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India will become $10 trillion economy and achieve growth rate of 10 per cent by 2032, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer <keyword id="6358887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amitabh-Kant">Amitabh Kant</keyword> said today. 

	The country's growth rate is 7.6 per cent in 2015-16 and its economy is $1.7 trillion. 
 In a presentation made during <keyword id="626023" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Civil-Services-Day">Civil Services Day</keyword> function attended by Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> and large number of civil servants, he projected creation of 175 millions jobs and zero per cent of <keyword id="83215" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Below-Poverty-Line">Below Poverty Line</keyword> (BPL) population by 2032. "Growing at 10 per cent will transform India. India will be a $10 trillion economy with no <keyword id="45057" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Poverty">poverty</keyword> in 2032," his presentation reads. 

	The presentation was made on the status of implementation of reports of 'Group of Secretaries' formed by the Modi government. A total of eight Group of Secretaries were formed in December last year on focus areas. 
 

	"These eight groups had officers from different ministries. Further, there were 16 groups of Joint Secretaries who simultaneously worked on their focus areas. We cut across silos so that we can act on the eight themes and act as agent of change," Kant said. 
 

	The groups has decided on sub-themes, Some of its recommendation have been acted on whereas a road map has been suggested for the rest to achieve intended target. 
 

	Under the sub-theme "accelerated growth", Kant said there will be Rs two lakh crore worth investment in roads and railways in Financial Year 2017. It intends to complete 10,000 km of road project during the same period. 
 

	LPG connections to below poverty line women through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and promotion of medical tourism are other action points suggested by the group for "health and pharma" category.

'India to become $10 trillion economy with no poverty in 2032'

(Eight year old Divya, with her mother Krishna) 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=india">India</a> is a land of people living below the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=poverty+line">poverty lin</a>e and the easiest shelter for a homeless man with mouths to feed is living under the bridge on the railway tracks. 
 
Fortunately for a poor family in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vadodara">Vadodara</a> living under a bridge, their lives were about to get a lot better. 
 
It all started when famous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=australian">Australian</a> businessman, entrepreneur and aviator <keyword id="1150623" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Dick-Smith">Dick Smith</keyword> visited the country and was passing through <keyword id="6356811" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vadodara">Vadodara</keyword> in a train three weeks back. 
 
 (The picture that Dick Smith took of the girl wearing her pink bracelet) 
 He noticed an eight-year old girl from a <keyword id="3180457" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="homeless-family">homeless family</keyword> playing near the railway tracks under the Shashtri Bridge wearing nothing but a pink bracelet. He immediately took a picture of the scene in front of him and also noted down the GPS position. 
 After he left <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, Smith handed over the photograph to an Australian couple on a tour of India for wildlife photography and asked if they would be interested in flying all the way to India, locating the girl and ensuring that they have a better accommodation and a bank account wherein Smith could regularly deposit money. 
 


	(Dick Smith showing the picture to <keyword id="3180456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chris-Bray">Chris Bray</keyword>)
 
 
Chris Bray and Jess Bray not only took up the challenge but managed to complete it in just three days and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chrisbray.net/media_set?set=a.10153707310015115.1073741840.594645114&amp;type=3&amp;pnref=story">uploaded a photo essay documenting their journey on Facebook.</a> 
 
The couple flew into Vadodara on December 15 and started their quest to find one girl out of a country of 1.25 billion. Their only aid in this quest was that one photograph 
 
 

	(Chris Bray at the spot where the picture was taken) 
 
 
After reaching their hotel, the couple made their way to Shashtri bridge to the exact location as in Smith’s photo. But, it wasn’t as easy as they thought due to the language barrier and the fact that they couldn’t recognize any families present under the bridge at the time. 
 
Fortunately for them, they got in touch with Dr Dilip Chellani from M S University’s Department of Banking and Insurance who drove down all the way to the railway tracks to help the couple locate the girl. 
 
 

	(Chris Bray finally met the girl and showed her the photograph)

	 
	 
	After a lot of searching, they finally managed to locate the girl, who was still wearing her pink bracelet and met her family and learned that the girl’s name was Divya and she had two younger brothers, one was 7 years old and the other just 2 years old.
 
As it turns out, the family has been living under the bridge for 12 years and it was there that Divya was born too. Her father was a plasterer who would earn $4-$6 a day, which was not enough to afford even a slum house and hence they made the tracks their home. 
 


	(Divya with her family)
 
 
Dr Chellani asked the whole family to come to the bank that afternoon and when they did, the couple learnt more about the father, Naresh. Shy at first, he opened up in the course of the conversation and seemed like a genuine hardworking man who loved his family but wasn’t able to give them a life reeking of luxury. 
 
 

	(Chris showed them the picture of Dick Smith and his wife)
 
 
Chris and Jess then showed the family a photograph of Dick Smith and his wife and told them how he had seen the girl while passing through and sent them to find out if there was any way he could help the family. 
 
“It was a pretty special moment to be sitting there, as the messengers of such a generous, life-changing gift, and watching realisation dawn on this family that we wanted to pay rent for them to move into a house, help Divya get a good education, help the father earn a better wage to help them start to help themselves,” wrote Chris in his Facebook post. 
 
The next morning, they opened a bank account for the girl which could be accessed by Divya and her mother and where Smith could deposit money. The couple on their post deposited Rs 20,000 which could be used as rent money for three months. 
 


	(Dr Chellani inked up a contract for the family with Chris)
 
 
Then they inked up a formal contract with the help of Dr Chellani whre it was stated that the funding would be for a period of two years after which it would be reviewed and would be used for rent and furthering the girl’s education. A clause was also put in that the funding could be stopped if Divya wasn’t attending school regularly. Dr Chellani had the responsibility of overseeing whether the funds were being utilised correctly and if Divya was going to school everyday. 
 


	(Chris and Jess took the family shopping!)
 
 
After the formalities were done, Jess and Chris took the family out for shopping and bought several sets of clothes for the family, school supplies for Divya and work tools for her father, Naresh. 
 
Thanks to them and Dick Smith, Christmas came a little early for this smiling happy family. 
 
 
(Divya holding the photographj of Dick Smith and his wife as a gesture of gratitude with her mother Krishna and father Naresh and are flanked by Jess and Chris Bray on either side) 
 
To view the original photo-essay, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chrisbray.net/media_set?set=a.10153707310015115.1073741840.594645114&amp;type=3&amp;pnref=story">here</a>. 
 
