Millions of Indian kids are out of school because the places that were reserved for them by law were instead given to others like you and me. That may be about to change, says Ashwin Mahesh.

In the sixth incidence of recent violence against citizens exposing corruption, Santosh (20) was attacked murderously on 30 December 2004. The Delhi government is not pursuing the wrongdoers, and has instead projected the violence as an issue between an NGO and shop owners. Varupi Jain reports.

The translation of support for the Aam Aadmi Party into votes in the Delhi Assembly Elections 2013 augurs well for the Indian democracy, long struggling to break free from a corruption-ridden, archaic political establishment, writes R. Balasubramaniam

Debates on a paradigm shift in Indian politics have primarily seen arguments around the feasibility of change, even as they took its desirability as given. Shankar Jaganathan celebrates the developments which promise a triumph for idealism and show its potential of being translated into reality.

As the refugee crisis deepens in Syria, visuals of millions of people hoping to catch a train to a better life fill the media space. Shalini Bhutani reflects on the state of refugee policies in the South Asian region while remembering her own father’s experience weeks before the India-Pakistan partition.

The women of Meghpar village of Kutch District are fighting the big port town Gandhidham municipality which is dumping its waste in their village. Vimal Kalavadiya and Shvetangini Patel report from Kutch.

A brief overview of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 by PRS legislative.

While stonewalling their demand to broadcast news, the I&B Ministry has said CR stations can air AIR bulletins instead. Geeta Seshu reports.

Shoma Chatterji reviews a beautiful short film Amma Meri that was screened recently in a film festival.

In its eagerness to provide more Central funding for large irrigation projects, the government is overlooking an important fact - that the proposed mechanism for this funding has been severely indicted for corruption by the CAG. Himanshu Upadhyaya offers a few examples.

The new law's provisions are infusing into the proceedings of the Gram Sabhas a democratic character that they have lacked so far. From a conservation standpoint too, the law is proving to be positive, writes Tushar Dash.

Despite many violations, protests, and committee recommendations against mining in the Niyamgiri hills, the region's fate lies in the corridors of power. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Environmentalist Ashish Kothari discusses the politics behind the approval of the POSCO project, and how the FRA is faring in Odisha, in conversation with Pradeep Baisakh.

There is wide-spread failure in safeguarding the rights of forest communities protected under the Forest Rights Act. State and Central Governments are complicit in diluting it. Tushar Dash reports.

The broad-based Community Based Functional Literacy Campaign launched by the State Resource Centre of Rayagada, Orissa aims to educate women and drop-out girls in three of the most backward districts of the state. Abhijit Mohanty summarises the key take-aways so far.

Shripad Dharmadhikary explains why setting up a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi Water Dispute will not help the people or the river.

The outpouring of feeling between the countries in recent weeks only underlines the need for more meetings between ordinary Pakistanis and Indians, asserts Dilip D'Souza.

On June 29, about 50 press conferences were held across the globe to publicise the names of the 1,000 women from 153 countries jointly nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. The Nobel Committee in Oslo had received the nominations in January 2005. Kamla Bhasin narrates the story.

"It's unnatural, to hunker in a hut only a few dozen yards from another few soldiers looking back at you, and not think of them as just like you in every respect. This happens again the next day and the next - eventually, you'd be a robot not to wave, or shout, or something." Dilip D'Souza joins a post on the Indo-Pak frontlines.

Sustaining the ceasefire between underground groups in Nagaland and New Delhi has never been easy. But led by Padmashree award winner Neidonuo Angami, a number of Naga women have been organising themselves for years in trust-building and conflict prevention. A Women's Feature Service and Sangat report.

For too many of us, the killings of terrorists have come to characterise an entire religion, and taint everybody who follows it. In the Muslim areas of Bombay, residents deal with the feeling that an entire city, an entire country, maybe the whole world, sees them as responsible for terrorism, writes Dilip D'Souza.

Voices for peace are plentiful as well as poignant, but even when there is considerable coverage of a conflict, we almost never read of any of these. There is resistance within the media to the idea of 'peace journalism'; opponents believe 'objectivity' would suffer if the media pursued indisputably worthy goals like peace, writes Ammu Joseph.

India claims that with the recent nuclear cooperation deal it has inked with the US, the global order has been changed. And it is right. It has upset the non-proliferation regime and re-configured forces, possibly leading to a renewed arms race, writes Sandeep Pandey.

Arguing against the nuclear enclave and its retainers is a kind of national service, and we must press on, no matter how futile it may appear at times, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

When malnutrition among children is widespread, the government is slashing funds allocated to the mid day meal scheme that covers most of the vulnerable children. Questioning this approach of the government, E S Ramamurthy started a petition to raise the funding for mid-day meal scheme to cover minimum nutritional needs of a child.

