As a country grappling with political and infrastructural problems, there are very few issues that do not evoke extreme, often diametrically opposite, reactions in India. Population control Bills, vaccination policy, farmer income initiatives, river water sharing mechanisms or surrogacy laws—there is no dearth of topics that have triggered controversy, and …
Indira Gandhi’s life (1917–1984) spanned much of the twentieth century. She was Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy for two spells that totaled fi fteen years. To this day, her environmental legacy remains one that divides critics from admirers. One sees it as a defense against ecological impoverishment, especially …
The recently completed assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh witnessed an unprecedented public practise. In the drought-stricken Bundelkhand region, voters asked the candidates to take a written test on the problems of the region. Called
having just completed 15 years of publication, our first duty is to thank those readers who've been with us from our first issue of May 31, 1992. They have sustained us and given us meaning. They have had numerous options
The us Congress is finally taking climate change seriously, with the Democrats, who are in control, reversing the existing policy of denial. The change has galvanised environmental groups. Business groups, including large corporations, have joined hands with bodies like the Natural Resource Defense Council, Environmental Defense, World Resources Institute and …
On March 14, 2006, about 3,000 police personnel forced their way into West Bengal's Nandigram block, injuring and killing many villagers. Villages in the block, in East Midnapur district, have been resisting the state government's plan to set up a special economic zone (sez) in the area. The official death …
the massacre at Nandigram came as a shock to most. In retrospect, though, it needn't have. cpi(m)'s unrelenting drive to industrialise and urbanise West Bengal has had the makings of a disaster for some time now
West Bengal industrialisation plans on hold as centre reviews SEZs The West Bengal government's industrialisation ambitions received a series of setbacks in the past month with the Union government deciding to put additional special economic zones (SEZs) on hold until a review; Left Front allies rejecting a proposal to relax …
in 1933, Adolf Hitler met with the car baron Ferdinand Porsche to discuss the idea of a car that could carry 5 people, cruise up to 40 km an hour, return around 12 km a litre, and cost only 1,000 Reich Marks. Thus was the origin of the Volkswagen car. …
the police in Keshkal, in Chattisgarh's Bastar district, has opened a can of worms after releasing 19 surrendered naxalites, on January 11, after declaring that no cases are registered against them. Earlier, on January 3 in Raipur, 79 alleged naxalites surrendered in the presence of chief minister Raman Singh. The …
in may 2004, India had a new government at the Centre. Bangalore and Hyderabad, the two boroughs of shining India, saw their chief ministers eat humble pie at the hustings. An India not very often visible
in a volte face, the West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has announced the withdrawal of the notification for land acquisition in Nandigram that had triggered a violent agitation in the first week of January and claimed six lives. Speaking to the media, Bhattacharjee admitted
inter-state water conflicts have become the stock-in-trade of Indian politics. They are easy matter for politicians and technocrats to milk. The disputes most often end up in the Supreme Court with an uneasy imbroglio making matters easy for politicking. The kafuffle over the century old Mullaperiyar dam on the river …
The Hindu of December 13, 2006 published a write-up on Singur on its op-ed page: "Some facts, please' by cpi(m) politburo member and leading intellectual Brinda Karat. She was countering what she called a smear campaign against the cpim) over the acquisition of land for the proposed Tata Motors project …
This book is about the politics of water resource development management in India, with special reference to the Narmada river water dispute. The author draws on a wealth of studies on Narmada as also his own research to analyse the controversy from the perspective of a political scientists. Given the …
This paper discusses recent trends in poverty concepts and suggest a locally adapted multidimensional model for measuring and monitoring poverty. The model comprises nested layers with subjective wellbeing in the centre surrounded by a core of health, wealth and knowledge, and a context that includes natural, economic, social and political …
With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on a hunger strike, (as events stood on December 8, 2006), things are bound not to be normal. Banerjee's hunger strike comes as a mark of protest against Tata's proposed car plant in Singur, West Bengal. This time round, the chief minister of West …
mamata is on fast. Medha is arrested. Marxists are on a march to the market. Over some motorcars. It is very difficult to stick to any ideology while you are in the quicksand of market. For some time now in Indian politics, the Left managed to give the impression to …