Image credit: Chris Bray

This is how an Australian businessman and a couple changed the lives of eight year old Divya and her family living in Vadodara

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is considering extending a rail line from the Tibetan capitol of Lhasa to Kathmandu in Nepal, and tunneling under Mount Everest to do so, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/mounteverest/11524428/China-Nepal-railway-with-tunnel-under-Mount-Everest-being-considered.html">The Telegraph reports</a>. The project would involve tacking on about 400 miles of rail to an already 1,200 mile track which takes 25 hours to traverse as it is. The move would provide easy transport in one of the trickiest terrains in the world, and increase China's influence in the region.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Historically, the mountain range that holds eight of the world's fourteen peaks that top 8,000 meters in altitude has served as a practical and cultural barrier. Nepal has long been in India's sphere of influence, but in recent years China has bought in to the struggling nation by investing in infrastructure such as roads and bridges.According to state-run Chinese media outlets, Nepal has apparently responded favorably, requesting that the line be built. If tunneling under the world's tallest mountain sounds like a difficult and involved ordeal, that's because it is. "The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma [Mount Everest] so that workers may have to dig some very long tunnels," The Telegraph reported one of China's top railway engineers, Wang Mengshu.Wang is no stranger to ambitious engineering feats - he has also proposed a 125 mile long tunnel to traverse the Bering Strait joining Alaska and Russia. While tunneling under Everest is an achievable goal, the project would face severe difficulties with the terrain and altitude, so the train would likely not be able to break fifty miles per hour.The feat would provide China with more influence over India's allies and neighbors as well as continue Beijing's plan to open up the Buddhist plateau of Tibet to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-mall-being-built-in-lhasa-tibet-2013-5">tourism and modern Chinese culture</a>.Basically, a rail line from mainland China under the Himalayas would connect the nation to the billion plus inhabitants living below "The Roof of the World". <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made efforts to bolster the nation's regional pull, but the construction of a contiguous rail line between China and the Nepalese capitol Kathmandu would undermine his historical geographic advantage as early as 2020. As with any engineering project of this size, it is not without its opponents. The International Campaign for Tibet cautions that there are "dangerous implications for regional security and the fragile ecosystem of the world's highest and largest plateau." ICT President Matteo Mecacci questioned China's intentions, stating that the "Chinese government's claim that rail expansion on the plateau simply benefits tourism and lifts Tibetans out of poverty does not hold up to scrutiny and cannot be taken at face value." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-standards-family-values-china-2015-2">What the Chinese saying 'The ugly wife is a treasure at home' actually means</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="A2ZDA2czqSqbJOFG5SDDrvRmvRoUjAPm" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

China is planning to build a railway under Mount Everest

New Delhi, Mobile phone exports from <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> will grow more than five-fold to USD 50-60 billion in the coming time from about USD 11 billion last year, <keyword id="20860007" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="union-it-and-communications" source="keywords">Union IT and Communications</keyword> Minister <keyword id="19904138" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashwini-vaishnaw" source="keywords">Ashwini Vaishnaw</keyword> said. Speaking at a fintech event on Wednesday, the minister said employment in the electronics manufacturing sector will increase from about 10 lakh at present to 25 lakh in the coming days. He said that 10 years ago India imported 98 per cent of mobile phones and at present 99 per cent of the devices are made in India. "(Mobile phones worth) USD 11 billion were exported last year. In the coming days, you will see exports to the tune of USD 50-60 billion. 10 lakh people work in electronics manufacturing. In the coming days, 25 lakh people will work in electronics manufacturing," <keyword id="19935038" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaishnaw" source="keywords">Vaishnaw</keyword> said while sharing a presentation on India's growth story. He said India will become the third largest economy by 2027 while it was ranked 11th in 2014. A report published by Jefferies Equity Research last month said that India would become the third-largest economy by 2027 and expected to achieve a market capitalization of USD 10 trillion by 2030. He said that when the country is in 5th spot in terms of economy it has created huge infrastructure in terms of railways, highways, airports etc. The minister said that the government added 5,200 kilometres of railway line last year, which is equivalent to the size of the entire Switzerland railway network.. "Already 4,972 kilometres have been completed. The entire month of March is left. We will add 5500 kilometres (railway lines) this year," Vaishnaw said. He said airports in the country have doubled in the last 10 years. "In 2013, every global discourse was negative about India. Everyone used to say it is a fragile economy. There was uncertainty around it. Today, when you see India anywhere, everyone says it is among the top 5, a bright spot, growing at a steady pace. India has become the growth engine of the entire world," the minister said. Vaishnaw also displayed a video of Congress leader P Chidambaram in which he had questioned the government's digital payments plan. The minister said earlier regimes were riddled with scams but after 2014 things changed across all parameters -- GDP growth, forex reserve, foreign investment etc. "We have increased IITs 10 times, AIIMS have been doubled, and universities have increased three times. Imagine economic muscle power when we will be the third largest. Our own supercomputing chip, our own semiconductor fab, AI models," Vaishnaw said. He said the regime under Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> focussed on women-led growth and people on the last rung of the society that has brought 25 crore people out of poverty. "There is no state in India with extreme poverty," Vaishnaw said. The minister said that India's medal tally in international sports has also increased significantly because of transparency and facilitating world-class training for athletes with honesty.

