-Reuters WASHINGTON: World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called for a commitment by the international community on Tuesday to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people living in developing countries. To reach that goal, Kim said the world need to reduce the number of people living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day to 3 percent globally by 2030, and raise the per...

-First Post In an interview with Firstpost, Ajay Chhibber, Regional Director of the UNDP, tells us why India ranks low on the Human Development Index, below China, Sri Lanka and Iran, what we need to do to improve our standing and why welfare schemes are not to be blamed for poor growth or inflation. Excerpts from the interview: * Why does India lag other BRIC countries in the HDI ratings? Compared to the other...

-The Economic Times The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti and sarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green-revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture...

-The Economist Government borrowing generates inflation, widens the external deficit and crowds out much-needed investment. Can India now overcome its debt addiction? INDIA has grappled with its public finances for long enough. When presenting its first budget after independence in 1947, the finance minister of the day insisted that the country was not living beyond its means. Yet every budget since has failed to produce a surplus. India borrows more heavily...

-The United Nations There will soon be as many mobile cellular subscriptions as the 7 billion people inhabiting the planet, according to figures released today by the United Nations, which show that strong sustained demand for information and communication technology services is being encouraged by falling prices for broadband Internet. “The World in 2013: ICT Facts and Figures,” produced by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), also shows that despite a positive...