New electronic trading exchanges promise to give Indian farmers better options for marketing their crops, eliminating middle-men costs substantially in the process. To gain market-share, the exchanges will have to help farmers become familiar with the system. Gagandeep Kaur reports.

The lure of gigantism today is the prospect of large and easy kickbacks, says Prashant Bhushan.

There are four ideas for a Lokpal and a 'Sense of the House' resolution of Parliament itself before the standing committee whic begins work shortly. The battle for Lokpal is far from over, writes Mathew Prasad Idiculla.

The idea of interlinking rivers is appealing because it is so grand. But this is also the reason it is nothing more than a distraction from the business at hand, writes Sunita Narain.

Responding to reports of high stress among students and parents, the state proposes to revise the grading system used in Class X. Sreedevi Jacob reports on the hopes and fears it has raised.

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.

In Kerala, considered a role model for other parts of the country, almost all Muslim children up to the tenth standard are in school, numbers that compare well to that of other communities. Yet, the story is very different when one looks at higher education, writes Deepa A.

For seven-year-old Sandhya and her siblings, totally dependant on their mother who ekes out a living by making beedis, the state government's relief package, announced nearly 18 months ago, is simply not enough. Many more suffer the same fate. P N Venugopal reports.

The new class VII social science textbook in Kerala has become the cause of clashes. Groups agitating against the book allege its content is anti-religion, while the state curriculum board says it propagates religious tolerance. P N Venugopal reports on the controversy.

The K N Panikkar committee recommended a change in a controversial chapter of a social sciences textbook that triggered violent agitation on the grounds that it promoted atheism and communism. P N Venugopal has more.

Over 1400 families who had started living on the rubber plantation of Harrisons & Crossfields -- the Chengara struggle -- will now get land in a deal brokered by the Chief Minister in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition. P N Venugopal takes stock.

An innovative project in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is helping sex workers empower themselves, by training them as paralegal volunteers. A confident community is fighting exploitation, standing up and being counted, reports Ramesh Menon.

The Chingrajpara slum in Bilaspur, Chhatisgarh is the city's largest of nearly 50 slums. Why are the children not in school? Why is a schooling cost of Rs 318 per year per child a tall figure for poor parents? Ashima Sood chronicles the lived experience of poverty from her visits of 2002 and 2003.

Dr Ilina Sen, well-known social activist and feminist scholar, who currently heads the Department of Women’s Studies in Mahatma Gandhi University, Wardha, Maharashtra speaks in detail to M Suchitra about her husband's trial and her appeal to the Chhatisgarh High Court.

The World Bank's much touted 'knowledge' products are coming out of a flawed process. The bank hires highly paid consultants who are mostly directed through a system of incentives towards arriving at a pre-determined policy consensus. Information and experiences that run counter to the consensus are ignored. Shripad Dharmadhikary on the implications for India.

In India, other states look at Kerala's record of firsts with envy. Dr Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate, has hailed it as a model. But Kerala, caught in a web of paradoxes, is not what it seems, writes Ramesh Menon.

Popular ideas of development and management of common resources should be revisited in light of this year's Economics Nobel Prize, given to Prof. Elinor Ostrom, writes Prakash Kashwan.

"Like thousands of other ordinary Indians I had rushed to Gujarat to lend a helping hand. And in the two weeks spent there I got to see up close, many dimensions of our innate, if imperfect, humanity." Venu Madhav Govindu remembers a relief camp he called home five years ago.

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.

In the shadow of the Narmada dam, those displaced by the canal once hoped that its water would irrigate their fields. Little did they know how their lives would turn out. Neeta Deshpande reports.

By tearing up the global rulebook, the US is in fact undermining its own imperial rule, but in this there lies an opportunity for global democracy, says George Monbiot.

Those who devise television programmes on cricket seem convinced that women have neither brains, nor common sense, says Kalpana Sharma.

Last month, women's groups were engaged in a vigorous debate with the National Commission on Women (NCW) about a bill on sexual harassment, says Kalpana Sharma.

At every turn, the Supreme Court has had two options, and always the justices leaned towards the unconvincing one, says Videh Upadhyay.

In any society, the process of change is painful, and in ours, women are being forced to pay the price for this, says Kalpana Sharma.

She lives in a six feet by eight feet hut in Mumbai and pays a whopping Rs.400 per month for electricity that lights one bulb and a table fan. She is a leader of her community, and yet some better off want her disenfranchised. Kalpana Sharma rebuts a new divisive cry in Mumbai.

