The growth rate of agriculture was three per cent and that of manufacturing was 4.5 per cent during the first three decades after independence. The growth rate for agriculture has slipped to 2.8 per cent while that for manufacturing has increased to 6.4 per cent during the last 15 years. Farmers continue to commit suicides across the country. The groundwater level is declining. The country has to import wheat, edible...

How did your trip to Niyamgiri and Vedanta’s mining project there come about? I’ve been a human rights, social justice and environment protection advocate for the last 30 years. I am the founder and chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation. I also love India and have a long relationship with this country. Many people know this. This is why Action Aid approached me to meet Sitaram Kulisika, a tribal...

Several among the 70 known species of mangroves are at high risk of extinction and may disappear well before the next decade if protective measures are not enforced, warns the first global study by U.S. researchers. Eleven of these have been placed on the red list of threatened species kept by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The study, led by Beth A. Polidoro attached to the Global Marine Species...

As we celebrate World Earth Day on April 22, meet some inspiring eco-warriors who give back to earth through friendly tourism practices.  Responsible tourism is the desire to respect the very wonders that make us leave our moorings to see new, faraway places. “You can't leave this place till you plant a sapling in our organic garden.” “This is the solar panel that heated your bath water this morning.” “We don't have...

Days after the biggest Maoist attack, in which 76 security personnel were killed in Dantewada, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that firm action would be taken against those challenging the authority of the state, but, in a careful moderation, added that one could not overlook the fact that Left-wing extremism flourished in underdeveloped areas. Singh's observations on the Naxal issue came at a gathering of the country's top bureaucrats on...