Poverty rate among American women and children has reached new record high, said the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011, released on Friday by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China.

According to data from the United States Census Bureau, over 17 million women lived in poverty in 2010, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty and 4.7 million single mothers in poverty, said the report.

Before 2008, there were two standards for poverty-relief projects in China. In 1986, the absolute poverty line was set at income of 206 yuan ($32.70) per annum. The level was raised to 785 yuan in 2007. The same year saw the annual net income standard of 865 yuan, originally set in 2000 for those on low incomes, rising to 1,067 yuan. However, in 2008, 1,067 yuan became the standard for poverty alleviation across the board.

Bangladesh has become the partner of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's initiative styled "Sustainable Energy for all".

UN chief's special envoy and senior adviser to the initiative Luis Gomes formally informed Bangladesh's inclusion to this initiative to the Environment and Forest Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud when he called on him at the latter's office here on Wednesday. In a written statement, Ban Ki Moon said, the main objective of the initiative is to protect the world from pollution, poverty and ensure economic development.

Move A Rejection Of 28/Day Poverty Line Formula
New Delhi: After the public outcry over the controversial Rs 28 a day poverty formulation, the Planning Commission has put the poverty debate in a deep freeze with the government setting up yet another expert group to take a relook at the existing methodology to determine the number of poor in the country.

The Planning Commission today announced the constitution of a new expert panel to be headed by the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chief C Rangarajan to revisit the methodology for estimation poverty levels. The move comes in the wake of the Plan panel facing strident criticism for having fixed the poverty line at just Rs 28.65 per capita daily consumption in cities and Rs 22.42 in rural areas based on Tendulkar Committee recommendations. The group is expected to submit its report in 9 months.

The government on Thursday set up an expert technical group headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C. Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty and overhaul the norms in keeping with the present-day prices.

The move follows all-round criticism of the Planning Commission's estimates on poverty released in this March and the controversy it generated in and outside Parliament on capping the poverty line at a daily consumption of Rs 28.65 per capita in cities and at Rs 22.42 in rural areas.

DIPHU: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), was introduced with an objective to provide legal guarantee of 100 days of wage in a financial year to every rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work at the minimum wage rate as has been prescribed for agricultural labour in the State.

However, instead of helping the poor in their uplift, MNREGA has become a boon for the officials and politicians in Karbi Anglong. They spare no stone unturned to loot public money with both hands

National Rural Livelihood Mission aiming at ensuring economic development of poor rural families is being implemented in 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh in the first phase. Now, livelihood activities of the mission will begin in ten more districts and cover 25 districts under District Poverty Initiative Project. These include 12 thousand 800 villages in 116 development blocks.