What are the political drivers for land rights of forest-dependent communities?

Prakash Kashwan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut. His research and scholarship focuses …

"The DANGER to FORESTS is not over"

The subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) met from June 2-12 1998 in Bonn, Germany. A good …

Medical education in India does not address larger social needs for health care

Medical education is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The government's decision to extend reservations in institutions of higher education …

Power the people

For the country where only 15 per cent of its population have access to electricity, Nepal has come a long way. It took 84 years to achieve power …

Book review: Water: Perspectives, Issues, Concerns

This is a work of encyclopaedic scope. The subjects it deals with range from an in-depth study of the treatment of water in the Indian …

`Family farming is not a romantic idea. It is business'

The food price rise of 2007-08 highlighted that investments in the agriculture sector have reduced in the past three decades. One of the most …

"We are close to crisis point"

Agriculture and its subsequent effect on the environment, rapidly depleting natural resources like arable land and water, the slackening of the …

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 …

A Renewable Crisis

The last time there was a major push for renewable energy alternatives to polluting fossil fuels was in the aftermath of 1970s oil shock. And then,…

Global food crisis: causes and implications for India

Is there a global crisis unravelling? World food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and the prices of most food crops are at a record high. …

'Poor nations need Codex education'

Sanjay Dave, director of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), was recently elected chairperson of …

Urban India's deprived lot

India is becoming dominantly urban, and the urban poor, who are increasing in numbers, face exclusion from basic amenities like safe drinking …

‘Forests can’t survive without communities’

Nepal’s Forest Act of 1993, which allows communities to manage their forests, is admired and emulated by governments and movements across …

Resurgent polio

Eradicating polio in India is proving to be a tough ask. The disease, which seemed to have been contained a few years ago, is rearing its head …

Forest conservation is too complex an issue to be resolved by executive fiat

The condition of India's forest and her forest dwellers is extremely grave. A fresh round of police attacks on tribal people -- four dead in Dewas,…

Fat of the matter

What does 'healthy oil' really mean? It is difficult to tell. The Centre for Science and Environment studied branded edible oils to understand …

Sunshine sector loses sheen

About 40 kilometres from Delhi, in the bustling real estate market of Noida-Greater Noida, lies the biggest irony that the renewable energy …

Desperate for gas

Gas is the cleanest of fossil fuels and also more efficient and cheaper to use. Yet, in India, there has been no policy focus on this fuel, …

European Commission's research commissioner on India's coaction with EU

The first India-European Union ministerial-level science conference took place on February 5, 2007, in New Delhi, signalling, for the first time,…

Maize Mania

Maize has become the queen of cereals, courted by state governments, seed companies, farmers and the feedstock and starch industries as the crop …

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 …

Veggies delight

The rising demand for vegetables has opened up a money-making opportunity for small farmers. Already reeling from recurring droughts and …

On privatising water

What about privatising water? Should India move to do it? What tips the scales in its favour, and what doesn't? In 2003, two editorials in Down …

Private affairs

The invitation was innocuous. The Confederation of Indian Industry (cii) -- the grouping of the large and most powerful industries -- was …

Wealth of forests withheld

Forest departments across the country owe millions of rupees to communities. For 20 years communities toiled under the Joint Forest Management …