A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...

India could face a massive 50% water deficit by 2030, the biggest globally, says the recent report of the Water Resources Group (WRG).  Fortunately, the supply-demand gap could well be filled, with vision, proactive policy and only modestly higher sectoral outlays, it adds. The WRG, consisting of a panel of global experts, estimates the ‘water availability cost curve’ to meet the heightened demand at about $5.9 billion per annum, or...

The Sachar committee’s report revealed that Muslims in Left-ruled Bengal were worse off on every count than their counterparts in most other states. The report, released in December 2006, put Bengal in the “worst-performer category,” despite the communists’ much professed commitment for the welfare of minorities. The state where 25.25 per cent (2.02 crore) of the population is Muslim, their share in government jobs is just 4.2 per cent and...

In April last year, the Supreme Court, in response to a public interest litigation filed by the Gene Campaign (whose convenor is the internationally known geneticist Dr Suman Sahai), directed the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to consider the toxicity and allergenicity of GM crops and to post the relevant material on the web so that independent experts could examine these. The Supreme Court asked the GEAC to study also...

Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen on Monday said the government should have acted with more firmness against hoarders and speculators, to curb price rise. Dr. Sen said that whenever prices start rising some people see in it an opportunity to make money. The government should have acted against such a tendency with a firm hand. He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Green Revolution II conference organised by...