The Sikkim government’s irregular allocation of hydropower projects to a New Delhi-based power producer and the eventual turn of events have cost the state more than Rs 2400 crore, according to a CAG report. Soumik Dutta reports on the details of the case and other related discrepancies that have surfaced since.

Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, a recently-released feature film,exposes the shocking depths of insanity to which a father may be driven by his obsession with a male heir. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film, underlining the brutal, patriarchal society that it lays bare.

Towering pylons and high tension wires seem to discourage any idea of resistance to environmental destruction in Tehri Garhwal, but the villagers persist. Bharat Dogra reports.

In Jahangirpur Gram Panchayat of Bihar’s Kishanganj district, Rs 30 lakh meant for pregnant Muslim women had already been misappropriated, when a community-driven project launched by Oxfam decided to tackle the corruption head on. Ajitha Menon reports.

The recent judicial pronouncement criminalising homosexuality has created quite a furore, but in reality those with limited or no interaction with people of alternative sexual orientation have only a vague idea of their continuous struggle and challenges. Pushpa Achanta brings us two poignant narratives.

An India Together radio program featuring Professor Jagdeep Chhokar of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad on the new anti-criminalization rules for India's elections.

This India Together radio program features a talk by well known women's rights lawyer Flavia Agnes. She speaks on the current critical juncture for women and the women's movement.

The Indian economy is creating millions of varied job opportunities. Despite this, scores of educated youth are not readily employable and face a grim future. Companies are struggling to find and retain talent. Ramesh Menon on the challenges.

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.

Many micro-credit loans do no more than allow a family to juggle its finances for a month-to-month existance. As investors embrace this 'market', MFIs are increasingly under scrutiny. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

The findings of a recent study by scholars at the University of Oxford point to the adverse outcomes and poor economic returns associated with large dam projects. Amruta Pradhan summarises the findings and shows how they have been consistently borne out by empirical observations in Maharashtra.

Both India and Pakistan have independently concluded that they would be able to extract better concessions from the other at a later date, notes Firdaus Ahmed.

Regardless of how it is interpreted, India’s doctrinal promise of ‘massive nuclear retaliation’ in the event of nuclear first use by the enemy would be more than strategically flawed. At a time when India is now poised to review its doctrine afresh, Firdaus Ahmed digs deeper.

Italian farmer group Coldiretti is ushering in a new paradigm in farming, and has emerged as a powerful lobby for the interests of the small farmer. Keya Acharya reports on the campaign and wonders if Indian agriculture can emulate the same.

Venu Govindu reviews Globalization and its Discontents, by Joseph Stiglitz, the winner of the 2001 Nobel prize for economics.

After a lull of some years, farmers are being jailed for debt in Andhra Pradesh. Even those in drought-hit districts who cannot repay their loans. Farm unions see the banks as driving a dangerous and explosive process which lets off crorepati defaulters but jails bankrupt farmers owing a few thousand rupees, writes P Sainath.

The efforts of metals major Hindalco to mine bauxite from Mali Parbat in Odisha has run up against stiff resistance from local Kondh adivasis, who wouldn’t shy away from militancy to protect their ecology, if needed. Javed Iqbal explores why they reject ‘industrial development’.

Effective district-level bodies could have played a critical role in ensuring legal environmental protection for coastal zones and communities. Manju Menon, Kanchi Kohli and Meenakshi Kapoor discuss how these have been continuously disregarded. 

Sir Mark Tully spoke recently in Bangalore on How certain should we be? The problem of religious pluralism. Revathi Siva Kumar caught up with him for this exclusive interview.

As Delhi prepares to choose its leaders for the 16^th Lok Sabha, Navya P K presents a look at the leaders who represented the key urban constituencies in the last session of Parliament.

Rolla Das and Suparna Banerjee comment on the rampant obscurantism and complete lack of informed public debate around the existing and proposed legislation in various states against social evils practised in the guise of religion and faith.

For decades now the beautiful state of Manipur has been suffering from the violent insurgency and the excesses of the Indian army. Pushpa Achanta visits the state and narrates her experiences which shows how much is not known about the state or its people.

Shoma Chatterji writes about the challenges faced and efforts being made in the Northeastern states of India to encourage and support film making.

B V Narasimham

With Mittal Steel moving into India, it becomes even more important to look at the firm's poor environmental and social track record around the world in its rise to become the world's largest steel maker. There are crucial lessons for the governments of Orissa and Jharkhand, but are they listening, asks Sunita Dubey.