Mobile exports to grow to $50-60 bn, electronics manufacturers to employ 25 lakh people: Vaishnaw

<ul><li>Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> on Thursday presented the Interim Budget 2024-25.</li><li>This budget outlines expenditures and revenues till the formation of the next government.</li><li>Here are the top highlights and major announcements of the Interim Budget 2024-25.</li></ul> Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Interim Budget 2024-25 at <keyword id="19895397" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="parliament" source="keywords">Parliament</keyword> on Thursday, February 1 announced that the FY25 capex outlay has been increased by 11.1% to ₹11.11 lakh crore. The FY25 capex outlay is now at 3.4% of the GDP. Fiscal deficit, the gap between the government’s revenue and expenses, is expected to be 5.8% of gross domestic product, said the FM. “The gross market borrowing for the financial year ending March 2025 will be ₹14.3 lakh crore (less than the borrowing in the current financial year).” The FM began her speech by giving a summation of the Narendra Modi government's performance in the past ten years. "The Indian economy has witnessed positive transformation in the last 10 years. Our development steps have covered all elements of inclusivity," she said. This is the final budget of the second term of the Narendra Modi government before the country heads to elections later this summer. Sitharaman stressed on the government's aim to make India developed -- Viksit Bharat – by 2047. The government has tried to provide inclusive development and growth, both socially and geographically, she said in the opening minutes of her sixth budget speech as the country’s finance minister. It is to be noted that this Vote on Account or an Interim Budget is only for the next three months as the next government after the election will come out with a comprehensive budget for the financial year 2024-25 later. In other words, this budget outlines expenditures and revenues till the formation of the next government. Key announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: <ol><li>No relief for taxpayers: Same tax slabs to continue, says FM. “I propose to retain the same tax rates for direct and indirect taxes.”</li><li>FY25 divestment target at ₹50,000 crore. The FY24 target has been curbed to ₹30,000 crore</li><li>Gross market borrowing for FY ending March 2025 will be ₹14.3 lakh crore.</li><li>FY25 capex outlay increased by 11.1% to ₹11.11 lakh crore. The FY25 capex outlay is now at 3.4% of GDP.</li><li>The revised estimate of the fiscal deficit is 5.8% of GDP. The FY25 fiscal deficit target is set at 5.1%.</li><li>The FY25 revenue deficit is set at 2% versus FY24 revised estimate of 2.8%</li><li>The FDI during 2014 to 2023 was $596 billion. India is negotiating bilateral treaties with foreign partners. FM adds that FDI is now “First Develop India”.</li><li>Three major economic railway corridors announced to boost GDP. This includes an energy mineral and cement corridor, port connectivity corridor and high traffic density corridor.</li><li>40,000 rail bogies to be converted to Vande Bharat standards. Airports have doubled to 149 in the last decade.</li><li>Boost for tourism: Projects for enhancing tourism revenue will be taken up, especially for islands, including Lakshawdeep.</li><li>FM says the government has assisted 25 crore people to escape from multidimensional poverty.</li><li>Free ration: Worries of food have been alleviated as 80 crore people are provided with ration.</li><li>Direct benefit of ₹34 lakh crore via Jan Dhan has led to savings of ₹2.7 lakh crore for the government.</li><li>The PM PM SVANidhi scheme has supported over 78 lakh vendors. Out of this, 2.3 lakh vendors have received loans more than two times.</li><li>11.8 crore farmers have been assisted under the PM Kisan Yojna.</li><li>₹30 crore Mudra loans have been given to women entrepreneurs in the last ten years.</li><li>Average real income of people has risen by 50%.</li><li>India-Middle East-Europe Economic corridor is a game changer for India and others.</li><li>Artisanal support: PM Vishwakarma Yojana provides end-to-end support to artisans and crafts people engaged in 18 trades.</li><li>GDP new definition: FM Sitharaman has said that the government is focussed on GDP (governance, development and performance)</li><li>Real estate boost: Government close to achieving the target of three crore houses under the PM Awas Yojana Grameen. Additional two crore houses to be built in five years.</li><li>Sustainability &amp; free electricity: Rooftop solarisation scheme announced to help one crore houses, enabling free electricity and selling of surplus energy. First three hundred units for solar homes.</li><li>Nari Shakti: FM says that female enrolment in higher education is up by 28% in 10 years in STEM courses. Free healthcare under Ayushman Bharat to be extended to Asha workers and Anganwadi workers.</li><li>Target for Lakhpati Didi scheme enhanced from 2 crore to 3 crore.</li></ol>

Interim Budget 2024: FY25 capex hiked 11%; no change in tax slab, says FM Sitharaman

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Laura Perruchon and François Gautier are travel content creators from France. </li><li>They spent 5 months in Thailand and came across a market where a train cuts through the stalls.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Perruchon and François Gautier and has been edited for length and clarity.We're a couple who travel together and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wildflaneurs">document our experiences on TikTok</a> to show people who might not have a chance to visit other countries what they look like. Earlier this year, we traveled around Thailand for five long and wonderful months, discovering so many new things about the country, from beautiful countryside landscapes to modern architecture in Bangkok, the country's capital city. At almost every hostel we went to in Bangkok, people told us to visit the nearby <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/a-guide-to-the-maeklong-railway-market-in-bangkok/">Maeklong Railway Market</a> — a place where a train carrying fish passes through a busy market eight times a day. We <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/a-guide-to-the-maeklong-railway-market-in-bangkok/">read</a> <a href="https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/mae-klong-railway-market-hoop-rom-market">that</a> market vendors use tented canopies to protect their goods from the rain and start putting them down whenever they hear the train approaching so it has room to pass through the narrow passageway between the rows of shops. The market sounded really exciting and different from anything we'd seen before, so we decided to film an aerial view of the train passing with a drone, so our TikTok viewers would also get a chance to see it. The <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wildflaneurs/video/7099081569138216197?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1">two</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wildflaneurs/video/7097587370903588101?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1">videos</a> we posted about it became our most-viewed TikToks, with 40 million views combined. But many people who commented on the video reacted negatively, saying they thought the market was "dangerous" and supported their view that Thailand is hugely underdeveloped — a view that we disagree with. We believe our videos showed how vibrant and impressive Bangkok is, despite misconceptions that Thailand is mainly rural and full of tropical beaches. <h2>We were blown away by how relaxed the vendors were as the train passed, but our commenters were alarmed</h2>When we arrived at the market, which has been active since 1905, in the Samut Songkhram Province, southwest of Bangkok, we had to wait about an hour before the train actually passed through.As the train approached, we could see all the vendors packing away all their things in just one or two minutes and then putting everything back immediately after the train passed. It seemed so normal for them, just like watching a car pass by. We've never seen anything like this in France; there, railways are set up so differently, and you'd typically only see people near a train at a station where lines are often drawn on the platform to keep people from getting too close.Here, the market stalls were right next to the tracks, yet there seemed to be very <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220608-thai-railway-market-back-on-track-post-pandemic">few</a> accidents.In Europe or America, people will likely think it's crazy to stand so close to a moving train, and many people in the comments section wrote mean comments calling the people "stupid" for selling goods there.<div type="image" title="A picture of the train passing through the market" height="3334" width="5000" msid="94501525" hostid="261"></div>From what we saw, the train actually moves rather slowly, at around 19mph, and since the schedule is the same every day, the vendors seem prepared for it and get on with the day so impressively. Other commenters said they thought it was "sad" that the vendors had to keep putting their stalls away, but from speaking to some local people and reading <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/a-guide-to-the-maeklong-railway-market-in-bangkok/">tourism</a> <a href="https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/mae-klong-railway-market-hoop-rom-market">and</a> <a href="https://thailandbytrain.com/MahachaiRailway.html">history</a> websites, we heard that many vendors choose to keep their stalls open at the market because the train attracts many tourists and customers. <h2>We hoped our video would disprove misconceptions that Thailand is underdeveloped and rural</h2>Of course, we are aware that there are less developed areas in Bangkok and other areas in Thailand, where people live in poverty. But even in France, where we live, there is some level of poverty and homelessness, so we don't think it is fair to judge another country, especially when you're only visiting or haven't been there at all. <div type="image" title="A picture of the market with a train passing through." height="2234" width="2094" msid="94501526" hostid="261"></div>While some people might hold a stereotypical view of Thailand as surrounded by lots of blue water and tropics, we hope our video of the busy market shows a different side to the country, even if some people are alarmed by it. Going there was certainly an eye-opening and once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. <a href="https://www.insider.com/culture">For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.</a>

