Miles to go
The good news for India from the Human Development Report 2003 is that it has sustained its progress on the human development index and the gender development index. Indian policy makers have also been quick to pat themselves on the back for the country's significant progress towards the goal of …
Rich nations must cut subsidies, open trade, increase aid
Rich nations need to improve trade terms, cut agricultural subsidies and increase aid to developing nations in order to help achieve the goal of lifting hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty by 2015. Unless rich countries keep their promises to deliver aid for development, warns Human Development …
Kerala`s fiscal liabilities on the rise: Report
The overall fiscal liabilities of Kerala have been on the rise in recent years and they grew by an average of 19.42 per cent during the five-year period between 1997-98 and 2001-02. According to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which was placed in the …
India down in UN human development index
India fell three notches from 124 to 127 in the human development index rankings released by the United Nations Development Programme. While its index value reflected general progress and improved from 0.519 in 1990 to 0.59 in 2001, two new countries Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Occupied Palestinian Territories posted …
India gets ambitious on `freedom fuel`
Ever heard of hydrogen based motorcycles, generators and cooking stoves? India is all set to prepare a hydrogen energy roadmap to find out how such breakthrough technologies can be taken out of research laboratories to the common man. Also known as "freedom fuel", hydrogen is being looked at as an …
MP, Rajasthan UN global role model
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two of India's poorest states with some of the country's worst social indicators, and both currently ruled by Congress governments, have been cited in a UN report as global role models for "education policies that deliver results" - transforming schooling for poor people.
India slides down the index
Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal have received considerable appreciation in the 2003 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme even as India was pushed down three rungs on the human Development Index to the 127th position in the comity of 175 nations.
NABARD calls for collective effort for rural devp
An awareness programme on Self-Help Groups (SHGs) was jointly organized by NABARD, Lakhimi Gaonlia Bank (LGB) and Uttaran, an NGO, at historical Akhoiphutia Bar Namghar in Assam. About 90 participants representing leaders, members of newly formed of nine SHGs, weavers, farmers, PRI members and other local social activists attended the …
Bihar`s annual plan Rs 3,320 crore
The Planning Commission fixed Bihar's annual Plan for 2003-04 at Rs 3,320 crores which includes additional Central assistance of Rs 50 crores for priority schemes.
Bangladesh more open to trade than India: WTO
India has the highest average applied tariff rate among 34 key countries identified by the World Trade Organisation(WTO). It tops the list with a figure of 31 per cent, against the zero tariffs in Hong Kong and Singapore.Bangladesh is next with an average applied tariff rate of 21.9 per cent. …
Chamber plans for hilly areas
The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suggested a seven-point development strategy to the Government of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal for growth and to generate new employment avenues in hilly areas. "The key to survival lies in mainstreaming the economies with forces of globalisation," PHDCCI said in a representation …
Rich-poor gap widening in Russia
The gap between the rich and poor in Russia is widening despite economic revival. The richest 10 per cent of Russians earn 15 times more than the poorest 10 per cent, according to government statistics for the first three months of this year. The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates that …
Keeping a watch on our institutions
A recent report brought out by two independent agencies assesses the contribution of some major democratic institutions to promoting social and economic development. However, a new "Citizen's Report on Governance and Development", entitled "Social Watch India 2003," seeks to break out of this pattern by being much more specific and …
For growth, look inwards
Economists will debate for some more time whether last year, 2002-03, was as bad as the Central Statistical Organisation claim it was, with a lowly growth rate of 4.3%, but investors are already looking at the future and beginning to smile. The news of a normal monosoon has reviewed sentiment. …
Physicists hear natures longest tune
It's not everyday that physicists discover nature singing an entirely unknown tune, but that's what physicists in the US and Japan appeared to have detected in two sets of quite different experiments on opposite sides of the world. They believe they have discovered a five-quark particle, or
Goa`s annual Plan outlay fixed at Rs 650 crore
The Planning Commission has approved the annual Plan of Goa for 2003-04, pegging the core plan at Rs 650 crore. This includes an additional Central assistance of Rs 10 crore for the State's priority schemes. With a per capita income at 2.5 times the national average coupled with being a …
Employment trends in West Bengal
Like the rest of India, West Bengal has experienced stagnation in employment generation, and declines in agricultural employment over the past decade. This has occurred despite reasonably good rates of output growth, especially in agriculture.
