Unique identity crisis
Biometric-based unique identity or Aadhaar is leading to huge problems for people working for the rural employment guarantee scheme and for …
Small towns do not degrade the rural environment
Auroville, or 'the city of dawn', is a unique township located in a predominantly rural district of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu. At the time of its …
Unravelling the food mess
Reaching food to people who need it the most has remained one of the most stubborn problems in India. The public distribution system (PDS) is in …
Another world is possible
Optimism is a great friend but a bad guide. The Asian Social Forum meeting in Hyderabad, India, deliberately avoided this truism while …
Real estate on water
Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …
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 …
The lake colony
Call them the "lakers". Some 10,000 of them. Parts of the Dal (land and water) belong to them. And when they feel the need to make a …
Aaj Ka Roadshow
Liberalisation in India has not only affected humdrum life, but also popular cultural forms. This is palpable in the changing dynamics of the big …
On foot and pedal
The teeming millions on foot and pedal are powering mobility in Indian cities. Their numbers exceed those who use cars. Yet they are victims of …
Singapore: Breathing Easy
It's all about taming traffic: keeping a tab on the number of vehicles on the road, and promoting public transport. Singapore, one of the …
A watershed plan
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. …
'Industry-politician nexus is trying to eliminate us'
Purushan Eloor is an environmental activist and research coordinator with Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy (PMVS), which has been fighting …
Lives of others
Wildlife is more of an academic concern except when the charismatic tiger is wiped out from a protected forest or our favourite fish vanishes …
Clear as air
The grim picture of a lung scarred by pollution is of no shock value today. An ailing populace continues to throw up a phlegm of protests. To …
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. …
Lavasa exposed
By its looks, the place could be mistaken for Portofino, a fishing village-cum-resort in Italy—multi-coloured buildings crowd a waterfront …
Kind to cash
The government has a plan to reach welfare to the poor without wasting money. It wants to put hard cash in their hands instead of spending on …