"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.

The calling off of talks between India and Pakistan is being attributed to the latter’s interactions with separatists, with an extended reference to incursions along the LoC. Firdaus Ahmed digs beyond the obvious to highlight the more likely cause behind the move.

They forage the city, collecting and sorting often hazardous waste when the city sleeps and by day they are gone. Most of them are women and we have no long-term policy in place that looks at their welfare or health, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Hundreds of artisans in Hajo are finding their livelihoods threatened by a local monopoly and other factors that have driven the prices of raw materials very high. The Assam government is intervening to help, but the beneficiaries wish they were consulted more. Ratna Bharali Talukdar writes.

Even as the state government refuses to accept the cause behind the recent 50 starvation deaths reported by the media, hunger stalks the people of Balangir and other KBK districts in Orissa portending more such tragedies, writes Pradeep Baisakh.

Why do so few adoptions take place each year? Recognising some of the barriers to adoption from her own experience, Vinita Bhargava decided to research this question. Swapna Majumdar finds the answers informative and reassuring, and that they bring a complex conversation into much-needed public light.

The rape of a schizophrenic girl at NIMHANS reveals a wide gap between the rhetoric and reality of mental health care in India.

The Indian experience in institutionalised mental help has not been civilising. The National Human Rights Commission had issued a condemnation of the state of mental hospitals as early as six years ago. Parul Sharma notes that misguided private counselling and the lack of richer case law have compounded victims' problems.

From drum beating at markets to using helicopters, Tripura has been making rapid strides in its immunisation programme, pushing this important health care intervention among tribal as well as non-tribal mothers and children. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

While those with mental disorders are at increased danger for being infected with HIV, the onset of the virus itself gives rise to a number of mental illnesses. Puja Awasthi reports.

Institutionalised delivery is encouraged as a means of reducing maternal/infant mortality, but the misbehaviour meted to pregnant women in government hospitals deters them from seeking such care. Ruhi Kandhari reports.

The Comptroller and Auditor General performance audit of the social welfare schemes for Persons with Disabilities run by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Delhi, covering the years from 2009 to 2014, which got tabled recently brought forth some shocking facts, writes Himanshu Upadhyaya.

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.

With more citizens taking interest, Bangalore's Janaagraha campaign is expanding to neighboring municipal areas.

The pressing need for direct participation of citizens in public oversight has always contrasted with the eagerness of political parties to penetrate virtually all public offices. In Karnataka, school development monitoring committees were the latest to fall victim to this imbalance. Subramaniam Vincent reports.

The potential of rainwater harvesting has been much talked about in recent times. But that an ordinary plastic water storage drum connected to the roof through a pipe will turn this potential to reality is surprising many citizens in the Bangalore-Mysore region, reports Shree Padre.

A hurriedly passed amendment to the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act last week gives MLAs unwarranted powers over panchayats, which are themselves a separate tier of local goverment. Nandana Reddy and Damodar Acharya say the amendment is contrary to the spirit of decentralisation and the Constitution.

In the major metros, a range of new vocational courses is helping high school students find jobs in the rapidly industrialising sectors. What about job-seekers in small towns and rural areas? Padmalatha Ravi reports on two NGO-led training innovations in Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

In the name of good governance, decision-making powers in Karnataka are being given to parastatal organizations and non-elected task forces. Kathyayini Chamaraj asks for a re-look at outsourcing government.

Lack of clarity over legal requirements, shoddy implementation and selective approvals have made it extremely difficult for poorer communities to build or maintain their houses in coastal zones. Vinod Patgar describes the situation based on his experience in Karnataka.

The National Commission on Farmers team, the public at large, and even sections of the media have signalled the crisis, its causes and its appalling human toll. Failure to intervene in Vidharbha now has no excuses at all. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.

Savita, Sunita and Pratibha are three women from different contexts, background and age groups, yet engulfed by the continuing tragedy that plays out in Maharashtra. The number of widows is growing at a frightening speed in the cotton country. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

Four years, three men, one family. The tragedy unleashed by the agrarian crisis on the family of Deshmukhs in Katyar village of Vidarbha isn’t vanishing. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

In Pune, bureaucratic meddling and lack of vision are threatening a simple, cost-effective eco-technology which treats heavily polluted water and turns messed-up water bodies into clean ones, reports Surekha Sule.

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