The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
You’d think that a documentary titled Life Apps: India’s Software Heroes would be about geeks. It is, and more. “The plight of farmers in India drew me to this subject,” says director Arjun Pandey, about his latest film that was screened in Delhi on Friday. Shot in Delhi and rural …
Even in countries with rapidly growing economies, large number of people still resort to open defecation: 626 million in India, 14 million in China & 7 million in Brazil finds this 2012 report which assesses the regional progress on eight MDGs. Three important targets on poverty, slums and water have …
The Child Development Index (CDI) offers a fascinating insight into how children are faring around the world. Key findings of this new edition of the CDI are: Overall improvement rates in child well-being almost doubled in the first decade of the 21st century; Developing countries experienced faster rates of progress …
This study assesses children and key stakeholders' perception of the impact of climate change on children's well-being and evaluates children's access to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation information. It also records the current adaptation practices and suggests ways to address some key climate change issues. The study addresses …
SPARC’s flagship report "The State of Pakistan’s Children 2011" encompasses all major sectors of child rights including education, health, child labor, violence against children and juvenile justice to name a few. The report highlights the debilitating state of child rights in the country during 2011 while suggesting recommendations for the …
New Delhi: Health education may soon be part of school curriculum. The government of India, in an attempt to increase awareness about diseases and preventive measures, is mulling over introducing health education as a subject from Class VIII onwards, Dr Jagdish Prasad, the director general of health services, ministry of …
The Annual Plan for Bihar for 2012-13 was on Wednesday finalised at Rs. 28,000 crore at a meeting here between Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Initiating the discussions with issues before the Planning Commission, Mr Ahluwalia said the Commission was looking to …
New Delhi: Days after he differed with NDA partners over the choice of the presidential poll nominee, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has managed to get the Centre to double the special assistance package to Rs 20,000 crore during the 12th five year Plan (2012-17). The state will get Rs …
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)has set up a Rs 20,000 crore project to reach broadband connectivity to an estimated 2,50,000 villages. The aim of the project is to accelerate the delivery of government services in the villages. The proposal to establish the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) to provide broadband …
Expectations are always there from Budget, but in case of the Punjab Budget, which will be announced on June 20, there is already a feeling of dejection. Planners and even the common man feel that the state has very little room for maneuverability at a time when it is saddled …
Sanitation in a government aided school at Woraiyur here has been accorded a fillip in the form of a renovated toilet block sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tiruchi Rock City. The erstwhile toilet block at the All Saints Primary School was unusable as the building was in a poor …
Can decentralisation reforms in education achieve the goal of universal elementary education without removing the barriers of hierarchical social structure in West Bengal? A study based on fieldwork in Kalipur village of Dhaniakhali block in Hooghly district elucidates that the village education committees which are meant to ensure the participation …
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based non-government body, has issued a report on major failures of governance and regulation in the Indian mining sector. Explaining how regulatory lapses led to criminality, it has said former Karnataka minister and mining magnate Janardhana Reddy allegedly used his official position to extort …
Australia will back a push at next week's UN environment summit in Brazil for a new set of green measures to replace the millennium development goals (MDGs). The MDGs were born in 2000, when almost 200 nations pledged to a global partnership to cut poverty, improve health and education and …
New Delhi: The Annual Plan for Meghalaya for 2012-13 was finalised at Rs 3939 crore here on Thursday at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and his Cabinet colleagues. This is an increase of Rs 1212 crore over the …
A Rs. 500 crore farmers' loan relief scheme to aid the debt-ridden farmers, many of whom have been forced to commit suicide, and three rural development schemes named after the Samajwadi Party ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia are among the 280 new populist measures proposed in the State Budget for the …
This approach paper analyses the performance of Andhra Pradesh in different sectors and makes an assessment of future prospects. It then attempts to lay down the approach in terms of targets and strategies for the key economic sectors for the 12th Five Year Plan based on analysis of the past …
The government on Thursday set up an expert technical group headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C. Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty and overhaul the norms in keeping with the present-day prices. The move follows all-round criticism of the Planning Commission's estimates …
The United Nations chief, Ban Ki-moon, held out little hope on Thursday of an historic outcome at the Rio global development summit, now less than a month away, admitting negotiations had been "painfully slow". The warning was the latest from United Nations officials and others involved in preparations that the …
