be Resignation drama could be a self-goal for BJP By indiatogether.org Published On :: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 The entire episode of BJP leader Lalkrishna Advani's resignation from the party and its subsequent meek withdrawal not only breaks the myth of his capacity for brinkmanship, but may also prove to be a spoiler for the party in the run up to the Lok Sabha, says B.S. Nagaraj. Full Article
be Could Modi be a development disaster? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 04:38:56 +0000 If the cost of ecological damage and social deprivation are accounted for, Narendra Modi will only be half as tall as he is made out to be, says Ashish Kothari, issuing a grave warning. Full Article
be How an MLA hopeful lost the race even before he could contest By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 06 May 2014 12:24:37 +0000 Atum Welly, a former Congress minister in Arunachal Pradesh who switched to the BJP, alleges that a fraudulent move threw him out of the election process, as the Election Commission of India accepted a forged letter of withdrawal. What’s more, he is not alone! Ramesh Menon reports. Full Article
be Voices Modi and Kejriwal must listen to, beyond the noise By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 09 May 2014 03:36:05 +0000 Days before the much-hyped showdown between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi, Prabhu Mallikarjunan pays a visit to the holy city to know more about the loyalties and concerns of people on the ground. Full Article
be Now, link your Aadhaar number to EPIC for cleaner voter lists By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 13 Mar 2015 07:20:28 +0000 The Election Commission of India is introducing The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPA) with a view to eliminating duplication and erroneous deletions in electoral rolls across the country. Chinmayi Shalya reports. Full Article
be Modi is an engine beginning to stall. Is BJP awake? By www.rediff.com Published On :: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:07:38 +0530 If the Bharatiya Janata Party's own chances of returning to power are so weak, where is the question of Narendra Modi assuming its leadership and becoming the next Prime Minister. B Raman examines Full Article
be 115 seats. Is this the best Modi can do? By www.rediff.com Published On :: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:29:29 +0530 Now that the numbers are out and it is nowhere near as spectacular as expected/feared by some or hyped by many -- it is Narendra Modi's lowest in three elections -- it is a sobering thought. Is this the best he can do, wonders Saisuresh Sivaswamy. Full Article
be Modi to be sworn in as chief minister on Dec 26 By www.rediff.com Published On :: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:50:48 +0530 Narendra Modi, who posted a resounding victory in the assembly elections, will be sworn in as Gujarat Chief Minister for the fourth time on December 26. Full Article
be 'We aren't begging, we just seek our rights' By election.rediff.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2009 17:47:17 +0530 'I run up to every neta who campaigns on the roads and tell him about our problem. It is not only me but the rest too have not been paid. It is not as though we don't work. I work from 8 am to 6 pm.' Full Article
be From mandis to markets : Will this round be any better? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 29 Sep 2018 16:31:11 +0000 The second attempt of the NDA government to create a market for farmers' produce may not fare much better than the first one, for the same reason - it fails to address the asymmetry of power between the farmers and buyers, writes Kannan Kasturi. Full Article
be Nuclear Liability Bill: Who bears the brunt? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 The nuclear liability bill by capping the liability arising out of a nuclear incident appears to be an effort to protect the nuclear industry at the cost of the fundamental rights of the citizens writes Mathew Prasad Idiculla. Full Article
be Breaking the myth behind Coastal Thermal Power Plants By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 03:46:19 +0000 It is often believed that coal-based power plants near the coast, by virtue of their proximity to the sea, do not create any pressure on water resources. Shripad Dharmadhikary’s visit to Krishnapattanam in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu exposes the fallacy in that. Full Article
be A continuous struggle between ‘power’ and the people By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 05:06:20 +0000 In yet another contested environmental approval decision, a 300-MW power plant in Gujarat has been granted changes in technology, relaxing certain original conditions, without any public consultation. Kanchi Kohli reports on the grievances of the local people. Full Article
be Moving beyond symbols By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000 The question before us women is whether Pratibha Patil's imminent election as President has any meaning for us, whether it will make any difference to women in India, and whether we should welcome such a symbolic gesture on the part of the ruling alliance, writes Kalpana Sharma. Full Article
be Behind the lessening of true potential By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 05 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000 The idea of women as autonomous and equal citizens is sanctioned in our public sphere through the media, even as the media also endorses the idea that women are around to be gazed at through advertisements, films, contests, and the like. Shoma Chatterjee says that our women are paying a price for this contradiction. Full Article
be Women join hands for a better media By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000 In an increasingly market-driven media climate, a network that nurtures value-driven journalism among women has proved to be a lifeline for professionals who believe that there's more to the media than news brands. Charumathi Supraja reports. Full Article
