The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu are the clowns of Indian politics. But think of the actions of the two in the past fortnight and you will begin seeing the difference. Sidhu led the protest for the Bharatiya Janata Party against the fuel price hike …
effluents spur boycott: Farmers from Kuppam village in Tamil Nadu's Karur district have declared a boycott of the assembly elections, scheduled for May 8-10, 2006. They allege that effluents from bleaching and dyeing units in Tirupur, upstream of the Noyyal, have seriously affected the village in the past few years. …
A journalist from the International Herald Tribune asked my opinion about what he called "modern forms of lobbying" that us multinationals operating in India engaged in. He was investigating how these companies were bringing their skills of influencing policy - from 'planting' stories in the media, to 'engaging' academics and …
Over the past few days, Jantar Mantar has been the venue of two protests - against two of worst tragedies Independent India has witnessed. On one side of the road were activists fighting for justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy - the chemical disaster that killed, maimed …
Based on primary source material, this paper unravels the undermining of development of vital transport infrastructure in Orissa, namely, Paradeep port and a proposed railway line for exploiting the rich mineral resources of the state
at last, we have got the confirmation. We don't we see many discussions about poor peoples' issues because poor people cannot pay their elected representatives enough for questions to be raised on their issues in parliament. The debate over ethics of
the political discourse in Kerala today is dominated by how the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (ldf) decimated the Congress led United Democratic Front (udf) in the recent panchayat elections. However, the role played by grassroot level movements in shaping the electoral outcome in many places is …
in a verdict aimed at political cleansing, the Supreme Court (sc) issued a notice to attorney general Milon K Banerjee on January 24, 2005, to empower voters with the right to reject all candidates while casting votes in elections. The order was passed in response to a public interest litigation …
too demanding: The Uttar Pradesh government decided on December 14, 2004, to constitute an Irrigation Development and Flood Control Commission. The move is allegedly aimed at merely including Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) member of parliament Anuradha Chowdhary in the government. The state already has a Flood Control Board and some …
as haryana gears up for panchayat elections during January-February 2005, its model panchayat, Kausli in Rewari district, doesn't seem too enthusiastic. Kalpana Kumari Yadav, a resident, says with a touch of indignation: "I voted in the 14th Lok Sabha elections but my name is missing from the new electoral list …
Movie In the current us election season, Dickie Pilger's website seems quite a model. Here is a candidate extolling state funding of healthcare and stands for protecting the environment. But Pilger is different from other candidates: he is the lead character in a movie Silver City by director John Sayles. …
In Nagpur city, women gather outside a court. In broad daylight they lynch a local serial rapist. When four women are arrested, few hundred women own up to the crime. They say they killed Akku Yadav because the local police did little to stop his criminal reign of terror; they …
the Union minister for panchayati raj, Mani Shankar Aiyar, is a worried man. Even before he could select his personal staff and a place for the newly created ministry of panchayati raj affairs (mopra), questions are being raised about the efficacy of carving out this section from the Union ministry …
IN 1993, India's members of Parliament (MPs) decided they weren't doing enough for the constituencies that had sent them to the country's seat of legislative power. Speedily, the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was hatched: each MP began to receive Rs 2 crore annually to spend on …
Elections 2004 are over. Was it a vote for development, social inclusion and justice? Or simply a vote against an incumbent government, flattened by sleazy and slick self-promotion? The answer is complicated, as can be expected from a country as diverse and layered as India. So, for instance, it can …
Elections always teach lessons. The outcome of the 2004 polls is still a few days away but we have already learnt from media reports that the water scarcity has left a countrywide imprint. The crying need for water reverberates in villages of the water-stressed regions in central India, in rainfall …
Last year, Congress chief minister Digvijay Singh lost the Madhya Pradesh (MP) state elections. Two years before, the Communist-led coalition lost in Kerala. Since both governments had fervently promoted decentralisation, questions naturally come to the fore: Was their defeat a vote against the move towards local governance and devolution of …
The impending Lok Sabha and state assembly polls have brought a brief respite to Orissa's 2 lakh-odd traditional fisherfolk who eke a living off Chilika lake. For, electoral compulsions have forced political parties to shelve the controversial Chilika Fishing Regulatory Bill, 2002, which seeks to grant 30 per cent fishing …
