Madhya Pradesh, Democratic Republic of Congo show near identical poverty level India ranks 63rd in the new poverty index, after Togo, before Haiti Quarter of the world lives on $1.25 a day or less: World Bank estimate New U.N. index builds up fuller picture of poor lives; Madhya Pradesh ‘comparable to Congo.' There are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a study reveals...

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...

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University today launched a new index to measure poverty levels which they said give a “multidimensional” picture of people living in hardship, and could help target development resources more effectively. The new measure, the Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI, was developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with UNDP support, the two institutions said in a joint...

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...

Another shameful incident has brought the caste inequalities in an otherwise modern India to the fore. Parents rioted outside a school in Uttar Pradesh after discovering that the cook who prepared food for their children under the mid-day meal scheme was a Dalit.   The Government middle school in the newly created Ramabai Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh has 191 students, nearly half of them who belong to so-called upper castes...