be Bureaucracy stands in the way of benefits By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 Most villagers in U.P.'s Hardoi district, except for a miniscule few associated with social or political organizations, were not aware of the passage of the new Employment Guarantee Law last year. Since then, its coming into force in 22 districts of U.P. has not impressed them either. Sandeep Pandey notes why. Full Article
be Empowering rural women: Moving beyond 50 percent By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 11:49:10 +0000 The imminent Panchayat elections in Karnataka will see 50 percent reservation for women at all tiers, but how can one ensure real authority for them? Proposed amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act may hold some answers. Full Article
be Uttarakhand Gujjars being ousted without compensation By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000 A large number of Ban Gujjar tribal families remaining within the Rajaji National Park are facing constant harassment from the state forest department. Their rehabilitation is mired in red tape. Aparna Pallavi reports. Full Article
be Countdown to better representation of women in media By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 The worlds largest and longest-running longitudinal research and action initiative on gender in the news media released in New York on 2 March, where the 54th session of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is currently on. Ammu Joseph summarises the findings. Full Article
be Who will bell the media cat? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000 If issues concerning media standards and ethics are not swept under the carpet as in the past, some good may result from the recent storm over Justice Katjus observations, writes Ammu Joseph. Full Article
be The beginning of history By indiatogether.org Published On :: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000 We need to reflect on the political and social possibilities that India has contributed to the modern world. The Indian experience offers new interpretations of key modern concepts such as nationhood, democracy, citizenship and individual freedom, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan. Full Article
be Privatisation of behaviour By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Ritual culture is fundamentally incompatible with modern city life, but an alternative based on an implicit social contract has yet to emerge in India, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan. Full Article
be Between sting and scam By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000 Political parties have displayed moral outrage over the recent expose of misuse in MPLADS funds. The scheme itself violates the Constitution, and second, MPs have had a free hand in doling out contracts to build and sustain patronage. The decision to retain the scheme is shortsighted, points out Sudhirendar Sharma. Full Article
be Between sting and scam By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000 Political parties have displayed moral outrage over the recent expose of misuse in MPLADS funds. The scheme itself violates the Constitution, and second, MPs have had a free hand in doling out contracts to build and sustain patronage. The decision to retain the scheme is shortsighted, points out Sudhirendar Sharma. Full Article
be Struggling to go beyond the basics By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Sikkim leads the nation in per-student expenditure by quite some distance, but bureaucratic hurdles to progress common elsewhere are to be found here too. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports. Full Article
be Bharat Nirman: The numbers don't lie By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 The claims of the second phase of the Bharat Nirman campaign, glorifying the achievements of the UPA in various sectors, ring hollow when one looks at the crises afflicting the economy. Shambhu Ghatak discusses this in the light of findings of the CAG's financial audit of the Union Government Accounts. Full Article
be Could being ‘right’ be wrong for AAP? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 15 Feb 2014 06:32:50 +0000 Given the diversity within its expanding membership base, the AAP is likely to witness more debates over issues such as foreign investment in retail and subsidies. Shankar Jaganathan questions if these discourses will gradually alter the party’s basic ideology as it evolves, or if that is written in stone. Full Article
be Chhattisgarh’s food ATMs: Portable benefits minus biometrics By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 12:45:22 +0000 The smart-card driven CORE-PDS system demonstrates the feasibility of introducing portability in social security systems without the use of biometrics. A student team from IIT Delhi surveys Fair Price Shops in Raipur district following the new system to assess how it has been faring. Full Article
be Those brooms may not be enough to clean our waste! By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 07:16:41 +0000 The success of ‘spot fixes’ and other initiatives by independent resident-collectives or organisations in cleaning up urban spaces and dumping spots has been noteworthy, but a long-term plan for solving waste issues in Indian cities needs more. Pooja Ramamurthi explains. Full Article
be Remembering Janam By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000 Natak jaari Hai, Lalit Vachani's film about the street theatre group founded by Safdar Hashmi, offers priceless vignettes into the character and persona of the activists, but is also an objective record of Janam's struggles against many forms of oppression, writes Shoma Chatterji. Full Article
be Taking dance beyond boundaries By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Dance has long been regarded as an aesthetic form of self-expression and entertainment. Therapy had very little to do with it. But in Kolkata, that is changing now, thanks to a few committed individuals. Shoma Chatterji reports. Full Article
be The fading beat of the dhaki By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Despite its grim story, Divine Drums is a wonderful film that explores a performing art we know little about, and also a human interest story about the performers' lives, writes Shoma Chatterji. Full Article
