Asian countries, including India, are facing a worsening water crisis that threatens to curtail food production while taking an increasingly heavy toll on the region`s economies, the Asian Development Bank said in its latest report. Among the region’s largest countries, the ADB estimated `India would have a water deficit of 50 per cent by 2030 while China would have a short
In Bangalore’s Vidhana Soudha, history is repeating itself as farce. Even as governor HR Bhardwaj has set October 14 as the fresh deadline for the Yedyurappa government to prove its majority on the floor of the house, the course of events from here on seems quite predictable. Having lost the majority, the BJP will use every trick of the trade to avoid the floor test. The BJP h
India is way behind the rest of the world - at least most of it - in parity of the two sexes considering pay, education, health and economic representation, according to a World Economic Forum report. The report, ranks India at 112 out of the 134 countries surveyed. The report says, “India and Pakistan perform above average on the political empowerment of wo
With no updated data on child malnourishment, India slipped further down on the Global Hunger Index 2010. “India has been ranked 67 in 2010 - in 2009 the country was ranked at 65,” says the International Food Policy research Institute (IFPRI) release. “IFPRI calculated India’s rank based on the data on undernourished children in 2004-06, which is the lates
Scoundrels, politics and resorts have an enduring relationship. As the elected leaders in Karnataka have shown, not for the first time, the resort is the first politics of the scoundrel. When in doubt, turn dissident, and lap up the goodies on offer; such goodies as an all-expenses-paid holiday to a popular resort where your silence is golden, although sometimes its opposite can be platinu
Wealth has surged in India, tripling over the last decade, says a new report released by investment bank Credit Suisse. It also added that most Indians may almost double their assets over the next five years. “The total wealth of India has tripled in a decade to $3.5 trillion and by 2015, based on current trends, India’s wealth could nearly double to USD 6.4 trillion,
India is growing economically but Indians face shortage of housing, says a report released by the World Bank. “In India alone, estimates of the housing shortage range from 20 million to 70 million yet as much as half of this excess demand can be profitably serviced by the housing and housing finance markets,” says the report released in Washington DC.
The International Monetary Fund has revised its growth forecast for India in FY `10, raising it to 9.7 percent from the July figure of 9.5 pc. The Washington based lender said that India`s growth-surge is based on local consumer demand. “Low reliance on exports, accommodative policies, and strong capital inflows have supported domestic activity and growth,” the IMF sa
Under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), only 45% schools across the country received all the three mandatory grants in the years 2008-09, says a report. The Planning, Allocations and Expenditures, Institutions: Studies in Accountabilty (PAISA) report, brought out jointly by Delhi based think-tank Accountabilty Intiative, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and
The Planning Commission is in the process of reinventing itself. More than making five-year plans and allocating resources, it seeks to transform itself into what is being described as the Systems Reforms Commission—a strategic thinking group that will look ahead and think ahead, sense the emerging challenges and the opportunities and accordingly, devise appropriate responses for the gove
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has paradoxically perturbed an entire generation for the same reason as it has relieved the others. It seems to have placed faith over fact, mythological epic over documentary evidence, legend over law, unsettling those brought up on the denial of religion. It has embarrassed the young urban middle-class Hindus who had built up an entire mental edif
With the demand for clean energy in India increasing, its aggregated potential market is expected to touch Rs 9,728 crore annually, an Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) report says. The aggregated potential market for the clean energy across four sectors comprising--decentralised renewable energy services, solar home systems, solar lanterns and energy e
Delhites, despite the pains and harassment the authorities have subjected them to in the name of CWG preparation, are backing the Games - or so a report says. “Delhiites seem to be now wishing to see a successful Commonwealth Games to restore the prestige of the nation,” says FICCI CWG survey. “74 percent people expect Delhi to be a better place t
As India tries to salvage the Commonwealth Games from stained walls and other infrastructure inadequacies, a report suggests the mess might just cost India 90 billion dollars. With just five days left for the Games, the world now questions India on megaproject management capability, says the study done by Delhi based think tank – Imagindia Institute which is studying the image and geopoli
India`s IT superpower image has received a hit as a report reveals that 84 percent of people in rural India are completely unaware of the existence of the internet. The study was conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and market research firm IMRB across villages in seven states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Prade
At a time when illegal mining and export of iron ore has become a political hot potato, union steel minister Virbhadra Singh has put his weight behind those favouring a ban on such exports. Singh also has a role to play in dealing with the vexed question of balancing the interests of the mining and steel industry with the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the communities th
The gallows in my garden, people say, Is new and neat and adequately tall; I tie the noose on in a knowing way As one that knots his necktie for a ball; But just as all the neighbours - on the wall - /Are drawing a long breath to shout “Hurray!” The
The shocking revelation of the prolonged sexual abuse of a 12 year old school-going girl (and her two younger brothers) by the driver of a private cab is just a pointer to a much larger and more serious problem, suggests a survey of the young girls. The survey found that and 69 percent of the girls surveyed felt cities offer an unsafe and insecure living environment and 74 percen
Don’t mess with us. Don’t dare call the mess at Commonwealth Games village mess. Don’t forget your diplomatic manners as guests even if we do not begin to understand ours as the host. Don’t forget we are among the largest markets in the world. India is repeatedly sending out such not-so-covert messages to the foreign contingents that have started arriving for the
India is the third most powerful nation in the world, an official US report says. India is placed after the US and China in the power list. The new report by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union`s Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) was released this week. The report titled ‘Global Governance 2025’ predicts India’s p
