A new report from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) captures India's achievements and challenges in respect to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the report, while India has made remarkable progress in several sectors, achieving all the MDGs appears unlikely. On the challenge of reducing poverty by half, with 21.9 per cent of the population below the poverty line in 2011, India has already achieved the target well ahead of time. The country has also successfully eliminated gender disparity in primary and secondary education. Further, it has successfully managed to control the spread of deadly diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. But on other indicators, India is likely to miss the target. The country is unlikely to meet the target of reducing the proportion of underweight children by half. Further, it is unlikely to reduce under-five mortality by two thirds and maternal mortality by 75 per cent

Millennium Development goals: India's progress so far

Business Standard

Outside of the United States, Indians are emerging as the largest consumers of English news online, reveals an analysis by Business Standard of visitors' profile of some of the leading global news websites. This analysis is based on visitors' location, accessed through Alexa.com, an Amazon company, which analyses online traffic.The data reveal an eclectic appetite for news among Indians. As Table 1 shows, Indians are one of the leading readers of American, British, Chinese, East Asian and Pakistani news sources.But does this mean Indians are deserting domestic publications? Probably not. As the last column of table 1 reveals, it appears that for most Indians, these international publications are an add-on and not the preferred first choice. This can be inferred as none of these websites feature in the top-100 most visited websites by Indians. That Indians are loyal readers of Indian publications was also captured by ComScore, an internet technology company, which published a report in

Indians leading the way

Business Standard analyses one family's finances and suggests a way forward

Case study

Budget: Rs 2-Rs 2.5 croreBusiness Standard brings you a snapshot of average current rates and unit sizes in localities that offer property in a price range of Rs 2-2.5 crore. If you are looking at buying real estate and your budget falls within this range, an idea about prevailing rates would come in handy

Realty check

Nimesh Shah, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, answers your questionsWhile choosing an equity fund scheme, what factors should one take note of?It is important to have a long-term investment horizon, as equities could be volatile in the short term but tend to outperform all asset classes over the longer term. Also, choose equity schemes according to your risk appetite. For instance, diversified equity funds are likely to be less volatile compared with sector funds. In the latter, the risk is skewed towards a particular sector, rather than being spread across the market.Look at the long-term performance record of the equity scheme. Also, past performance of these funds across market cycles is a good indicator, looking only at this is like looking at the rear view mirror to drive a car. Also, looking at only recent performance might also not be the right way to evaluate a fund. Further, it is of utmost importance to look at the re

Mutual Fund: Nimesh Shah

The reason bids in spectrum auction are so high

Artificial scarcity

Why has Budget retained Plan spending distinction?

Unplanned Plan

The National Democratic Alliance government prides itself on its speed of decision-making and execution. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under Narendra Modi tries to lead from the front, including putting out government press releases and speeches of the PM on various government websites much quicker than in the past. But the PMO doesn't always get the same cooperation from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats. Recently, the PMO and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s parliamentary office wanted to bring out the PM's speech in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President as a booklet. But those manning the parliamentary party office were frustrated to find that the Rajya Sabha secretariat couldn't post the transcript of the PM's speech on the Rajya Sabha website even 24 hours after the PM delivered it. The BJP then took the help of an outside agency to transcribe the speech and get it published as a booklet.

Slow motion

The discussion on the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, exposed some personal predilections of our politicians. For one, Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab reminded the House that Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was a "good friend" and that he was worried about his friend's reputation. He said he wasn't quite convinced that the auction of coal mines was "foolproof" and that if in a few years, it was deemed that the whole process lacked transparency, his good friend's reputation would be at stake. Whatever course future events took, Mahtab said he was certain his friend was "clean".

A clean chit

The beef ban in Maharashtra has elicited a response from the most unlikely places. Even religious institutions seem to be taking digs at the state administration's move to ban the poor man's meat (beef costs almost a third of mutton in Mumbai). A sign at a church in a Mumbai suburb puts it subtly: "Are your prayers rare or well done?" We'll wait for the conscience keepers of the nation to answer that one.

Who moved my beef?

