Articles
Jul 16 2007
OPINION: AGRICULTURE/TRADE
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ASEAN trade agreement will hurt Kerala farmers
India's share in international trade has increased from 0.7 percent to 1 percent, which is a remarkable achievement, some say. In the meantime, lakhs of farmers in Kerala are being adversely affected by reduction of import tariffs on edible oils, spices and other cash crops. Thomas Varghese delves deeper.
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Jul 14 2007
FARMING WIDOWS
Weaving a life in Anantapur
FARMING WIDOWS : Weaving a life in Anantapur
Families left behind by farmers who committed suicide face up to the odds, fighting for survival so that the next generation might do better. As one farm widow puts it, "it is all for the children, sir. Our time has gone". P Sainath reports.
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Jul 13 2007
THE RAINS IN MUMBAI
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Mumbai sinking
Once again, India's financial capital reels under the rains of the monsoon. City residents are told that the government is too poor to tackle its infrastructure deficit. But not only is that not true, the costs of coping with such damage are very much higher than that of providing the proper infrastructure, writes Darryl D'Monte.
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Jul 12 2007
ENVIRONMENT
This IFS officer saved a national park
ENVIRONMENT : This IFS officer saved a national park
Jyotsna Sitling's gargantuan assignment involved ridding a buffer zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand of mountain-high piles of plastic and non-biodegradable waste, dumped by pilgrims over the last three decades on their way to Hemkund Sahib. She elicited the help of the community and did it, reports Neeta Lal.
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Jul 11 2007
SINGUR TATA FACTORY FALLOUT
"I need my land, not money."
SINGUR TATA FACTORY FALLOUT : "I need my land, not money."
Deprived of their lands, unable to find any kind of work, the female sharecroppers of Singur are today looking at bleak days ahead. Government compensation may come, but it may be too little and a poor substitute for a life-sustaining livelihood. Aparna Pallavi has more.
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Jul 10 2007
FLOOD CONTROL
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In Maharashtra, the government loves calamities
A audit of the Maharashtra government's post-flood disaster relief expenditure of the last two years has thrown up plenty of instances of misuse of funds. The audit has also gone into the causes of floods turning out to be disasters. Himanshu Upadhyaya has more.
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Jul 09 2007
PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A rural B-school for women
PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP : A rural B-school for women
Mann Deshi Udyogini, formed by a rural women's cooperative bank in association with HSBC Bank, is a business school aims to empower rural women with knowledge of how to run small enterprises. Gagandeep Kaur reports.
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Jul 08 2007
OPINION/HISTORY
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Why Tagore?
Despite their love for and knowledge of Tagore, the intellectuals of Bengal have sold him short. They have provincialised and parochialised Tagore; as a result, this thinker whose ideas extended well beyond Bengal has been turned into a local hero, writes Ramachandra Guha.
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Jul 06 2007
PRS LEGISLATIVE BRIEF
Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007
PRS LEGISLATIVE BRIEF : Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007
A draft bill in Parliament attempts to mandate the care of elderly citizens in law, and envisions the establishment of tribunals to ensure its functioning. But its definitions and methods leave many questions unanswered. Priya Narayan Parker presents a legislative brief.
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Jul 05 2007
OPINION/GOVERNANCE
Better traffic ahead
OPINION/GOVERNANCE : Better traffic ahead
Fundamentally, the challenge of traffic and transport management in any of our large cities is not merely to create more road infrastructure. The more powerful way to tackle the problem is through analysis of road use patterns, and through the creation of transport services based on them, says Ashwin Mahesh.
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Jul 04 2007
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Assam's high schools and colleges - a mixed bag
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT : Assam's high schools and colleges - a mixed bag
The Assam government has claimed credit for the rise in pass percentages in high schools in recent years. But, reports Ratna Bharali Talukdar, a closer look at the numbers shows there is still much room for improvement in state-funded education in high schools and colleges.
Jul 03 2007
CONSERVATION
Some simple trenches
CONSERVATION : Some simple trenches
Two areca farmers of Sirsi in northern Karnataka, Ganapathy Dattatreya Hegde and his brother-in-law Ananda Subbray Pratakahal have become community leaders, workhorses and heroes, all in one. They have turned a situation of water-scarcity and soil-degradation into one of regeneration. Keya Acharya reports.
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Jul 02 2007
NEW VIDARBHA SEASON
Bt-ing the farmers!
NEW VIDARBHA SEASON : Bt-ing the farmers!
As the fresh sowing season starts, beleaguered cotton farmers, already steeped in debt, are being forced to opt for the more-expensive Bt (genetically modified) cotton. Inputs dealers in Vidarbha say that there is hardly any non-Bt hybrid variety available in the market this year. Jaideep Hardikar reports.
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Jul 01 2007
OPINION
Moving beyond symbols
OPINION : Moving beyond symbols

The question before us women is whether Pratibha Patil's imminent election as President has any meaning for us, whether it will make any difference to women in India, and whether we should welcome such a symbolic gesture on the part of the ruling alliance, writes Kalpana Sharma.

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Jun 30 2007
PUBLIC EDUCATION
School choice looms for poor students
PUBLIC EDUCATION : School choice looms for poor students
Government schools are unable to deliver quality education in most cases. This has prompted some to argue for vouchers - coupons from the government to be given to parents that would let them admit their children in private schools instead. Krithika Ramalingam reports on a movement that is gathering steam.
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Jun 29 2007
COMMUNITY ACTION
People's school for water literacy
COMMUNITY ACTION : People's school for water literacy
A private high school in Sirsi, in northern Karnataka is not stopping at imparting academic education. It has also started teaching practical water literacy to the people of five Malnad districts. The rain centre at the school, with 28 examples of rain water harvesting, opened in early June. Shree Padre reports.
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Jun 28 2007
MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY
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Privatisation turns murkier in K East ward
A pilot privatisation effort in Mumbai's K East ward ignores the lessons from other such efforts, both in India and elsewhere. Worse still, proponents of privatisation show little regard for public particiaption, and reject other options at the outset. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.
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Jun 27 2007
CONSERVATION/ECONOMY
The Malnad mela
CONSERVATION/ECONOMY : The Malnad mela
No matter which way India's seed policies are heading, the underlying purpose of Malnad's home garden programme as a community conservation initiative for the preservation of genetic diversity, organic agriculture, health and ecologically sensitive livelihoods remains undiluted. Keya Acharya reports from northern Karnataka.
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Jun 26 2007
PRS LEGISLATIVE BRIEF
Microfinance Bill
PRS LEGISLATIVE BRIEF : Microfinance Bill
The draft bill comes at a time when there are differing opinions on the cost efficacy of the MFO model for reaching credit to the poor. Moreover, the bill itself contains some perplexing ideas - such as the choice of NABARD, itself an MFO, as a regulator of others such organisations. Kaushiki Sanyal presents a legislative brief.
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Jun 25 2007
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Courses and jobs aplenty, but students uncertain
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION : Courses and jobs aplenty, but students uncertain

In Karnataka, job-training programmes are on offer at a number of institutes, and yet, students unable to make it into college are not lining up in large numbers. Ironically, a manpower crunch exists across industries at the entry level, placing employers in a bind. Padmalatha Ravi digs deeper.

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