India's abysmal track record at ensuring basic levels of nutrition is the greatest contributor to its poverty as measured by the new international Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI). About 645 million people or 55% of India's population is poor as measured by this composite indicator made up of ten markers of education, health and standard of living achievement levels. Developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) for the...

Acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states, a new ‘multidimensional’ measure of global poverty has said. The measure claims that the eight states put together account for more poor people than those present in the 26 poorest African nations combined. The new measure, called the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), was developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with the United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) support. It...

Eight Indian states account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African countries combined, a new measure of global poverty has found. The Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have 421 million "poor" people, the study found. This is more than the 410 million poor in the poorest African countries, it said. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures a range of "deprivations" at household levels. Developed by Oxford Poverty...

Women in many countries are being empowered through cooperatives, raising their incomes, becoming more self-reliant and in the process overcoming gender stereotypes, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today. In a message marking the International Day of Cooperatives, Mr. Ban cited the “egalitarian ethos, participatory decision-making, common ownership and commitment to goals beyond the profit motive” as reasons why business, social and economic cooperatives are expanding opportunities for women around the globe. The Secretary-General...

The recent spike in world food prices has further widened the gap between the developed and the developing economies. While, over 70 per cent of the world's population resides in poor countries, it has access to less than 40 per cent of the world's resources such as water, irrigated land, power, etc. This is a result of inconsistent economic progress (post-colonialisation birth pangs), rampant population growth and distractions such as...