Friday, May 22, 2009

Interesting number

The number of births in a year in India = the total population of Nepal = 27 million

This is probably the most pessimistic (but realistic) description of India:

INDIA is a land of bright promise. It is also extremely poor. About 27m Indians will be born this year. Unless things improve, almost 2m of them will die before the next general election. Of the children who survive, more than 40% will be physically stunted by malnutrition. Most will enroll in a school, but they cannot count on their teachers showing up. After five years of classes, less than 60% will be able to read a short story and more than 60% will still be stumped by simple arithmetic.