Despite abundant evidence that the PDS has failed to ward off starvation, the Centre proposes a new plan that shows none of the wisdom of this experience. Kanchi Kohli reports on an alternative grounded in local production, storage and distribution, which does a much better job of fighting hunger.

The government's new plans to boost manufacturing in the country look quite similar to its earlier promises made when SEZs were set up. But there are a few lessons to be learned from that experiment, writes Kannan Kasturi.

The erstwhile UPA government’s Food Security Act, now set to be implemented by the present government, could mean unendurable strain for the country’s public distribution framework. P V Rajeev spells out better alternatives to explore.

As India takes on the role of a mature power centre in the Indian Ocean region, Firdaus Ahmed wonders if it will stick to its traditional defensive culture or if the move to a rightist polity will bring about a different doctrine altogether.

In 25 villages across Rayagada district of Odisha, tribal village women have reclaimed the denuded commons and achieved a remarkable turnaround in food security and livelihoods through eco-friendly alternatives to shifting cultivation. Abhijit Mohanty highlights a few successes of the project.

Even allowing for under-valuation, many candidates are worth crores officially. P Sainath looks through election candidates' disclosures in Andhra Pradesh.

The official line is simple. Since we cannot afford to feed all the hungry, there must only be as many hungry as we can afford to feed. The truth is the government seeks ways to spend less and less on the very food security it talks about, writes P Sainath.

The NREGS is restricted to a 100 days a year. The PDS is targeted to exclude 'APL' families. Only exploitation is universal, writes P Sainath.

Dilip D'Souza contrasts the unquestioned annual increases in the defence budget with the real challenges of security faced by civilians.

The women of Gunduribadi, a small tribal village in Odisha, go out daily for thengapalli or forest patrolling around their village. They are also members of their Forest Protection Committee which decides how to manage the forest and its resources. Sonali Pattnaik spent a day with these sentinels of Gunduribadi to find out how this movement has restored the forest and empowered the villagers.

Firdaus Ahmed on the continuing need to guard against over-zealous security managers.

Now that political alienation has been redressed to some extent by democratic changeovers, the presence of the Army in Kashmir can be more boldly reduced. The coming year is one of many possibilities, but it will be followed by an even more important year, and the opportunities at hand now must not be lost, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Plenty of criticism has been levelled at excess use of force and abuse of human rights by the Army in Manipur. And yet, with much infighting and corruption, insurgents themselves have lost the moral high ground, writes Surekha Sule.

The International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21 every year, has little meaning for people living in conflict areas. Like the Manipuri women, Anjulika Thingnam talks to, who feel that decades-old violence in Manipur has not only increased but taken many different forms.

With the proposed switch from food rations to direct cash payments to the poor, the government may be trying to free itself from its commitment to supply each BPL family with a certain quantity of food. Kannan Kasturi reports.

A recent IFPRI report indicates concrete progress by India in the hunger index, while many experts continue to underline unsatisfactory outcomes under GDP-driven growth. Prahlad Shekhawat calls for a new approach to address the real issues that lie somewhere in between.

In Second Strike: Arguments about Nuclear War in South Asia, Rajesh Rajagopalan articulates that ‘the probability of nuclear weapons use is less in the India-Pakistan feud'. This is comforting, and perhaps on that account, dangerous, because of the false sense of security its conclusions give rise to, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The Malenadu home garden and seed exchange network in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka has made an impressive beginning in saving seed diversity says Sunita Rao.

The unseen impact of corruption on the millions of the deserving poor does not seem to affect our collective conscience. We are losing a great opportunity to show we care, writes R Balasubramaniam.

There is no data at the constituency level about how the development indicators have changed over the tenure of the local elected MLA or MP. Veena Ramanna reports.

Servicing the market borrowings of the Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd is a deadly game where the social sector expenditure of the state is held hostage. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

In what is supposed to be an annual religious and cultural gathering, nothing is more mixed up than the speeches. Talks that start with the fine points of Gondi religion, its practice and ritual, inevitably delve into subjects with deeper socio-political resonance. From interior Maharashtra, Aparna Pallavi reports on the annual Kachhargarh fair.

In the 1960s, Maharashtra ended famine forever by passing an Act that deleted the word 'famine' from all laws of the State. It's an idea that is still in fashion, writes P Sainath.

फिल्म में जैतून (अपारशक्ति), विजय दीनानाथ चौहान (दिव्येंदू शर्मा) और जुगनू (हर्ष मायर) की तीन कहानियां चल रही हैं

पहले आप अपनी त्वचा को समझ लें फिर उसके मुताबिक़ ही मॉइस्चराइजर का चुनाव करें.

सर्दियों के शुरू होने से पहले जान लें कि कौन सा Moisturizer रहेगा आपके लिए बेस्ट ताकि ये मौसम चुरा न पाए आपके चेहरे का निखार...

The India captain has lately admitted that such "magical" atmosphere will be missing if the cricket season, currently stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, resumes in empty stadiums with no fans in attendance.

Cricketers and their adorable pets during lockdown

टायरीज ने अपने इंस्टाग्राम पर अमिताभ की तस्वीर के साथ लिखा कि मुझे उम्मीद है और मैं प्रार्थना करता हूं कि मुझे भारत छोड़ने से पहले उनसे मुलाकात करने, उनका अभिवादन करने और उनसे हाथ मिलाने का मौका मिलेगा.

Adding to the long list of crisis during the lockdown, another societal evil is rearing it's head. Increasing domestic abuse has become a cause of concern.

Lockdown 3.0: Samsung resumes phone manufacturing in Noida

Rath Yatra 2020: Chariot construction begins in Puri after MHA’s permission

As an unexpected outcome of the coronavirus lockdown, Ayatollah-ruled Iran has partly lifted its veil of strict orthodoxy which inhibits social interaction between the genders by allowing the reopening of Tehran’s one and only drive-in...

Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya's favourite songs of 2019

Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez talk about shooting for new song 'Tere Bina' at actor's farmhouse during lockdown

Drone video footage released by the department of national parks shows a 30-strong herd of dugongs on Wednesday off Libong island in Trang province. They were feeding on sea grass and occasionally surfaced to breathe.

The Ghana pallbearers meme recently became popular during the coronavirus pandemic.

A couple from Mumbai came up with a unique way of celebrating their marriage amid the lockdown.