Articles
Mar 08 2007
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
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Premature menopause risks rising: study
A pan-India survey conducted recently by the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) has brought an alarming new phenomenon of premature menopause amongst Indian women to light. Neeta Lal has more.
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Mar 07 2007
MEDIA/OPINION
Media barons and press freedoms
MEDIA/OPINION : Media barons and press freedoms

How relevant is the argument of a threat to freedom of the press in cases where the financial interests of a media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public? The question resurfaced recently in Andhra Pradesh over the Eenadu-Margadarsi controversy, writes B P Sanjay.

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Mar 06 2007
COMPENSATION PAYMENTS
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How much for that forest?
When a large hydropower projects results in the conversion of forest land, or its submergence, what is the right amount of money to be paid as compensation for this ecological loss? Himanshu Upadhyaya finds that developers are seeking creative arguments to lower the costs to themselves.
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Mar 05 2007
BOOK REVIEW: 13 DECEMBER
The strange case of the Parliament attack
BOOK REVIEW: 13 DECEMBER : The strange case of the Parliament attack
13 Dec: A Reader is a collection of essays on the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001. The book offers lay-readers a detailed overview of the gaps in the investigation, and the loopholes in the case, particularly against Mohammed Afzal, currently on death row and seeking clemency, writes Bikram Jeet Batra.
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Mar 02 2007
SARVA SHIKSHA AHBIYAN
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SSA's acclaim hides many failures
Despite being feted as a huge success, the flagship programme of the government for the universalisation of primary education leaves much to be desired. Ironically, the easy availability of the funds for a supposedly successful scheme may be preventing it from being as productive as it could otherwise be. Kalpana Misra reports.
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Feb 28 2007
HEALTH
Sorrow and distress, thy home is Jajjal
HEALTH : Sorrow and distress, thy home is Jajjal
The elections in Punjab have unseated the Congress and ushered in the Akali-BJP. But will this change the fortunes of hundreds of cancer-impacted families in the Malwa region? Village after village is plagued by pesticide-linked cancer and rising debt. Umendra Dutt writes about Jajjal, one of them.
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Feb 27 2007
SLUMS
The great garbage rush
SLUMS : The great garbage rush

The belief that slum dwellers convert any structure they are given into another slum is thoroughly disproved in Charkop. There is clearly a sense of community, and each cluster feels proud to maintain the cleanliness of its surroundings, writes Kalpana Sharma.

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Feb 27 2007
HUMAN RIGHTS
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Villagers push for work benefits in Orissa
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is being implemented in Orissa in stops and starts. But by pressing for information on NREGA benefits using the sunshine law, citizens are able to hold officials accountable and are able to remedy the situation by themselves in some cases. Pradeep Baisakh has more.
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Feb 24 2007
THE BOLLWORM RETURNS
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Is Bt-based resistance collapsing?
Studies from China and the US show the limitations of Bt-based resistance. The bollworm evolves to resist the toxin eventually, and a number of secondary pests remain unaffected. Suman Sahai argues that this is not really a workable strategy except in the first few years.
Feb 23 2007
POLAVARAM SUBMERGENCE ZONE
Not just a place to live
POLAVARAM SUBMERGENCE ZONE : Not just a place to live
In Sriramagiri panchayat, a few Kondareddi settlements want nothing to do with the relief and rehabilitation package for those who would be displaced by the Polavaram dam. Fighting off underhand tactics by officials, they are determined to remain in their homes, amidst their culture and its history. R Uma Maheshwari reports.
Feb 22 2007
VIDARBHA CRISIS
The tale of three widows
VIDARBHA CRISIS : The tale of three widows
Savita, Sunita and Pratibha are three women from different contexts, background and age groups, yet engulfed by the continuing tragedy that plays out in Maharashtra. The number of widows is growing at a frightening speed in the cotton country. Jaideep Hardikar reports.
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Feb 21 2007
SOCIETY/MEDIA
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Condom Ads: missed messages
India's attitude to condoms and contraception is worrisome at a time when promiscuity has a stamp of approval. Condom manufacturers are pitching pleasure enhancement in their ads, instead of being direct about the protection against AIDS. Charumathi Supraja reports.
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Feb 20 2007
CONTRACT FARMING
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New terms of harvest
Is contract farming the answer to the current woes confronting the nation's farmers, as various corporates claim? Or has the agri-business sector played the right trick at just the right time, with traditional agriculture in the doldrums in so many regions? Gagandeep Kaur reports.
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Feb 19 2007
EDUCATION AND POLITICS
Gujarat's textbooks: Full of biases and errors
EDUCATION AND POLITICS : Gujarat's textbooks: Full of biases and errors
An ongoing study of school textbooks in four states has found stereotypes and biases in Gujarat's textbooks. The Social Studies textbook for standard five has nine stories on mythology masquerading as history. Deepa A reports.
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Feb 18 2007
UNIVERSITIES
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The other revolution of 1857
Once, our universities made a fundamental contribution to the opening of the Indian mind. Now, it is more likely that they will act as a constraint to the further economic and social development of India. Ramachandra Guha notes the four ills that plague India's universities, 150 years after the first three of them were established.
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Feb 17 2007
ENVIRONMENT
Will the Blue Lady do a Le Clemenceau?
ENVIRONMENT : Will the Blue Lady do a Le Clemenceau?
Despite the confirmed presence of toxic waste on-board the Blue Lady, currently beached at the Alang shipbreaking yard, there appears to be a consensus among key officials in Gujarat and New Delhi to allow the ship's dismantling. 19 February at the Supreme Court will be yet another litmus test, writes Gopal Krishna.
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Feb 16 2007
FDI IN RETAIL
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Big box retail will boost poverty
The Prime Minister, citing no credible evidence, says small shopkeepers will not be hurt by the entry of large foreign retailiers into the country. His party president, on the other hand, is asking him to go slow on this front. Will this lead to a different course in the government's thinking, or is this simply a smoke-screen, asks Devinder Sharma.
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Feb 15 2007
AIDS' ORPHANS
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The younger side of AIDS
There are an estimated 200,000 children with HIV who are under 15 years old in the country, while some 50,000 to 60,000 children are born with HIV each year, according to NACO estimates, despite the fact that drugs now exist to immunize such children from the threat of contamination from their mothers. Darryl D'Monte reports.
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Feb 14 2007
CHILDREN IN THE NEWS
Are children being abused on the tube?
CHILDREN IN THE NEWS : Are children being abused on the tube?
Over the past couple of years or so, it appears that Indian television media are recklessly using and exhibiting children in breaking news and other stories, with the willing participation of parents. Does this constitute child abuse? Shoma Chatterji has more.
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Feb 12 2007
REVERSE MIGRATION
It's been a hard day's night
REVERSE MIGRATION : It's been a hard day's night
Hundreds of women in Maharashtra's Gondia district travel from small towns to the villages to earn a daily wage. Unlike most migrants, they are footloose workers from an urban setting seeking work in the villages. At stations along the way are labour contractors, waiting to pick up workers on the cheap. P Sainath reports.
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