In Thailand, a train cuts directly through a busy market 8 times a day &mdash; these TikTokers captured the chaotic moment on film

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A group of senators is considering a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to prevent Social Security insolvency, Semafor reported.</li><li>A SWF is a government-backed investment fund, and its profits would be used to pay Social Security benefits. </li></ul>Congress and President Joe Biden have been scrambling to address Social Security's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/are-republicans-cutting-social-security-medicare-biden-debt-limit-gop-2023-2">impending insolvency</a>.But a group of bipartisan lawmakers may have come up with a compromise in the form of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) — something that the United States does not currently have at the federal level. SWFs are typically investment funds owned by the government, according to the <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/alvarez20080305a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Reserve</a>. In this case, such investments would be used to fund Social Security payments. That's according to Semafor's Joseph Zeballos-Roig, who <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/02/27/2023/a-bipartisan-group-of-senators-are-talking-about-raising-the-retirement-age-on-social-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> this week that a group of senators led by Sen. Angus King, an Independent from Maine, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, is considering a SWF to fund Social Security. That's in addition to reports that the group wants to eventually raise the retirement age to 70 years — or close to it — as well, which could effectively lead to benefit cuts for future retirees.Given that the potential of such a fund depends on its stock market success, Zeballos-Roig reports that senators are amenable to an increase in the payroll tax rate and the amount of income subject to those taxes if the fund's returns fall short of expectations. The goal is, members of the group told Semafor, for Social Security to be solvent for 75 more years, at least. Senator Mitt Romney, who has been attending the bipartisan talks, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3878265-senate-group-wades-into-tough-talks-on-social-security/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Hill's Aris Folley this week that a SWF would allow the US "to be able to borrow at low interest rates and invest in the growth of our economy, and perhaps economies of other nations as well." "That's what other retirement funds do around the world, in corporations and in the railway world, and it creates a substantial source of revenue," he said, adding that if the investments "didn't do terribly well, we would kick in through other sources and make sure that we don't threaten in any way the benefits of recipients." Semafor reported that a federal SWF would potentially receive an initial investment of $1.5 trillion or more; if that initial influx of cash doesn't see at least an 8% return, the plan would allow raising the maximum taxable income and payroll tax rate ceilings. The current system taxes workers' first $160,200 in earnings, and many Democrats have called for changing that cap. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and other Democrats, have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sanders-warren-bigger-social-security-checks-medicare-retirement-biden-2023-2">championed</a> lifting the cap, with incomes over $250,000 being subjected to payroll taxes. Warren and Sanders <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sanders-warren-bigger-social-security-checks-medicare-retirement-biden-2023-2">reintroduced</a> that legislation this month. "This is an example of two leaders trying to find a solution to a clear and foreseeable danger," spokespeople for Cassidy and King told Semafor. "Although the final framework is still taking shape, there are no cuts for Americans currently receiving Social Security benefits in our plan. Indeed, many will receive additional benefits."There's evidence that shows that government-run investment funds can be successful. In a state-run SWF in <a href="https://apfc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alaska</a>, for instance, residents receive an annual disbursement from the government that works as a guaranteed income program funded by Alaska-owned oil companies. Residents typically get as much as $2,000 a year, and as low as $800 in years with lower gas prices. A <a href="https://iseralaska.org/static/legacy_publication_links/2016_12-PFDandPoverty.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2016 study</a> by the University of Alaska showed that the fund reduced poverty by up to 20%.

There are whispers on Capitol Hill of a rare bipartisan effort to overhaul Social Security as the program is set to go broke in less than 10 years

