Bill will push PDS reform
Development economist JEAN DREZE, known for his work on issues such as hunger, famine, social and human development in India, child health and …
‘Forest department is the encroacher’
When V Kishore Chandra Deo became the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs three months ago, both the ministries were in inertia.…
The panchayat outrage
It was a vote for self-governance, not self-determination. No panchayat election in the country ever created as much hype as that of Jammu and …
Goa must grow...but how?
On January 26, 2007, the government of Goa withdrew its newest blueprint for the development of the state, called the Regional Plan 2011. …
The small big polluter
Small-scale industries: Where regulations are meaningless and pollution control an unaffordable luxury. Can they leapfrog to cost-effective …
Tribunal on trial
It has been four years since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act was passed by Parliament for effective and expeditious disposal of cases …
Treasure in troubled land
International aid has supported the economy of Afghanistan for 12 years. With aid flow gradually declining, the war-torn country will now have to …
Clash of the cyberworlds
In an increasingly digital world, the issue of Internet freedom and governance has become hugely contested. Censorship and denial of access occur …
Battle for the Internet
As the Internet becomes the public square and the marketplace of our world, it is increasingly becoming a contested terrain. Its potential for …
How government is subverting Forest Rights Act
Does this official data betray a conspiracy? Only 1.6 per cent of the 2.9 million claims approved under the Forest Rights Act recognise community …
Pure myth
When was the last time you drank water straight from the tap at your house to slake thirst on a hot summer day, without hesitation. Chances are …
United Colours of Industry
Of all dyes produced across the world, 11 per cent goes out as effluents. 2 per cent from manufacturing and as much as 9 per cent from colouring. …
Universal health scare
The country’s planners are debating how to provide healthcare to all. In a drastic shift from the 65-year-old public health system, the …
Troubled Beautiful Minds
They are there—each residential area has its mentally disturbed people; each family has anecdotes of crazy relatives. Nobody wants to …
Deafening Noise
Constant exposure to noise can make one deaf. The major culprit is road traffic. Can one avoid noise? It’s difficult. Checking it, however, …
The hunt for benefits
India is hailed as a pioneer in implementing the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity—fair and equitable sharing of …
Secretive tribunals, hidden damages
Canadian academic Gus Van Harten is well known for his efforts to reform the global investment treaty regime through his research papers, …
India’s many investment treaties make it vulnerable
Senior international lawyer Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, who heads the investment programme of the International Institute on Sustainable …
Road to disaster
Fertile land is up for grabs in western Uttar Pradesh. Private developers are acquiring it to build apartments, industries, IT institutes, and …
Common knowledge
Let the government begin its long march into Freedom of information by making its proposed bill public even before it goes to Parliament
Anti-activism law
The ultra-conservative American Legislative Exchange Council is championing a new law that will endanger activists supporting environmental, …
Word wars: Language copyright
It's becoming harder to exercise one's freedom of expression, even in the land of liberty. When at & t used the phrase "freedom of expression" in …
Forcing task
Voluntary organisations decide to take to task irrational and outdated government legislations
Order, Order
Powerful words that provided the base for judicial activism in India. How potent are the judgments delivered in favour of the environment? Will …
A beaten path
Suresh Prabhu is by no means breaking new ground. He is merely mouthing the same promise made time and again, but never fulfilled, by his predecessors