The world has achieved its first Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty in half ahead of the 2015 deadline, a study by the World Bank shows. The bank defines extreme poverty as living on under $1.25 per day, adjusted for purchasing power parity. According to the report, released this week, 1.29 billion people, or 22 percent of the developing world’s population, live below $1.25 a day, down from 52 percent...

-Mid Day   India shines in its malls but slips badly when it comes to ensuring the well- being of its millions India may well be the world's fastest growing "free market"economy, but it is no competition to its neighbours when it comes to the social wellbeing of her people. A comparison with the neighbouring nations shows that besides Pakistan, all others like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China are far better off in...

Kanak Dixit: We have with us Aruna Roy, from Devdungri village in Rajasthan, who has, among other things, been able to take the Right to Information (RTI) from janasunuwais, or public hearings at the village level, all the way to national legislation that encompasses all of India. It is a movement that is truly global in scale. Aruna, a question that has been troubling me quite a bit in the context...

-The United Nations   Global tea prices are set to stay strong through 2012, with demand driven by growth in Asia, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The agency’s Intergovernmental Group on Tea says that the high price of tea, which averaged $2.85 per kilogram in 2011, reflects the fact that demand for black tea – accounting for most of world production – has exceeded supply since 2009. The Group,...

-The Economic Times With roughly three years left for India to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the country has managed to show significant progress in 10 of the 22 indicators.  With impressive gains in improving primary education enrollment rate, promoting gender equality and increasing forest cover, the country's lackluster performance in reducing overall poverty and health indicators has dragged down the performance of the overall South Asian region.  The millennium development goals...