Four out of five elections in the bag ⁠— the first incumbent party in <keyword id="6357713" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uttar-pradesh" source="Orion">Uttar Pradesh</keyword> to win the state in 37 years ⁠— is enough for a delirious party (celebration). The Bharatiya Janata Party (<keyword id="14666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bjp" source="Orion">BJP</keyword>) is not a new party, but it’s the only one that seems to have the strongest organisation among all political parties. But money and power may just be two of the ingredients that make it so effective. The result of the latest election in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has reinforced one fact about the state’s changing politics: identity politics, as we’ve come to know it, is passe. <div type="image" title="UP election results" msid="90135835" hostid="261"></div> The wave of anti-establishment leaders, who emerged in North India in the 1980s, saw India as a mishmash of several identities, based on religion, caste, language and so on, saw an opportunity in becoming individual power centres by representing one or more of these factions promising them clout along with affirmative action. Their fiefdoms seemed to have broken by the Narendra Modi wave in 2014 and haven't recovered since then. It’s not because those identities have suddenly dissolved into a larger national, or even a state level, group. Both caste-based oppression and religious discrimination is alive and well. The <keyword id="6354265" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="samajwadi-party" source="Orion">Samajwadi Party</keyword> gained a lot by tapping into the fear of persecution among Muslims this time and won the best ever-vote share in the party’s history. <div type="image" title="SP won back the vote share in Muslim dominated constituencies" msid="90135994" hostid="261"></div> However, on a larger scale, the issue hasn’t won them the election. It just seems like people don’t expect politicians to resolve these issues. After decades of broken promises, people don’t seem to be looking for anti-dynasty messiahs who, eventually, initiate their own dynasty. People want to hear something new from the challengers. So, parties fell back on the tried and tested issues like unemployment and inflation. But that hasn’t worked in UP either. <div type="image" title="Assembly Elections 2022" msid="90135864" hostid="261"></div> It’s not like there were no chinks in the BJP armour. Even what the government could do on its own, it hasn’t. Over 10 million young people who applied for a Railways recruitment exam have not received the results in over 2 years. A teacher eligibility test to be held by the government became a controversy after it <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/till-when-varun-gandhi-raises-unemployment-issue-in-latest-criticism-aimed-at-centre-up-govt-101638421572885.html">got cancelled just before the elections</a>. But these things have happened in UP even when the BJP was not in power. The fact is even in the Modi or <keyword id="43254" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="yogi-adityanath" source="Orion">Yogi Adityanath</keyword> era, UP has seen massive job losses, partly due to the pandemic. But they were able to offer some tangible solutions too: additional work for the unskilled, under the rural employment guarantee scheme (<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/71-mgnrega-wages-not-paid-on-time-14-delayed-beyond-30-days-study-shows-121102901592_1.html">as flawed as it may be</a>), and free food for the poor. The free ration, in the wake of the pandemic, provided by the government has been particularly popular in states like Uttar Pradesh that rank very poorly by level of poverty and contribute a large proportion of India’s migrant workers. <div type="twitter" handle="SVishnuReddy" handlename="Vishnu Vardhan Reddy" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1451805156316647433/FRMMeG5I_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3947" retweetcount="1334" status="So @ndtv deleted this video tweet as they didn't want to show the ground reality of Uttar Pradesh to the people of… https://t.co/7OLeqlT3OK" createdat="1645603213000" id="1496394449781665796"></div> Issues like the <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/67-journalists-arrested-detained-questioned-india-2020-their-work-140963">arrest of journalists</a>, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lakhimpur-kheri-case-ashish-mishra-released-on-bail/articleshow/89594633.cms">killing of farmers in Lakhimpur</a>, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hathras-gangrape-murder-case-top-developments/articleshow/78474943.cms">the rape in Hathras</a>, have not enraged the collective conscience in a way that the <keyword id="6360456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="OPPOSITION" source="Orion">opposition</keyword> would have wanted. Essentially, BJP leaders and supporters can say <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1474456355163488268?t=Y7LhxIvK7syYZNglPJEdcQ&amp;s=19">any abhorrent thing</a> against religious minorities ⁠— Modi and other icons can continue to condone or ignore it ⁠— as long as the policies themselves aren’t discriminatory. Simply put, for example, as long as no one is denied free ration because of their religion or caste, the people are able to ignore the rhetoric. Does that mean that the BJP will remain in power forever? No. But the alternative has to be a new face, a new outfit that captures the imagination of the Indian youth in a way that existing leaders don’t. The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) sweeping win in Punjab is proof of exactly that. AAP is a 7-year old political upstart that has become a credible political alternative in Delhi and Punjab, and broken ground in <keyword id="826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="goa" source="Orion">Goa</keyword>. What works for it is Kejriwal’s crafty cocktail of welfare politics, anti-establishment posturing with a healthy dose of religious flattery. <div type="image" title="Punjab Election Results" msid="90136060" hostid="261"></div> In fact, it may even seem like what the voter wants isn’t exactly a new idea, but s/he surely doesn’t want to hear it from the same old flock of career/dynastic politicians. Even now, BJP has serious challengers in many states but none of them have any traction beyond their home states. Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to seek votes for Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh hasn’t yielded much. Even the idea of a coalition of regional parties ⁠— from Arvind Kejriwal to MK Stalin, from Mamata Banerjee to Pinarayi Vijayan, from Jagan Reddy to Ashok Gehlot ⁠— taking on Modi seems jaded, if not flimsy. The way people vote for a state election is different from how they vote for the Parliament. This was the best chance for opposition to show some might and they’ve lost it. The opposition needs a new face to change the face of the government.

SIMPLY PUT: Uttar Pradesh is bored of the opposition

<ul><li>The Indian Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, tweeted a video of India’s first underwater water metro on Twitter. </li><li>Some Twitter users congratulated the Indian government while others wondered why the money couldn’t be spent on fixing the trains that already exist.</li><li>A few users also questioned the motive behind the move and wondered why the investment couldn’t be used to create more jobs or reduce poverty.</li></ul>India’s getting its very first <keyword id="4642229" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Underwater-metro">underwater metro</keyword> and while a few think it's a good move, others are mocking the government for launching new projects without solving existing problems. The Indian Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, created havoc on Twitter when he shared a video of the underwater metro that is under construction under the Hoogly river in Kolkata on Twitter. 
	<div type="twitter" handle="PiyushGoyal" handlename="Piyush Goyal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1138670329847373824/PocIxjW-_normal.jpg" favoritecount="12362" retweetcount="2741" status="भारत की पहली अंडर वॉटर ट्रेन शीघ्र ही कोलकाता में हुगली नदी के नीचे चलना आरंभ होगी। उत्कृष्ट इंजीनियरिंग का उदाहरण… https://t.co/wc4EYA08UP" createdat="1565254929000" id="1159389322921041922"></div>



 Twitterati chimed in congratulating Goyal and commending the progress of the Indian Railways. But there were also reactions that the layman doesn’t want a fancy new metro service, but a metro service that’s clean and functional. One Twitter user sarcastically pointed out how it will be easier for passengers to escape from a train that’s falling into the river — they’ll simply catch the underwater metro instead. 
	<div type="twitter" handle="vijunik" handlename="Vijunik" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1136799598079430656/uKhgMfnR_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="@PiyushGoyal Chalo bahut badhiya ho jayega ,jab apni koi train nadi vadi mein gireygi ,passengers vo paani ke neech… https://t.co/s7zH2SbeFl" createdat="1565263046000" id="1159423367746707457"></div>



