Population Does Not Cause Poverty, Bad Economics Does
The idea that India’s large population is the reason for its poverty is still taught in economics classes, but it falls apart under basic scrutiny, says Sauvik Chakraverti, a libertarian thinker and economist, in “Free Your Mind: A Beginner’s Guide to Political Economy.” If wealth is created by humans working, producing and exchanging with each other, how can more humans cause poverty?
Educate Girls Becomes First Indian NGO to Win Magsaysay Award
“Educate Girls” has become the first Indian non-profit to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called Asia’s Nobel Prize. The group was honored for helping girls from remote villages across India get back into classrooms and stay there. It aims to reach 10 million learners across India by 2035.
Another Crime Against Woman, Missing from India’s ‘Development’ Story
Two brothers in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district raped a 15-year-old girl, and when she became pregnant, they tried to bury her alive – the latest of several cases of crimes against girls and women that have come to light in recent months from this state. It appears that, as in other parts of the country, these are men’s reactions to girls asserting control over their own bodies, revealing that India’s claimed growth story must include a different dimension of development.
Why Governments Need to Rethink Development and Its Costs
Nations and communities have long grappled with a difficult question: should nature be damaged to build roads, cities and industries, or does real development mean protecting the natural systems we rely on to live? In the case of the Kazhuveli wetlands, authorities in Tamil Nadu chose the former. But a wetland researcher argues that sometimes, preserving – or even reversing –development, what she calls “de-development,” may better serve both people and the environment.
Great Nicobar Project Risks Shompen Genocide, Rights Group Warns
The central government has approved a 720 billion (72,000 crore) rupees plan to cut away roughly a third of Great Nicobar Island for a deep-water transshipment port, an international airport, a township and a power plant. Civil society groups and scientists say the scheme will strip forests, choke rivers, ruin nesting beaches and expose the Shompen – one of the world’s most isolated tribes – to disease and displacement that could wipe out their culture.
India Must Strengthen Job Creation, Raghuram Rajan Says
At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said while the Indian government is investing in infrastructure, it needs to put more resources into developing human capital through better education and healthcare.
What’s in the World Economic Forum 2025 for India?
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2025 meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which starts on Jan. 20, is attended by several Indian officials, including Union and state ministers and three chief ministers. However, its coverage within India primarily focuses on the country’s economic interests, overshadowing the theme of this year’s meeting. This theme – Collaboration for the Intelligent Age – is crucial for both India and Asia at large, as well as for the people living on this continent.