejriwal for accusing them of corruption and mocking them. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said, "Leaders are being mocked by Team Anna. They are insulting the leaders. We condemn Team Anna for their comments on Sunday." Claiming that...