-Down to Earth Going by current trends, the target for reducing infant mortality and improving other human development indices seem near impossible to achieve Less that 500 days are left for nations to achieve the targets set under the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); there are eight such goals which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. The countdown for the deadline...

-Down to Earth Crisis in Chhattisgarh over implementation of food security law has crucial lessons for India's public distribution system The unprecedented surge in below-poverty-line (BPL) families in Chhattisgarh has a lesson for India's public distribution system (PDS). In its overdrive to implement its own food security law, the state has issued more ration cards than the total number of households. Political parties see it as a scandal, while it may...

-Live Mint Research shows the wealth of the super-affluent-hidden by tax shelters and non-response to questionnaires-is undercounted Washington: The 1% is literally rich beyond measure, depriving nations of billions in tax revenue and obscuring shifts in global Inequality. Research conducted separately by European Central Bank (ECB) economist Philip Vermeulen and the London School of Economics' Gabriel Zucman shows the wealth of the super-affluent-hidden by tax shelters and non-response to questionnaires-is under-counted. Correcting...

-The Guardian A UN working group has devised a final draft of targets to succeed the millennium development goals. What do you think of the 17 proposals? The UN working group responsible for crafting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) has handed down its final proposal, adding a goal to address domestic and global Inequality. The recommendations include 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. The list includes a reworking of...

-The Indian Express This year's edition of the Human Development Report contains a set of practical recommendations The 2014 Human Development Report (HDR) draws attention to the urgent need to address human vulnerabilities and build resilience as conditions for accelerating and sustaining progress. Human insecurity stems from not only low and uncertain incomes, but from many other sources, including inadequate access to health, food and shelter, unsafe environments, and inadequate protection of...