Hindustan Times: Automation threatens 69% of jobs in India, 77% in China: World Bank

Automation threatens 69% of jobs in India, 77% in China, according to a World Bank research which says that technology could fundamentally disrupt the pattern of traditional economic paths in developing countries.

“As we continue to encourage more investment in infrastructure to promote growth, we also have to think about the kinds of infrastructure that countries will need in the economy of the future. We all know that technology has and will continue to fundamentally reshape the world,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.

“But the traditional economic path from increasing productivity of agriculture to light manufacturing and then to full-scale industrialisation may not be possible for all developing countries,” Kim said in response to a question at the Brookings Institute during a discussion on extreme poverty yesterday.

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Hindustan Times: Away from limelight, a Muslim spreads yoga in Pakistan

In a country where Islamic rightwingers very often call the shots, Haider, 47, has quietly succeeded in attracting tens of thousands to yoga, achieving a feat that once seemed near impossible. On June 21, when the world celebrated the second International Day of Yoga, Haider did yogic asanas along with his 20,000 yoga students across Pakistan -- but minus media publicity. [...]

“Yoga belongs to humanity in the form of a pure science and is not the sole entity of India,” he said, speaking in Urdu. “While Indian Hindus and Muslims fight over its origin and practice, our clubs have people from all sects of Muslims, Christians and Hindus who have made it a part of their life to reap its health benefits,” Haider said.

Among the over 50 yoga clubs in Pakistan, Haider oversees the major ones in Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Even some Islamic clerics come to the centres to learn and practise yoga and meditation. “I have top clerics of (Islamabad) as my students. They are happy about it and they encourage others to join.”

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