In South Asia, the poverty would fall to 13.5 per cent in 2015.
In the past decade-and-a-half, sections of urban India have become much more liberal about accepting gay men and women than our colonial-era laws might have suggested, says Rahul Jacob.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
'The nicest thing is that it is not my film.' 'People bring their own stories and life histories to the film.'
'How many Indian parents, still alive, really have documents of, their parents's date and place of birth? Not more than 27% of still alive Indians have got birth certificates,' points out Mohammad Sajjad.
The Child Protection Services programme under the Integrated Child Development Services was increased to Rs 1,500 crore from Rs 925 crore.
'Will anything change for you after the election?' And the man said 'Kuch nahin badlega.' And he had a smile on his face. He knew nothing was going to change.
Vil Ambu is an engaging thriller, writes S Saraswathi.
Some of the performances are ordinary, but even that does not affect the magic of this film, says S Saraswathi.
'Muslims may turn to the BJP or may not come out to vote in great numbers like they have in the past.' 'Anything can happen.' 'They can feel an increased sense of alienation, but that depends on the BJP -- on how it includes them.'
Continued lack of consensus at next meeting could cast shadow on GST rollout by April 1.
Quantico looks like your run-of-the-mill Homeland-esque drama whose only USP is Priyanka Chopra.
Kung Fu Yoga actress Amyra Dastur shares her learnings from Jackie Chan.
'We should be open to looking at Ramdas Athavale's suggestion of reservations. India will not be unique if it chooses to do this, says Aakar Patel.
The first season had a few loopholes but Quantico Season 2 seems to be the quintessential crime drama with a lot of suspense, confusion and good performances, feels Namrata Thakker.
Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs who fought for the right of the community over the disputed land, says Muslims in Ayodhya won't be satisfied if the Sunni Waqf Board accepts the five acres in Dhannipur.
'I toh don't even understand making crores because I have never done such a commercially hit film in my life.' 'It's unbelievable for me.'
'Mulk questions the very principle, of good-Muslim exceptionalism.' 'That, of course, we adore Abdul Hamid, A P J Abdul Kalam and Bismillah Khan and if only more Muslims were like them.' 'Anubhav Sinha sticks his neck out to say that these are no exceptions.' 'Most Muslims are like them. It is the terrorists who are exceptions,' says Shekhar Gupta.
There appears to be a growing perception among the political class that faster growth will not create jobs fast enough and, therefore, welfare spending needs to be drastically increased, says T T Ram Mohan.
Authorities and organisers of the Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix are considering halting the race after the contract ends in 2018.
'Our only child. A Communist.' 'There was an encounter by the police inside this room, five years ago. He was shot in one arm, but managed to escape.' 'Missing since then. May Jesus keep him alive.' A revealing excerpt from Asim Mukhopadhyay's Half Man: A Novel On The Naxal Movement.
Director Shonali Basu and her actors on the making of what appears to be a memorable movie.
'The educated, employed, and self-sufficient Dalit is being attracted towards the BJP. The middle-class that has rapidly emerged among Dalits in the last two decades has deviated from its path. It has become a traitor to its own class. It cannot distinguish between a friend and an enemy.'
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
'What hurts people most is dynastic impulses and corruption under a family-ruled Congress party -- and Nehru has borne the brunt of it... I cannot be blinded by how the Nehru family has functioned but just as Gandhi can't be judged by his descendents, why should Nehru?' asks political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'You can't go on creating division and rhetoric of hate.' 'It comes to roost. We are seeing the first glimpses of that in the state elections.'
The film is engagingly narrated in flashbacks that move seamlessly from one character to another, says S Saraswathi.
'Those who attacked me, punish them.'
'The horrific episode of January 18 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, is quite different from what happened in Muzaffarnagar, UP, in September 2013. The Akhilesh Yadav-led administration in UP and riot-mongers among our political formations need to learn lessons from the response of the state and society in Bihar's Muzaffarpur,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Sarmesh Kumar is the first in his family, that comes from the community of rat eaters, to go to college. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met the young man and traveled to his village -- which Bill Gates visited a few years ago -- as Rediff.com looks at Bihar through the stories of its people.
Aseem Chhabra picks the scenes that left him impressed this year.
Kenya's top runners have urged athletics fans and sports enthusiasts across the world to keep faith in them, despite media allegations of widespread doping in the east African nation famed for its top-class runners.
The apex court bench, comprising Justices J S Khehar and Adarsh Kumar Goel, heard senior lawyers including U R Lalit for almost two hours before saying that the high court order "does not call for" any intervention.
Debutant director Ravi Kumar deserves all the credit for Indru Netru Naalai, writes S Saraswathi.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Director Siva's Vedalam is an action packed potboiler revolving around one man's mission to take down an international flesh trade racket.
'The three tycoons I deal with in the first chapter -- Ambani, Mallya and Adani -- in their own way represent the change that has come over India.' 'Of the three of them, Mallya is the most fun. He was terrific.' 'And I don't say that because I tell the story in the book of his golden toilet.'
'My mother has one complaint -- I die in all of my films. She has told me to stop dying now.'
'The greatness of Indian democracy is that it never lets any political pundit master the pulse of the electorate. Sometimes people vote for change and sometimes they vote for the status quo.'
'One of the director's primary jobs is to make sure that all the actors perform as if they are in the same movie, playing in the same band -- one is not acting in a different band than the other.'
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