 The other criticism of the underwater metro was how the Indian Railways should focus on fixing products on its older trains — like unclean bathrooms, lax safety standards and food quality — rather than trying to manage a new technology. 
	<div type="twitter" handle="KabitaSharma16" handlename="kabita sharma" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1131274553139744768/OijeKAQM_normal.jpg" favoritecount="13" retweetcount="1" status="@PiyushGoyal सर रेलवे की अभी भी हालत ज्यों की त्यों है। कृपया इस तस्वीर को देंखे और फिर बात करें। तस्वीर हावड़ा से… https://t.co/0oRcqFfEer" createdat="1565293131000" id="1159549551398670336"></div>


 Users also pointed out that the money used for the underwater metro, that is estimated to cost ₹60 crore, might have been better spent dealing with India’s burgeoning unemployment and poverty. 
	<div type="twitter" handle="tommy_bytes" handlename="Tommy!!" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1035260550371057664/q9M3tdK1_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="@PiyushGoyal Yaha logo ki naukriya jaa rahi he aur inko train daudana he Pani ke neeche. Alag hi level ka Vikas he! 🙏" createdat="1565269795000" id="1159451675096047623"></div>



 
	<div type="twitter" handle="SandyMantri" handlename="SANDEEP MANTRI" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/837999926772584448/0mExMmYA_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="@PiyushGoyal Are we going to get economic development through this. Or are jobs getting created. What are plans to… https://t.co/lEFxwFloPB" createdat="1565280558000" id="1159496816468979712"></div>



 Railing underwater The underwater metro is going to run along a 520 meter stretch of tunnels and is built 30 meters under the the riverbed. The total tunneling length is around 10.6 kilometers with the entire metro line constituting of 16.6 kilometers. While the underground tunnel is estimated to cost ₹60 crore, the entire East-West Metro Project has a total cost of ₹9,000 crore.

India's first underwater metro makes users wonder why normal trains can't be fixed

