In 25 years, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has introduced an alternative development discourse in India. ON the full moon night in October, hundreds of people from all over India gathered at Bhilgaon, one of the many tribal villages in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, in the foothills of the Satpura mountain range and on the banks of the river Narmada. The place resounded with jingles, revolutionary folk songs and strains of...

With mills in Uttar Pradesh yet to begin crushing, farmer leaders have decided to hold their agitation and wait till mills open and declare the price at which they will buy cane. Millers, on the other hand, are of the firm view that they cannot operate feasibly at the state government mandated SAP of 205/quintal and there is no way they can afford to pay an incentive over it, as...

Making fresh demand for withdrawal of clearances accorded to Posco's mega steel plant, Left parties today sought shifting of the project from the proposed site near Paradip to any nearby place in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district. The demand was made before the Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh when a delegation of the Left parties including CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc along with RJD and Samajwadi Party, met him at New Delhi. In a joint...

Two Adivasi student organisations today burnt the effigies of Assam water resources minister Prithvi Majhi, Lok Sabha MP Joseph Toppo and Rajya Sabha MP Silvius Condopan, all hailing from their community, in protest against the trio’s “silence” over the eviction drive at Ripu-Chirang reserve forest. The All Adivasi Students Association of Assam and the All Santhali Students Union alleged that the leaders were indifferent to the plight of the community. They...

U.S. President Barack Obama's interaction with the inhabitants of Kanpura village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan through video-conferencing on Sunday gave him a glimpse of the information technology revolution in rural India that extends the benefits of modern technology and services to the grassroots to improve the quality of people's lives. Union Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot LED the rural group during the 10-minute interface at the...