In the debate on development paradigm Jawaharlal Nehru is frequently presented predominantly as a strong advocate of heavy industry, large dams and big machines - someone who placed big hopes in modern technology. However, a more careful reading of several of his writings presents a different picture of a thoughtful mind troubled by several aspects of modern technology and industrial society, a mind which was prepared to go back hundreds...

A United Nations report titled The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples says the indigenous people and tribes worldwide are facing extinction and exploitation due to threats of displacement and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources. It takes note of the displacement of thousands of families of the Santhal Adivasis in the Indian State of Jharkhand as a result of extraction of minerals, without proper compensation or economic security. The...

While the human resources development ministry is currently focused on weeding out poor-quality private education providers in the higher education space, a very different picture obtains as far as primary and secondary education is concerned. At a time when the government is almost certainly going to increase expenditure on the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and is still working on the costs of the Right to Education (RTE) Bill, the findings...

In 2006-08, Maharashtra saw 12, 493 farm suicides. That is 85 per cent higher than the 6,745 suicides it recorded during 1997-1999. And the worst three-year period for any State, any time. The loan waiver year of 2008 saw 16,196 farm suicides in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Compared to 2007, that’s a fall of just 436. As economist Professor K. Nagaraj who has worked in-depth on...

As part of its campaign against “paid news,” the Editors Guild of India has asked all editors to endorse a pledge that they will act against any attempt to put out advertising as news without proper disclosure. Editors have also been requested to publish/broadcast the editorial statement in their respective publications/channels to arrest the erosion of public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. This editorial statement is...