be A life beyond prison By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Nigel Akkara, once a criminal and a prisoner, decided to turn his life around, helped by the culture therapy program of Alakananda Roy. Shoma Chatterji reports. Full Article
be Remembering Rituparno (1963-2013) By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 The premature demise of acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who passed away on May 30, has robbed Indian cinema of a rare combination of courage and sensitivity and perhaps, of many more masterpieces to come. Shoma A. Chatterji reminisces his works in this tribute to his genius. Full Article
be Why relief packages and loan waivers won’t be enough to stem farm suicides By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:01:04 +0000 Even in regions touted as India’s food bowl, Rs 3000 a month is all that a farmer earns for his family! Devinder Sharma crunches data from CACP to highlight the grave crisis in the agrarian economy. Full Article
be Burdman's farmers are faring better By indiatogether.org Published On :: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000 The West Bengal government remains under a cloud due to violence over its industrialisation plans, but in other areas, its procurement and off-farm processing support for farmers has helped them far more than Maharashtra's approach to its own farmers. Jaideep Hardikar visited Burdman district. Full Article
be Between cup and lip By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000 The Government of India's draft community radio (CR) policy proposes to allow NGOs and other non-profit organisations to run low power radio stations with limited advertising. The policy is expected to go to the Cabinet for approval soon, but CR advocates and broadcasters are keeping their fingers crossed, notes Surekha Sule. Full Article
be Should bribe-givers be let off? By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Researchers conduct experiments to study Kaushik Basu's idea that only bribe-takers should be punished, and get insight that may help anti-corruption efforts. Tarun Jain reports. Full Article
be Leadership by non-believers By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0000 Our economic and political leaders do not have much faith in the free market, or in trickle-down economics, despite their apparent support for both, says Ashwin Mahesh. Full Article
be Business for benefit By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0000 infraSys, a development-driven enterprise that creates physical, financial, and knowledge infrastructure in rural areas. Full Article
be Tax better, spend better By indiatogether.org Published On :: Sun, 01 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000 A government task force has recently made a series of tax and revenue recommendations designed to restore the nation's fiscal health. Ashwin Mahesh reports. Full Article
be Beyond the Clemenceau's recall By indiatogether.org Published On :: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000 The recall of the decommissioned French warship Clemenceau back to France in the wave of protests worldwide opens a great opportunity for India to clean its ship breaking yard in Alang, and improve conditions for its workers. A thorough assessment of facilities at Alang is much needed, notes Ramesh Menon. Full Article
be Training the millions left behind By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Vocational training could play a key role in bridging the gap that keeps millions of workers in the unorganised economy away from a better future. The needs of informal sector workers are complex, and mere training for income-generation is seen to be insufficient, writes Varupi Jain. Full Article
be Looking beyond the chicken's neck By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000 The economy in the North East is still largely based on subsistence-oriented farming. There is plenty of frustration arising out of inability to meet modern aspirations. What are the options for people to engage in productive work and earn more money? Surekha Sule has more. Full Article
be Tripura taps the rubber economy By indiatogether.org Published On :: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000 A persistent push to develop large-scale rubber plantations as a livelihood alternative to slash-and-burn cultivation by tribals has resulted in a major economic upswing in Tripura. With market prices for rubber well above sustenance levels, the future looks bright too. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports. Full Article
be Albert Pinto's missing anger By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000 In the old days, government was responsible for controlling inflation. Now if you feel the pinch of inflation, you have to fend for yourself, and especially because everyone is so busy looking after you, writes Pratap B Mehta. Full Article
be Why ants didn't win the Nobel prize By indiatogether.org Published On :: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000 In his latest book, The Wisdom of Ants: A Short History of Economics, with numerous revealing historical arguments and anecdotes, Shankar Jaganathan traces how economics emerged from being a relatively obscure field to a structured discipline that may be used to explain the basis for every aspect of human life and society, writes Satarupa Bhattacharya. Full Article
be BUDGET: Why more taxes may be good By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000 It is time for the Union Budget 2013. Shankar Jaganathan argues why, in an economy such as India, despite the general public vote against taxes, raising the tax-to-GDP ratio is more critical than restraint in fiscal spending. Full Article
be Beware of disaster profiteering By indiatogether.org Published On :: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000 In view of the usual thrust on packaged food distributed in the name of relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of any disaster or human crisis, L S Aravinda warns against the tendency to sell out local food traditions to the industry. Full Article