In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 66 out of 131 seats reserved for SC/ST candidates, which is the highest for any single party since 1991. Prabhu Mallikarjunan looks at the statistics and tries to decipher what this says for voting behaviour in these constituencies.

Why have the media bought the view that EVMs are infallible when some experts – and the Supreme Court – disagree? Ravikiran Shinde dissects the issue.

'If a scheme like the NREGA can yield such handsome dividends, imagine the likely impact of an initiative to provide universal healthcare, free primary education, safe drinking water, affordable housing and social security.'

By fixing a minimum tenure for secretaries in key ministries, Singh can ensure continuity of policy.

"The Bay Lights" light installation, inspired by the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is officially unveiled March 5. Here's a preview of what it will look like, and a conversation the artist, Leo Villareal.

The coronavirus outbreak is forcing 2020 candidates to suspend rallies, town halls and other events they typically use to connect with voters. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

India generates 100 million tonnes of fly ash each year, and close to 90% of this ends up in waste mounds. But Georg Dirk believes that 40% of this by-product of thermal power stations can be turned into cement, reducing energy costs, environmental pollution, and waste. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Lagging its northern European neighbours in environmentalism, France is seeking to reposition its strengths in nuclear energy and hydroelectricity, and aid agency is using its grants to help other countries reduce their carbon footprints. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Policy makers have understood the importance of producing energy, but have been much slower to promote measures for energy efficiency. This has to change, writes Girish Sant.

A 90-second video put together by a group of women activists demands a pop-up statutory warning on screen every time a woman is assaulted or abused. Shoma Chatterji critiques the video, raising several questions over its content as well as the stance that it takes.

35 Irula (ST) candidates had contested in the recent local body elections in Tamilnadu and 15 won panchayat presidentships. And this, Irulas hope, will translate into creation of a vocal pressure group of leaders that will ensure development for them. Krithika Ramalingam has more.

As the Kerala government takes steps to re-inspire citizens to engage in grassroots level governance, P Mohammad Nizar draws attention to certain critical issues that must be addressed for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state to be effectively revitalised.

A new scheme launched by PM Narendra Modi envisages development through a model in which every MP chooses a village to develop, with people’s participation. Vikas Jha looks at the numbers and realities to explore the real needs of rural development at the panchayat level.

The PM urges pragmatism in relations with China, but the logic of his exertions may be more persuasively applied to our dealings with Pakistan, says Firdaus Ahmed.

India's doctrine of 'deterrence by punishment' is least credible in the most likely scenario of Pakistani nuclear use. But the tenets of this doctrine are not above revision, and times of relative peace offer a better opportunity to find the way forward, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The buzz on the global front should not distract us from pressing matters at home. This would also make our security agenda more human and less state-centric, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

In his resignation, Vanzara gave no indication that obeying illegal orders bothered him. Instead, his lament is that he was used and thrown. In right-shifting India, it may next be the military's turn if the shift from Gandhinagar takes place, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Videh Upadhyay urges the SC to take a comprehensive approach, protecting forests and those whose livelihood and culture are tied to nature.

In Kerala's Marayoor forest, the sandalwood tree faces an uphill battle against destruction. With politicians implicated in illegal cutting, and forest officals' hands tied by inadequate legislation, the last remaining tract of the fragrant tree in the state faces elimination. Deepa A reports.

Defining a clear land-use policy, integrating indigenous people along with their skills, encouraging mutual exchange between tribals and the outside world can help make the process of change easier for the indigenous folk. Malini Shankar digs deeper.

A Jindal group-Government of Tamilnadu firm attempted to get forest clearance for mining in the Eastern Ghats forests of TN. Both the Ministry of Environment and a Supreme Court monitoring committee rejected clearance. Kanchi Kohli has more.

The MoEF’s recent move introducing e-filing of applications for approval of forest land diversion may facilitate procedural agility and efficiency, but precludes the interpretation of environmental and human complexities critical to a fair process. Kanchi Kohli elaborates. 

The proposed new Indian Media Council must live up to the best traditions of the press council concept, which is fundamentally based on cooperation between the media and the public to protect key human rights. Many good models for this are available around the world. Ammu Joseph begins a new column.

The challenge before the media is to move beyond clubbing what happens to women with routine crime briefs, on the one hand, and sensational stories, on the other, to cover "the greatest human rights scandal of our times". Ammu Joseph looks at media coverage of violence against women.

Must government regulate TV content? A Delhi-based TV channel's fraudulent sting operation has brought the recklessness of television journalism to the fore again. The government seems open to some self-regulation even as its own draft legislation sits on the back burner. But time is clearly running out for the broadcast industry, writes Ammu Joseph.

