The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday demanded the central government declare the drought in West Bengal a national calamity and provide subsidies for writing off crop loans taken in the kharif season. With 11 of the 18 districts in the state already declared drought-affected, the water level has been receding in most of the south Bengal districts, making the peasants doubtful about how much proportion of the harvest can be...

The poor in India's cities are in many ways worse off than those in rural areas, says Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja, pointing out that the urban population is set to double in the next 25 years to over 600 million. 'About 300 million people live in towns and cities underserved by utilities, with inadequate housing and increasingly choking traffic. The condition of the urban poor is by...

Ahead of a UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) review meeting in New York next week, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, Sunday said that decentralisation of power was the key to fighting poverty and hunger. 'The major lacuna in the strategy for MDG is that it ignores the crucial delivery aspect of poverty and hunger eradication. While most countries in the world, developed and developing,...

The controversy following resignation of Justice Santosh Hegde, the Lok Ayukt of Karnataka, and the subsequent amends purported to have been made by the Karnataka Government has again highlighted the failure of the Lok Pal legislative history at the Centre and equally the passivity and reluctance of all political parties to pass this legislation, which is most urgently desired, if the attempt to control the rapid drift downward to political...

Claims that Indian paramilitary forces pursuing Maoist rebels in the central state of Chhattisgarh tortured villagers are under investigation. Troops from the Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly beat and gave electric shocks to tribal people, including women, during interrogation. BSF director general Raman Srivastava said an internal inquiry was underway. A large number of Indian police and paramilitary are based in Chhattisgarh, a stronghold of Maoist insurgents. The rebels, who say they are fighting...