As the dancers make their way to rehearsal, air-raid sirens blare throughout Kharkiv. When the city first came under siege, the alarms would have sent them rushing to the nearest underground shelter, where they'd wait out the shelling. Now, more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-says-war-will-last-until-2025-wanted-to-beat-ukraine-in-days-2023-9">500 day</a>s later, the dancers have learned to ignore the sirens. The wails have become part of their soundtrack as they prepare for showtime in Ukraine's easternmost major city, only 15 miles from the Russian border.By mid-afternoon, nine women have gathered around the dance pole at Flash Dancers, the only women-owned exotic dance club in Kharkiv. Prostitution is illegal in Ukraine, putting strip clubs in a legal gray area. But the law was seldom enforced even before the war — the country boasted one of the most thriving sex-tourism scenes in Eastern Europe, with an estimated <a href="https://bmcinthealthhumrights.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12914-019-0201-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">80,000 sex workers</a> in 2016. Today, with Kharkiv's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/world/europe/ukraine-war-kyiv-police.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">police preoccupied</a> with defending the city from Russian saboteurs and helping with the fallout of missile strikes, Ukrainians seem to accept that a modicum of vice might need to be tolerated, or even embraced, amid the grinding <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-shouldnt-follow-us-military-doctrine-warfare-better-trainer-russia-2023-9">austerity of war</a>. "Our goal is to be a switch from what is happening," says Valeriya Zavadskaya, the club's 24-year-old co-owner.Under the club's dim red lighting, Valeriya leads the dancers through a rehearsal as Christina Aguilera's "Express" blares over the PA:E-X-P-R-E-S-S Love, sex Ladies, no regrets"One, two, go backwards," Valeriya orders. "Take two steps and then do bam! bam! bam!" With her arms stretched behind her head, she demonstrates the move, lifting herself upside down onto the pole, splitting her legs, spinning in midair, and landing on beat.<div type="image" title="Women dancing under red light at nightclub." height="842" width="2442" msid="104106344" hostid="261"></div>One dancer looks stupefied. She tries the move but barely gets airborne before stumbling. "I won't do that," she says."Yes, you will!" says Valeriya, demonstrating again. Over the next two hours, with indefatigable drill-sergeant precision, she works the dancers through each pop and pirouette of the routine, as Aguilera's power ballad plays on a seemingly endless loop:All ladies confident, flaunt it Boys throw it up if you want it Can you feel me? Can it feel it? It's BurlesqueValeriya shouts the last line as she navigates the dancers through the song, changing "burlesque" to "Flash Dance." That's the name Valeriya's mother, a former professional Soviet dancer, gave the club when she opened it a decade ago. ("Express," a song from the movie "Burlesque," in which Cher plays a nightclub owner and mother figure to Aguilera's character, is a wink to their mother-daughter proprietorship.) <div type="image" title="Women training under a blue light." height="754" width="2292" msid="104106347" hostid="261"></div>The signs of war are everywhere. The windows on the three floors above the club remain boarded up after an explosion last year in the center of Kharkiv shattered every window on the block. Because Flash Dancers is in the basement, it doubles as an air-raid shelter, where staff members and tenants living above the club can wait out rocket strikes in the red-leather booths surrounding the dance pole. The club has lost three employees to the war, two of them a married couple who met there. More than a million residents have fled Kharkiv, and few who remain can afford to spend an evening at Flash Dancers, where a drink costs three times what it did before the war. There are never more than 20 guests. On some nights, no one shows up.Yet despite a strict 11 p.m. curfew mandated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the club remains open seven nights a week. At this point it's not a living, it's a lifeline — part of a nationwide, defiant attempt at normality in the midst of war. As Valeriya leads the dancers to the dressing room to change into the night's costumes, she talks about why she fell in love with the world of dance her mother introduced her to. It also sums up what the club strives to offer beleaguered patrons and employees alike."It's something you can't say with words," she says, "but can tell with your body."A few hours before rehearsal, I meet with Valeriya's mother, Valeriia Kseniya, in her office at her day job, as director of a small hotel a short drive from the club. "For most of us in Ukraine today, it's difficult to earn a living in just one job," she says. We sit on the couch as she displays pictures from her life in show business — dancing with a chimpanzee in her days with a Chinese circus group, sauntering at a cabaret in South Korea. Every few minutes we can hear the lull of a train carrying soldiers and civilians passing through the railway station next door.Growing up in Kharkiv under Soviet rule, Kseniya found herself "irritated by reality." She worked as a gymnast for the Komsomol, the communist youth league, and tried to focus on the joy of performance and ignoring the Communist Party. By the time the Iron Curtain fell and Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, she was 23. For much of the next two decades she was frequently on the road: dancing in clubs in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, modeling lingerie in Italy, touring with ballet troupes in Asia.<div type="image" title="Image of same woman young and old." height="1475" width="1967" msid="104106349" hostid="261"></div>By 2014, with a teenager and a toddler in tow (she also had a grown son, who works in Ukraine's energy sector and was then 23), Kseniya decided to settle in Kharkiv. That spring, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and orchestrated a rebellion of its Donbas region, plunging Ukraine into a recession. Inflation approached 30%, while unemployment climbed to nearly 11%. But for Kseniya, the timing was fortuitous. A strip club in the center of the city was going out of business. Here was her chance, she thought, to bring the world of dance home. With visions of building a modern-day Moulin Rouge, the legendary 19th-century Parisian cabaret, Kseniya hired a handful of attractive women who knew how to dance, and then began choreographing elaborate, acrobatic numbers set to American and Europop songs. The police were suspicious: In the club's first year, they showed up multiple times to question her and the dancers about whether Flash Dancers was a front for a prostitution ring. Patrons expecting strip-club fare, meanwhile, were flummoxed by the unusual customer experience."Everyone initially thought it was a club with happy endings," says Kseniya, now 55. The choreography looks more like that of a modern dance company than the Hustler Club, the dancers do not get topless, and sex with customers is strictly forbidden. "Our position is that girls are not meat," Kseniya says. "Girls are about aesthetics, about femininity, about beauty." Eventually, the club built a reputation for its performances — several pre-2022 Google reviews appear to be from women who took their husbands to the show ("wonderful, soulful atmosphere!" one wrote) — and the business grew. In 2020, needing a business partner she could trust, Kseniya brought on Valeriya as co-owner. Then early in her studies at the National University of Kharkiv, Valeriya was majoring in dance and law. ("Dance is for your soul," she explains. "Law is forever.") She took on an after-hours leadership role at the club, choreographing new numbers, helping manage the books, and running the club's Instagram and TikTok feeds. <div type="image" title="Woman wearing a big red bow with red background." height="3944" width="5259" msid="104106353" hostid="261"></div>Then came Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kharkiv immediately became a brutal battleground, battered by relentless shelling and cluster bombs. On the day of the invasion — February 24, 2022 — Kseniya and Valeriya reached all 20 dancers. Many were already fleeing. Most would not return.With the city under siege, Kseniya continued working at the hotel to help lodge civilians who were waiting in huge numbers to leave the train station. In the first two weeks, some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/we-decided-to-be-useful-ukraine-the-kharkiv-citizens-who-stayed-behind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">600,000 people</a>, more than a third of the city, left by rail alone. On March 8, after Russian fighter jets bombed several nearby homes, Kseniya joined the exodus. She and her daughters — accompanied by Valeriya's lapdogs, Sara and Lady — journeyed 15 hours by train to Drohobych, near the Polish border. There, they waited to see whether they would one day have a home to return to.In May 2022, after nearly three months of fighting, Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces away from Kharkiv. Valeriya and her family returned to find parts of their city unrecognizable, and the rubble-strewn streets quiet. Rocket strikes and shelling had damaged or destroyed apartment complexes, government buildings, churches, an opera house, a concert hall, and an economic building at the university where Valeriya was finishing her degree. The stone walls of the Flash Dancers facade were pockmarked with shrapnel. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/ukraine-hundreds-killed-in-relentless-russian-shelling-of-kharkiv-new-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More than 600 civilians</a> were thought to have been killed in the Kharkiv region.Nearly <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/development-impact-war-ukraine-initial-projections-enuk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half of all businesses</a> in Ukraine shut down, and 90% of Ukrainians were facing poverty. But Kseniya refused to let Flash Dancers sit empty. She decided to reopen it with the cash she had left from the club's earlier success. And once again, she found herself grimly fortunate. Though she and Valeriya had to replace almost all of the club's staff, many women who had been working at local restaurants and strip clubs were now looking for jobs. "Everything was closed, and people began to come to us," Valeriya said. Few of them, however, had ever danced.Now, in the afternoon before the club opens, Valeriya cleans the toilet, calls the plumber to fix a leak, and makes sure the bar is stocked and the prices are set for the evening. With inflation, liquor costs up to three times what it did before Russia's full-scale invasion. "We have a huge markup on everything," says Valeriya. <div type="image" title="A woman stands in front of ruins in Ukraine." height="4160" width="5546" msid="104106357" hostid="261"></div>Thirty minutes before the club opens for the evening, the dancers are gathered in the dressing room. Some are putting on their makeup; others shimmy into a wide array of erotic costumes: a maid's outfit, a police uniform, frilly French cancan skirts, a black sequined ball gown. The mood is buoyant. It all feels very far from the war-ravaged streets aboveground.I sit next to Dana, a 23-year-old Kharkiv native who asked that Insider use only her first name to protect her privacy, as she slips into a pair of white-feathered angel wings. Before the war, she worked at a strip club in the city. Now, she feels relieved to be working in a club owned by women — one that isn't a place "where everyone tries to touch you." Flash Dancers is different, attempting to strike a balance between art and entertainment. "I'm not ashamed of it," Dana says. "I can tell people I work in cabaret."<div type="image" title="Dancer gets ready backstage." height="4160" width="5546" msid="104106358" hostid="261"></div>When Dana first joined Flash Dancers, Valeriya said, she was shy, silent, and not open to speaking with the team. For many of the new, wartime employees, the challenge hasn't been just the difficulty of the routines. It's a lack of confidence and self-esteem. "They don't believe in themselves," Kseniya says. Part of that, she believes, stems from a lack of positive feedback growing up — "complications that were given to them by their parents as part of the USSR heritage." But part of it comes from the ongoing fear and uncertainty created by the war. Valeriya and her mother both make a point of complimenting the dancers frequently. Kseniya does their makeup, and Valeriya makes and tailors their outfits, so the exact fit "helps their confidence."Still, setting aside the traumas of war while they're at work is a daily battle for everyone at Flash Dancers. "You have to smile when you don't want to," Valeriya says while inspecting a dancer's mascara. "You have to entertain when you don't want to." Gyrating to the Pussycat Dolls in pumps and a sheer pearl-sequined leotard while your country is under attack doesn't come naturally to anyone. Valeriya often reminds the dancers that their customers — many of them Ukrainian soldiers — are in dire need of a distraction. Making sure "they leave with positive emotions" is good for the cause — and for tips.<div type="image" title="Woman dancer getting ready backstage." height="3995" width="5992" msid="104106360" hostid="261"></div>"When the military comes in, they're so tense," Kseniya says. "It's really, really tough."Occasionally they have to toss out an unruly man. But most are cordial. Many of the soldiers ask the dancers to sit with them, and the night becomes more group therapy than cabaret. They talk about their children and wives who have fled the city, the lives they've left behind, their own floundering businesses, what they've seen on the battlefield. Dancers sometimes get more tips from listening than from dancing.One night back in March I met a 26-year-old soldier named Yurii Tryfan who sat alone wearing camo fatigues, nursing his Jägermeister. He told me he had just come from Bakhmut, the besieged city that has witnessed some of the most vicious fighting of the war. (Yevgeny Prigozhin, the now-deceased head of the Russian private army Wagner, claimed he had <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/head-of-russian-private-army-says-more-than-20000-fighters-died-in-bakhmut-battle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost 20,000 of his fighters</a> in Bakhmut alone.) Tryfan was reluctant to talk, but he had nothing but praise for the club and the solace it provided. "Amazing place," he says. "Wonderful staff, the best girls. And most importantly, the core lineup, the songs."Over the past year, several soldiers who were regulars at Flash Dancers have been killed in the fighting. And the horrors of war have reached beyond the front lines. Last September, a dancer named Lyuda, one of the few who remained from before the war, went into labor. She was living in the commuter town of Kupyansk, which had fallen under Russian occupation soon after Russia invaded. She and her husband, Maksyum, a bartender she had met at Flash Dancers a few years earlier, left their home headed for the hospital. On their way, Russian soldiers shot at the car, killing them both. That same month, Pavlo, the club's business administrator, was shot dead by Russian soldiers while driving in Bakhmut. <div type="image" title="Woman dancing at strip club with men chanting her on." height="3925" width="5888" msid="104106364" hostid="261"></div>At 6 p.m. sharp, the Flash Dancers sign outside the club lights up. Kate, a 19-year-old host who's majoring in English at a nearby college, hands out flyers to passersby. She's wearing a long red dress, red wings, and a red masquerade mask. No one bites. Inside, the dancers chat before the dance floor's mirror.The International Monetary Fund says the Ukrainian economy has begun to show signs of "remarkable resilience" as critical infrastructure has been restored and inflation has begun to come down. And though Ukrainians have little spending power, nightlife is resurgent. In Kyiv, according to some reports, there are now more bars and restaurants open than there were before the war. Still, fewer than half of all small businesses in Ukraine are operating at full capacity, and inflation remains punishingly high. "Prices are constantly going up even now. It's scary," Kseniya says. She fears that if rates continue to climb, "people will stop going."<div type="image" title="Woman wearing angel wings dancing on strip club." height="3901" width="5852" msid="104106366" hostid="261"></div>The evening at Flash Dancers could serve as a microcosm of Ukraine's tentative but determined return to normality. By 7, two men trundle down the red-carpeted staircase. As more trickle in, some women take turns dancing while others sit with them, offering them company as they watch the performers. At 9 p.m., just after sunset and with barely an hour before close, a large group arrives. In the final hour, there's an avalanche of constant, acrobatic motion around the pole — syncrhonrized spins and shimmies and sashays as Aguilera croons. When one dancer finishes onstage, another immediately replaces her. "We've sped up the relaxation process" for the customer, Valeriya says, by "distracting him with a beautiful fuss around him.""We reopened the club to create another world, where everything is magical," Valeriya says. "Diamonds and rhinestones do the trick."<div type="image" title="Woman wearing angle wings with purple light beaming through the back." height="3614" width="5421" msid="104106368" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/anna-conkling">Anna Conkling</a> is a journalist based in Berlin. Her writing has been featured in Rolling Stone, Elle, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere.