Violence in India has followed this macro-to-micro trajectory of Indian modernity. As different forces have shaped modernity, we have shifted from large-scale acts of violence cutting across national boundaries, to state-level violence, to village level violence, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

The unstated policy of murdering unwanted elements is wrong at every possible level, and it leads to a crisis of legitimacy of the state, while claiming to be a patriotic act, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

The problem of Indian politics is not that it exists, but rather that success in the system doesn't seem to be connected in any way to the ability to govern, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

The recent simplifications to the Central environmental clearance process may endup pushing peoples’ participation and transparency to fringes, says Sunita Dubey.

Disaster situations in the recent past have only led to sporadic study and discussions but yielded little by way of lessons for the long term; will the devastating North Indian floods this time change that? Kanchi Kohli ruminates.

The government's understanding of an 'inclusive' Budget is simply that it ought to be the provider of welfare for the lower income groups. The evidence so far suggests that this is an attempt doomed from the start, since the government is not very good at administering such programmes. Ashwin Mahesh says that there are better options.

From wanting CBI-like and CIC-like powers to not being able to push Ministries to learning lessons and more, India's top auditor has time and again rung the bells. Who is listening? Himanshu Upadhyaya on a recent conference.

Media reports following the two-day Accountants’ General conference have focused largely on the observations and advice on CAG audits by the Finance Minister and the PAC chairman. Himanshu Upadhyaya wonders if such a meet cannot be evolved into a more citizen-focused and constructive exercise.

Wage delays, inadequate manpower and the indifference of authorities to real issues on the ground are stripping the employment guarantee programme of its strong potential to improve rural lives, and budget cuts have only made it worse. Ankita Aggarwal reports from Jharkhand.

When this social communication event hit Kolkata in 2002, the entire ambience spilled over with empathy and a deep understanding for films – documentary, fiction and docu-fiction – made on or about the marginalised and the oppressed. Very little of all that was in the air during the 2007 version, writes Shoma Chatterji.

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.

Theatre of the Oppressed or TO is a tool that explores social change through personal change, and offers a new dimension of self-learning and discovery, Charumathi Supraja who was a participant in a Bangalore workshop recently.

The aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami saw an unprecedented outpouring of goodwill. But with the traditional panchayats in Nagapattinam's fishing hamlets controlling relief, single women and dalits were systematically exlcuded. Two and half years later, nothing has changed, reports S Gautham.

Contrary to popular understanding, the nationalist struggle recognised that swaraj was to extend beyond politics into the realm of ideas. And it is still a fine tool with which to understand the challenges we face in our continuing encounter with western ideas, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

Having drastically curtailed the width of eco-sensitive zones in Sikkim, the MoEF seems intent on ignoring local sentiment as well as environmental norms in order to push forward the Tashiding HEP on the sacred Rathong Chu river. Soumik Dutta reports on the latest in the case.

Boregaon is a small village in Solapur district of Maharashtra where men have shunned the patriarchal mindset to support women’s political empowerment and gender equality, writes Suchismita Pai.

World Bank funding of development projects in Andhra Pradesh is criticized by rights activists in the state who argue that conditions for the poor are worsening.

Colonel Pavan Nair studies the allocations for defence and development efforts, and asks what's needed to reach even the modest standards of Brazil or Sri Lanka.

45 km south of Nagapattinam, the 26 December tsunamis washed away thousands of tonnes of stock salt at the Vedaraniam salt pans, filled them with debris and black silt. With government relief coverage withdrawn and the start of the season missed, manufacturers are in despair. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

The establishment's appetite for large dams diminished marginally in the late nineties, but encouraged by the World Bank's low-key decision to restart funding, Indian governments are ready to start building again. But are large dams worth the expenditure? Tarun Jain and Ashima Sood report on the findings of a new research paper.

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.

The many arguments offered in support of Public Private Partnerships don't stand up to close examination. The private sector is not more efficient than its public counterpart, nor is cheap money accessible to it as readily, write Shripad Dharmadhikary and Gaurav Dwivedi.

It is nobody’s case that there is no crisis. But when remedies are prescribed, the diagnosis and the investigation have to be beyond dispute. P N Venugopal critiques a report from the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

A conference on September 14-16 this year at New Delhi will bring together political decision makers, representatives from entrepreneurial associations and corporate partners, and civil society to discuss growth in Asia. It is backed by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Planning Commission of India.

Given our Constitutional mandate to "endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities," Shankar Jaganathan explains why reintroduction of the Inheritance Tax may be a step worthy of serious consideration.