Articles
Dec 30 2010
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Lost the file? Jail the culprit!
RIGHT TO INFORMATION : Lost the file? Jail the culprit!
Too many RTI applicants are being fobbed by Public Information Officers saying the file being sought is lost. Well, in that case, ask what action has been taken per the Public Records Act, urges Krishnaraj Rao.
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Dec 27 2010
MICROCREDIT MELTDOWN
Living with 'installments'
MICROCREDIT MELTDOWN : Living with 'installments'
Many micro-credit loans do no more than allow a family to juggle its finances for a month-to-month existance. As investors embrace this 'market', MFIs are increasingly under scrutiny. Jaideep Hardikar reports.
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Dec 26 2010
INTERVIEW: DAVID SHULMAN
Salvager of India's dying temple heritage
INTERVIEW: DAVID SHULMAN : Salvager of India's dying temple heritage

"In the Varadaraja Swamy Temple in Kanchipuram, I saw with my own eyes, just a year ago, how the late 17th-century murals were literally disintegrating. As you watch, they are going. It has happened in temple after temple". David Shulman talks to Lalitha Sridhar .

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Dec 25 2010
MAHARASHTRA-KONKAN NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT
'We don't sell our mother'
MAHARASHTRA-KONKAN NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT : 'We don't sell our mother'
There has been substantial resistance to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Park being set up in Konkan region of Maharashtra, in Ratnagiri district. The political consensus for nuclear power has once against brushed aside legitimate local concerns, writes Surekha Sule.
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Dec 25 2010
IRREGULAR REGULATION
Already destroyed? Ok, then.
IRREGULAR REGULATION : Already destroyed? Ok, then.
The National Environment Appellate Authority finds everything that ECPEL did in the Naupada swamp is ecologically harmful, but the project must go ahead anyway. Kanchi Kohli reports.
Dec 24 2010
FILM REVIEWS
Autumn in decay
FILM REVIEWS : Autumn in decay
In Harud, autumn is not just the season it stands for. It is a metaphor for a state caught in a situation of persistent siege, bomb blasts, and killings. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.
Dec 24 2010
DEFENCE POLICY
The Army's right to its opinion
DEFENCE POLICY : The Army's right to its opinion
The top brass doesn't agree with the State government's plan to draw-down forces in the Kashmir valley. But should the military air its view publicly, and how does that impact policy-making, wonders Firdaus Ahmed.
Dec 19 2010
CLIMATE TALKS
Capitulation at Cancun
CLIMATE TALKS : Capitulation at Cancun
The denouement at Cancun wasn't all that different from Copenhagen. India agreed to take on binding emission cuts, while industrial countries did no more than make sympathetic noises. Darryl D'Monte reports.
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Dec 17 2010
MINING
The battlefield of hopes
MINING : The battlefield of hopes
As in many other struggles around the country, in Kalinganagar too there are fractures within the opposition to the proposed industrial plants, and families are torn apart by bleak choices. Freny Manecksha reports.
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Dec 14 2010
OPINION
Honest is, as honest does
OPINION : Honest is, as honest does
Integrity, in the job of the Prime Minister, demands putting national interest above partisan politics and personal loyalties. By that standard Manmohan Singh can't be called a "man of integirty", writes Madhu Purnima Kishwar.
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Dec 12 2010
FREE SPEECH
Is 'contempt of court' blocking justice?
FREE SPEECH : Is 'contempt of court' blocking justice?
It is impermissible under the law to 'scandalise the courts'. But is this vague restraint contrary to the guarantees of liberty given to citizens in the Constitution? Kannan Kasturi examines the notion of 'contempt of court'.
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Dec 12 2010
OPINION
Empowering communities the right way
OPINION : Empowering communities the right way

Community engagement should be born out of respect for the participating community members and their capacities rather than as tokenism needed to fulfill a program requirement, writes R Balasubramaniam.

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Dec 12 2010
DISTRICTS AND TALUKS
Greening the smaller towns
DISTRICTS AND TALUKS : Greening the smaller towns
What should a town-planning engineer in a district or taluk headquarters know of the Energy Conservation Building Code to get it successfully implemented, without complicating things? Chandrashekar Hariharan provides some answers.
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Dec 06 2010
OPINION: POLITICIANS
The lessons of Bihar
OPINION: POLITICIANS : The lessons of Bihar
Citizens of other states also could take hope from the results in Bihar, and demand that their politicians too provide enduring social benefits rather than simply stoking prejudice, writes Ramachandra Guha.
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Nov 30 2010
STRATEGIC COMMUNITY
Muddling along
STRATEGIC COMMUNITY : Muddling along
For a number of reasons, the official strategic community is inadequate both at the bureaucratic and political levels. So we lurch from one bout of activism to the next, writes Firdaus Ahmed.
Nov 30 2010
INTERVIEW: JEAN DREZE
Jharkhand's "government by fiction"
INTERVIEW: JEAN DREZE : Jharkhand's "government by fiction"

"The main hurdle to the development of Jharkhand is political: the state’s resources are under the control of this criminal nexus, and people have no say." Jivesh Singh interviews Jean Dreze on Jharkhand's 10th anniversary.

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Nov 28 2010
JUSTICE DELAYED
A crevasse in the regulatory environment
JUSTICE DELAYED : A crevasse in the regulatory environment
With the formation of the Green Tribunal, its predecessor, the NEAA has ceased to exist. But the NGT is not fully ready to hear cases, and this has put the regulatory environment off-course. Kanchi Kohli reports.
Nov 27 2010
OPINION
Home-schooling citizenship
OPINION : Home-schooling citizenship

Instead of imposing top-down controls on behaviour from the Supreme Court downward, would a better solution to our problems be to shift norms from the family outward, asks Rajesh Kasturirangan.

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Nov 25 2010
FILM INSTITUTE
A drama on campus
FILM INSTITUTE : A drama on campus
Will the FTII, which once encouraged plurality of cinema, be reduced to providing skilled labour for an assembly line production system of films? Students and alumni are worried. Shoma Chatterji reports.
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Nov 21 2010
KASHMIR
The human rights challenge
KASHMIR : The human rights challenge
For civil society the task of addressing human rights concerns in a situation where security forces act with impunity is immensely challenging. Still, there are those who are trying. Freny Manecksha reports.
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