A night inside a strip club near Ukraine’s front lines

Here's a list of 16 action points laid down by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. 1. Government to push for renewable energy through PM KUSUM scheme. 15 lakh additional pumps to be setup. Use of barren land for generation of solar power to be promoted. 2. Government to also push for water conservation in 100 water stressed districts. 3. Government to encourage states to takeup model agricultural laws. 4. Balanced used of all kinds of fertilizers, organic and synthetic/chemical fertilizers. This is a necessary step to stop the excessive use of chemical fertilizers. We want to promote the use of organic and innovative fertilizers and revise the incentives for chemical fertilizers. 5. Village storage schemes to be operated by SHGs. This will provide villagers better storage capacities. Women SHGs can use this opportunity to regain their position as "Dhan Lakshi" and they can avail Mudra loans for opening storage facilities. To build a national cold supply chain, Indian Railways will set up a Kisan Rail to transfer perishable goods easily. Krishi UDAN will be launched by Civil Aviation ministry to help north-east and tribal districts. NABARD to also take up geo-tagging of agricultural warehouses, cold storages and other inventories. 6. Adricultural credit avaulability to be set at 15 lakh crore. 7. Government aims to eliminate foot and mouth diseases in sheep and goats by 2025. 8. 9. Horticulture sector with its current product of 311 million metric tonnes exceeds the production of food grains. Government will not take it to one product one district. 10. Zero budget natural farming: Online national organic products market is being strengthened. 11. Financing negotiable warehouse receipts 12. Non banking finance companies, active in the adricultural space, the NABARD credit scheme will be expanded. For this scheme, 1.5 lakh crore is set aside. 13. Reduce diseases in cattle. 14. 108 million metirc tonners of milk production to be increased to 108 million metric tonnes. 14. 15. Proposed fish production to 200 lakh tonnes. Government will involve youth in fish production through more than 3000 'sagar mitras'. 16. 58 lakh SHGs have been mobilised under poverty alleviation program.

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