For over two decades now, agriculture has suffered overall neglect as successive governments, led by World-Bank prescribed growth models, have issued disproportionate doles to industry. While the present allocations do not spell much hope, Devinder Sharma suggests what the Modi government may still do to reverse the trend.

Several recent media reports as well as scholarly literature point to a deep-seated communal bias in certain sections of Indian society. Firdaus Ahmed looks closely at the military and its mutations to explore if it can remain insulated from similar prejudicial leanings.

Mindless disruption of human settlements in the name of wildlife protection, and the corresponding restrictions on the rights of people living within forests destroys the very wildlife for which it is being done. The story of the Asiatic lions of Gir bears witness to this, writes Nandini K Oza.

Didn't parliament condemn this war? Then why do we need a new consensus on sending troops to Iraq, asks P Sainath, remembering similar sacrifices of Indian lives for the British empire.

Suicides amongst their own numbers are not the only way women farmers are hit by the ongoing crisis. Suicides by their husbands leave many in a predatory world. P Sainath continues his series on farmer suicides in Andhra.

As farming floundered, many families came to the towns. The men sought work as auto drivers or daily wage labour. Often without success. In this struggle against poverty, the stress on their wives was enormous. P Sainath continues his series on farmer suicides in Andhra.

The Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Vidarbha has had an impact even before he's reached there. It would, however, be a transient impact if he does not see through the charade. The mess there starts right at the top. Vidarbha's condition is the product of design, not decay, writes P Sainath.

Freebies for the IPL - at a time of savage food subsidy cuts for the poor - benefit four men who make the Forbes Billionaire List of 2010 and a few other, mere multi-millionaires, notes P Sainath.

The original report on 'paid news' of the Press Council of India sub-committee is relegated to the archive. Then too, it does not even appear on the PCI's website, writes P Sainath.

Compared to the death penalty, life imprisonment is considered less harsh. The courts have preferred to leave undefined exactly how long such punishment should be, and commutation pleas are considered on a case-by-case basis. Ipshita Sengupta reports.

PRS Legislative Research summarises the key highlights of a report from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice titled Infrastructure Development and Strengthening of Subordinate Courts.

As we approach the parliamentary elections, India Together presents a quick familiarisation with members of the Lok Sabha in certain key urban constituencies. In the first of the series, Amrita Mukherjee introduces you to the sitting MPs from Kolkata.

A quick summary of the recently passed Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill 2014 from PRS Legislative Research outlines the broad changes that it will bring about in the judicial structure of the country.

A recent UGC-sponsored seminar on the incidence of cyber crime, hosted in Kolkata, drew attention to the safeguards to be adopted as also the right procedure to be followed in order to obtain redress. Amrita Mukherjee reports.

You don’t have to fear police harassment if you report or help an injured accident victim. You don’t even have to reveal personal details unless you wish to testify. Here’s a summary of the “Good Samaritan” guidelines that the apex court has now made compulsory for states to follow.

As long as we engender a society that allow law enforcers to get away with their own crimes, law breakers will only be emboldened. We must make Police Complaints Authorities around the country meaningful, says Subramaniam Vincent.

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.

Developments in Manipur seem to indicate that our infrastructure planners are proposing security costs to construction of large dams on the back of strategic risks analysis. This, even though they may not have embraced a sensitivity to undertake geological/ecological risk analysis itself, finds Himanshu Upadhyaya.

Why is there a huge discrepancy between official calculations of poverty and the alternative figures arrived at by many scholars as well as development agencies, asks Prahlad Shekhawat.

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.

Can we look at ending poverty without looking at the structural reasons and dimensions of poverty and inequality? Pradeep Baisakh looks at this and at other objectives within the UN SDG framework and analyses how realistic their achievement would be.

In conflict-stricken region of Kashmir where women are sheltered and house-bound, it's next to impossible for a woman to be an entrepreneur. Making it possible are women like Arifa, who overcame various challenges to start her own crafts store in Srinagar. Renu Agal meets Arifa to write her inspiring story.

Gurcharan Das's new book is bound to ride the recent wave of writing by Indians about Indians. The evidence for the core premise of the book, however, is thin. R Rajagopalan reviews India Grows at Night.

The greatest of good intentions have a way of reminding me of the very things I wish not to remember, says Ashwin Mahesh.

On World Mental Health Day, Pushpa Achanta shares the struggle of some mental illness survivors she met recently and hopes that our nation's Mental Health Program is implemented by the government earnestly.

The majority of civil fire incidents happen due to lack of clear laws and a blatant disregard for existing rules and regulations, assert Harminder Kaur and Bhargavi S Rao. The authors look at the Karnataka situation.

Charles and Nirmala Sequeira were simply looking for something different to do. Little did they think that, many years later, their decision to start selling ice cream made from local fruits would catch on with customers, and open a new channel for value addition for local produce. Shree Padre reports.

"Trying to measure the success of water harvesting only with increased water level is not fair. The vegetation improves, so does the soil moisture.” Shree Padre reports on an arecanut farming family's success.

With two decades of continuous research and wise management, this ex-lecturer in Karnataka's Udupi district has made a barren hillock into a model of rain harvesting. Shrikrishna D reports.

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.

Legal and procedural lapses as well as disregard of critical public submissions are tarnishing the EIA of the proposed Tadadi Port in Karnataka. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Why were more than a dozen bills introduced late on the last day of the session, giving legislators no time to even read them? Why was there no debate? Questions are now being asked about how the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill was passed, reports P Sainath.

e-Governance initiatives are paying off in states considered as difficult as Bihar, bringing to commoners easier access to public services. Some have been empowered by it to stop their exploitation. Ramesh Menon reports.

The greatest show on earth just ended. It has seen the demise of greats and the democratisation of football.

Do you know it is because colours play with your psychology? We spoke to a few experts and they gave us insights on how colours deeply affect our emotions and state of mind and they have different colour plans for different kinds of spaces.

Learning how to apply blush, the right way can draw attention to your face. Instead of just smiling and dabbing the blush on your cheeks, understand the shape of your face and know what technique to use while applying it. From round face to long-shaped face, the technique of applying the blush differentiates from one face to the other.

The unemployment rate in the US has seen an unprecedented growth; Indians are making ends meet after thousands were asked to take pay cut.

Watch: Durg Collector shows his generous side, buys all vegetables from elderly

Raghuram Rajan clears the air on how to fund stimulus

What happens when the leader of a paranoid regime armed with nuclear weapons disappears from sight for days? It gets a lot of attention. That is exactly what appears to have happened in the case...

India reforms only in a crisis, has been the succour economists have proffered in gloomy Covid times. The Uttar Pradesh government has done well to set the ball rolling by approving an ordinance exempting businesses...

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