Widely labelled as the first of its kind, the Intensive Family Survey conducted in Telangana on 19 August gave rise to a range of speculations, and predictably drew its share of brickbats and bouquets. Venugopalrao Nellutla seeks to decipher the real motives and usefulness of the survey.

From the time of the PM’s commitment to a ‘Swachh Bharat’ in August 2014, what has changed in the WASH sector in India? Himanshu Upadhyaya shares notes taken as a delegate at the recent India WASH Summit in the capital.

Only strategic moves arising from paradigm shifts can bring about purposeful movement away from illusions of ‘normalcy’, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The stated claims of India and Pakistan are so far apart that the only possible solution is to freeze existing claims and create a human exclusion zone, says Pavan Nair.

Shelter kits developed by Oxfam are being distributed in quake-hit villages in Uri and Tangdhar, but many hurdles have to be overcome to provide these to everyone before the weather turns bitterly cold. Kanchi Kohli finds hopeful but worried villagers and relief workers fighting the odds and the elements.

New Delhi concedes a long-standing Bodo demand to set up an independent council for the tribal people, and demands that rebels now disarm.

Dr Indira Goswami, Assamese writer and Bharatiya Jnanpith Award-winner, has recently taken up a new role - that of a peacemaker in Assam. Nava Thakuria reports that the initiative has been welcomed by students, politicians, and cultural figures in the state.

Despite being feted as a huge success, the flagship programme of the government for the universalisation of primary education leaves much to be desired. Ironically, the easy availability of the funds for a supposedly successful scheme may be preventing it from being as productive as it could otherwise be. Kalpana Misra reports.

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.
Interact: What about bank red-tape and corruption?

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Once, Andhra Pradesh's top leaders queued up at Bandi Lachmamma's home with promises. The debate on farm suicides hit the headlines when her husband took his life. Years later, she works as a coolie in Anantapur earning much less than the minimum assured by the NREGP - which turns away single women, writes P Sainath.

I could smell Buddham Bai before I could see her. She was covered with layers of clothes once white, laced with the acrid odour of incontinence, of old age. Arpan Tulsyan reports on one woman's poverty and homelessness in the capital.

The new vision for financial inclusion In India as unveiled by a committee appointed by the RBI could well be an effective catalyst for transforming the lives of the people, feels Shankar Jaganathan.

Three million forest dwellers in Odisha are estimated to have been displaced since independence by various industrial and hydro-projects, among which the Upper Indiravati Hydro Project is one. Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of three tribal settlements uprooted by it.

Looking into what’s happening in the State of Karnataka, Kathyayini Chamaraj discusses the
housing needs and rights of the urban poor.

Recently, the Central Empowered Committee once again heard the strange case of a hotel coming up on land sanctioned for a parking lot and bus stand in Himachal Pradesh. Kanchi Kohli reports on the many ways in which officials are trying to get this illegal use regularised.

Its demand for water is ever-growing, and its usage wasteful. Using its political and economic power, however, Delhi is quenching its thirst by extracting it from places near and far. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports on the proposed Renuka Dam.

A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reveals blatant procedural and legal non-compliance in respect of compensatory afforestation work in Himachal Pradesh. Himanshu Upadhyaya summarises the findings.

13 Dec: A Reader is a collection of essays on the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001. The book offers lay-readers a detailed overview of the gaps in the investigation, and the loopholes in the case, particularly against Mohammed Afzal, currently on death row and seeking clemency, writes Bikram Jeet Batra.

In the Indian version of suburbanisation, the poor are being forced out of the cities, compelled to pay the price for the creation of the global city. Can we not envisage an inclusive city that caters to the needs of all its citizens, asks Kalpana Sharma.

Holding trust brought forth by equality of individuals as a critical foundation for a strong democracy, Shankar Jaganathan discusses the postulates of two recent academic publications that add to the important discourse on the issue of inequality.

Research finds evidence of heavy metal contamination of vegetables in Delhi.

This IIT Kharagpur professor's vision is to remove the digital divide between the visually impaired and the sighted world. Rasika Dhavse profiles Anupam Basu and his innovation, Sparsha.

Even as many Indian hospitals invite a foreign clientele to world-class treatment facilities, the poor have to contend with a different and unregulated private sector, says Abhijit Das.

Reducing tobacco consumption is a multi-dimensional and complex challenge. Varupi Jain reports on an organisation that is lending its VOICE with strong efforts.