In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
'Those who hope for a strong united Opposition are disillusioned at the way in which the INDIA alliance has already been caught in debilitating squabbles.'
The Planning Commission has issued poverty estimates based on the Suresh Tendulkar methodology, while admitting it was not taking this seriously.
An increase in development aid since 2002 has raised health and education standards and hastened gender equality among the world's poorest nations but overall poverty rates are not improving, says a new United Nations report.
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Poverty figures for 2011-2012 have shown a steep decline since 2004-2005.
In an indication that the BJP is looking to welcome politicians from other parties into its fold, Shah asked party members to connect with well-known personalities and leaders from different communities if they want to be part of the "nationalist mainstream".
The prime minister said that India needs to fully depend on itself.
'Sweden removed the inheritance tax because many of the rich were fleeing. For example, the owner of IKEA had migrated out of Sweden'
The still lingering global financial turmoil could push as many as 21 million more people into extreme poverty in the Asia-Pacific region, a joint report by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank said.
This is an increase of $1.1 billion over the previous year, the World Bank said on Thursday, adding that it invested $6.6 billion in 89 projects to promote economic growth, fight poverty and assist private businesses. This includes nearly $2 billion in infrastructure financing, a critical sector to provide the foundation for rapid recovery from the crisis and job creation.
>Rohini Acharya, Lalu Yadav's daughter who donated her kidney to her father in December 2022, is on her introductory campaign trail in the constituency that has been represented by her father four times.
Slamming the Planning Commission over its controversial definition of poverty, the BJP on Friday dubbed it a "conspiracy" hatched by the body and the Centre to deprive a large number of poor people of benefits under various welfare programmes.
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
A Harvard study finds a 'peculiar relationship between the levels of political freedom a nation affords and the severity of terrorism.'
Here are the 10 key issues likely to be the centre of discussion in the seven-phase general elections that begin on April 19.
There's an entire gurdwara dedicated to immigration. People present tiny airliner models here in the hope that Waheguru will soon give them a ticket, passport and visa to leave, reveals Shekhar Gupta.
The government should become more accountable, carry out labour and land reforms, ensure higher credit flow to rural India and improve education to bring down poverty in India, according to a study carried out by London School of Economics.
'When the mill strike started, there was crisis in every mill worker household.' 'One entire generation went without education.' 'Hunger forced them to take to crime.'
The multilateral lender, in its recently released report 'Global Economic Prospects for 2009', said a quarter of India's population will be living in extreme poverty, on less than $1.25 a day, in 2015. According to the World Bank's poverty forecast, China had 60.2 per cent of its population living on less than $1.25 a day in 1990, compared to India's 51.3 per cent.
The idea, suggested by 64-year-old Jawaharlal Sharma, is how to share the cost of making the loaf and thereby reducing its prices.
Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has revealed his incredible journey from the poverty and hardship of a Buenos Aires ghetto to the iconic superstardom that he enjoys in the Premier League club.
India could gain four times over by winding up dysfunctional subsidies.
Macron's office said the President will travel to Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 following which he will leave for Bangladesh for a bilateral visit.
The study 'Orissa in Transition: From Fiscal Turnaround to Rapid and Inclusive Growth' was conducted by the World Bank in 2007. The study found that the poverty headcount ratio for the state, after rising during 1993-99, declined during 2000-2005 by more than 8 percentage points in rural Orissa and 2.5 percentage points in urban Orissa. This is better than the all-India average decline of 5 percentage points for urban India and 2 percentage points for rural India.
India has failed to use a period of high economic growth to lift tens of millions of people out of poverty.
Figures of people living below the poverty line in India was being fudged by international agencies like the World Bank to paint a grim picture of the Indian economy, Planning Commission Member N K Singh said on Monday.
India has mooted an International Skill Development Fund with active assistance from the developed countries for rooting out poverty in the developing countries.\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on the Christian community on Monday for its role in giving direction to the society and sense of service, and said the country proudly acknowledges its contribution.
The level of poverty is lower in Europe than in other regions but the significance lies in the fact that the region encompasses some of the richest countries.
The UN secretary-general said the rich only made promises, never came good on them.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Modi said he is seeking a third term not to enjoy power but to work for the nation. "If I had thought of my home, it would not have been possible to build homes for crores of people," he said.
President A P J Abdul Kalam said on Friday that to completely eradicate poverty in the country, India would have to achieve a GDP growth of 10 per cent continuously for a decade at a stretch.
The leading NRI industrialist said, 'What happens to the poorest citizen in the poorest country can directly affect the richest citizen in the richest country.'
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