-The Hindu People’s objections, from Chhattisgarh to Odisha, against large development projects have brought out the real power of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Democracy is alive and kicking in India. No, I am not referring to the Assembly elections. It is unfortunate that the term democracy has been reduced to the drama of periodic elections and the subsequent reliance of the electorate on politicians and bureaucrats. When these powerful few...
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Rich account for just 3% of the 1 crore people who gave up LPG subsidy: Dharmendra Pradhan -Subhash Mishra
-The Times of India LUCKNOW: Union minister of state (independent charge) for petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said the affluent accounted for only 3% of the over 1 crore people who had given up their LPG subsidy in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal. "The rest is constituted by the middle-class and lower income groups. Teachers, professionals and middle-level government employees have shown more interest as compared to HNIs (high-net...
More »It’s 2016, and Indian journalists are still not ‘free’
-Hindustan Times "Most of the movement in the World Press Freedom Index… is indicative of a climate of fear and tension combined with increasing control over newsrooms by governments and private-sector interests." - the RSF website India has ranked abysmally low at 133 among 180 countries in the latest annual World Press Freedom Index which says Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems “indifferent” to the threats against journalists. The rankings, which are released annually, are...
More »A judgment for women’s rights -Devaki Jain
-The Hindu Economic agency is one of the most enabling elements to release women from oppression, violence and powerlessness. A Supreme Court Bench has once again proved that our judiciary can be the torchbearer of progressive attitudes towards women. In 2013, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, while responding to the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi, prepared a report that drew from the observations of members of the women’s movement among...
More »MS Swaminathan, father of India's green revolution, speaks to Srijana Mitra Das
-The Times of India/ The Economic Times Renowned geneticist and administrator M S Swaminathan is popularly known as the 'father of India's green revolution'. Speaking with Srijana Mitra Das, Swaminathan discussed why he fears the WTO Nairobi meet could exacerbate global food insecurity, double standards over farming protection between developed and developing nations, an Indian Single Market in grains - and how India, already suffering 'hidden' famine, must have freedom to...
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