This refers to T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan's column "Prime Minister Modi ban gaya gentleman?" (Line and Length, March 7). In order to make himself acceptable to the nobility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi can't opt for an anuloma marriage with it, as he claims to be belonging to a lower middle class. His option for a morganatic alliance will not do the trick either since he will not be treated as an equal partner.However, Modi's immediate priority should be to accustom the bloated bureaucracy, perched on Raisina Hill, to his working style. In order to avoid being jacked around, he needs to know his onions well. Modi must have the ability to see through its little game at every stage and cut it down to size, as and when needed.It will also be useful for Modi to know that since the Indian bureaucracy has feet of clay, it cannot hold its ground for a long time. First, it tries to stand up to its political masters. But when it faces resistance, it has no hesitation to suck up to them.But the b

Letters: Modi & the bureaucracy

This refers to Devangshu Datta's column "The ABC of life on Earth" (Quantum Leap, March 6). The late Fred Hoyle, one of the most original minds in current-day astronomy research, spent decades searching for answers to questions on the origins of life. He realised that life couldn't have arisen by chance in a primordial soup on Earth. In his book, "Evolution from Space" (co-authored with Chandra Wickramasinghe), Hoyle favoured and popularised a view called "panspermia", the notion that life originated somewhere else in the universe and was driven to earth by electromagnetic radiation pressure.However, for life to originate elsewhere in the universe, there would have to be an environment on another planet capable of supporting it. So, extra-terrestrial intelligence has been an ongoing project since the 1960s. Some critics feel that it's bad form for scientists to attempt such interstellar communication to seek an answer for one of the greatest scientific mysteries - are we alone in the u

Letters: The origins of life

This refers to Barun Roy's column "The hidden facets of greatness" (Back Lane, March 5). I am a big fan of Satyajit Ray films. I watched "Postmaster" just after reading Roy's column. Tears rolled down my face after watching Ratan in the last scene of the movie. The pain she felt after losing the little love she received from the postmaster, Nandalal, was even greater than what she experienced after the loss of her parents in the movie.Emotions have such an effect that they drive humans to face any difficulty in their lifetime.Kamal Kant Singh  GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Satyajit Ray's magic

This refers to the editorial "Sentiment success" (March 4). Despite having justified reasons to cut food and fertiliser subsidies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stayed away from them to keep the Budget populist. Garnering resources to meet fiscal deficit by disinvestment of the government's stake in public sector undertakings and cutting Plan expenditure would adversely affect infrastructure development.Currently, India needs investment from the private sector. The government also needs to look for more reforms to ensure the availability of credit at cheap rates to accelerate growth and development.V S K Pillai  KottayamLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Growth and momentum

Ban on 'India's Daughter' has hurt India's reputation

Making a martyr

After a week that saw some ugly mud-slinging between top Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, Holi - the festival of colours - provided an occasion for a brief rapprochement. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, from the pro-Arvind Kejriwal camp, not only went over to Yogendra Yadav's house to wish him on Holi but also praised the latter. "We have to learn from Yogendra bhai on how a politician should put across his point in a polite manner," said Vishwas.

No grudges on Holi

The BBC documentary, "India's Daughter", has really landed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a conundrum. On the one hand, there is Vani Tripathi of the BJP, a member of the Censor Board, who believes passionately that every Indian, man or woman, must see the documentary, if for nothing else, then simply to know how many men think. And then there is the Mahila Morcha and BJP leaders such as Meenakshi Lekhi and Kirron Kher, who feel the documentary only propagates justification for rape and gives a platform to convicted rapists. So, who's right?No one cares what the Congress thinks, although in that party, too, there is no one view with even senior woman leaders of the party slamming the making of the documentary. However, Shashi Tharoor has said everyone must watch the documentary and has criticised the government for banning it.

A divided stance

Tech Mahindra MD and CEO C P Gurnani will receive the CEO of the Year award

FM to give away BS Awards today

The 14th Finance Commission has increased states' share in central taxes from 32 per cent to 42 per cent of the total divisible pool of central tax revenues. Business Standard examines what the move means for a few major states

The devil is in the details for states' enhanced share of central taxes

Anger is an emotional response to perceived threat and often arises when a person's boundaries are violated

Fit & Proper: How to control your anger?

State taking most of the risk in shared projects is undesirable

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