She only knows at the end of each day whether there will be enough money to survive tomorrow. Does this woman have rights, the right to produce a child? Or should someone else decide what her rights are, and conclude that sterilisation is the only option, asks Kalpana Sharma.

Perhaps one of the most moving and inspiring stories to have come from Pakistan in recent times is the story of Mukhtaran Bibi or Mukhtar Mai as she is now called. Her fight is an uplifting example for all women, not just those who are victims of sexual crimes, says Kalpana Sharma.

Why is it that whenever there is any talk of values, it is women's behaviour, their dress, their attitude that comes into question, even though there are more men than women in India? Societal values and morality should apply to everyone, men and women, says Kalpana Sharma.

It is no coincidence that it is women who have been targetted in the recent controversy over talking about pre-marital sex. If men voiced similar opinion, their remarks would have been overlooked. Women, apparently, should not speak about sex with this level of frankness, says Kalpana Sharma.

From newspaper reports, it would appear that some of the focused programmes that the Haryana government launched after the uproar over the low sex ratio are making a difference. Until this is confirmed, we must assuage the genuine fears of people about the girl child, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Even the most calculating and hard-hearted woman will not be indifferent to what happens to the child she has birthed. This is the reason that female infanticide remains a phenomenon restricted to only a few areas while sex selective abortions are rampant, writes Kalpana Sharma.

For the sake of millions of voiceless women and marginalised groups, who were given a voice through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, it is important to challenge laws that attempt to take away grassroots participatory democracy as it has begun to evolve, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Goa is, by Indian standards, a prosperous and progressive state. In terms of human development, access to education and healthcare, for example, it ranks almost as high as Kerala. But, as a small and beautiful state, it feels itself peculiarly vulnerable, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The issue of sexual harassment is out in the open and is being discussed. It gives a chance to hundreds of women who have faced situations for which they thought there was no solution to come forward and share their experiences, writes Kalpana Sharma.

India's support for the Soviet Union ran counter to the traditions of its own national movement. In the same way, the Indian silence on Burma is in sharp contrast to our consistent support for the democratic opposition in apartheid-era South Africa, says Ramachandra Guha.

There are many people who believe that women should do only women's work and that they should step out of their homes for paid work only if it is absolutely necessary. But the economy is denting such perceptions, observes Kalpana Sharma.

On the evidence of their respective performances in the trust vote, it must be said that the young Abdullah appears to be better qualified for the post he seeks than the young Gandhi is for the job some think should be his by right of birth, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The Niketa and Harish Mehta case has thrown issues that concern individual choice, ethics, technology and the law. In each instance, there are no clear guidelines, there is nothing that is black and white, writes Kalpana Sharma.

How could someone not known to her at all prove and establish her identity, while at the same time no one in her own village was authorised to do so? R Balasubramaniam begins a series of Voices from the Grassroots.

A large number of existing and proposed investments along the Tamilnadu coast are at risk from likely changes to sea level in the coming decades. Plans for the future must bear this risk in mind, writes Sujatha Byravan.

There is an urgent need to make politics belong to the people. A big tweak of the way parties function is needed to ensure this, writes R Balasubramaniam.

Two-time national award winner, veteran journalist Shoma A Chatterji explains with disarming honesty why, despite being deeply concerned over the prevailing socio-cultural milieu in the country, she would not like to blindly follow her celebrated co-awardees in returning the awards.

A homely looking woman in her late fifties has for years run a small-scale business doing what is widely seen as a man's job -- providing computer hardware to companies. But she does not make the local news. A culture of community journalism in the English newspapers is missing and is much needed, says Nabina Das.

Are bloggers just like journalists? The jury is still debating, but clearly bloggers are filling some voids in mainstream journalism, and connecting to net-savvy citizens in an exciting fashion. Blogs are not about to destroy conventional media, but they are making an impact, notes Darryl D'Monte.

Inspired by a recently released movie, Shoma Chatterji explores how the lipstick and burkha establishes a woman’s identity in public spaces and liberates them in private.

Lalit Vachani's latest film places the Mahatma's historic Dandi March in perspective, juxtaposing it against the reality of the depriveations faced by the poor. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

For more than a decade now, Supriyo Sen has been making his way through awards bestowed for excellence in choice of subject and aesthetics of creative expression, the latest being accorded for Wagah. Shoma Chatterji looks back at his films.

Set in conditions that are bare in many ways, Bilal defines the purity and the innocence of the child even in the most desperate circumstances. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Bhor is a psycho-social journey into the minds and lives of inmates of a rehab centre, trying to build a world away from the mainstream. Shoma Chatterji reviews the play.