Farmers affiliated to the Trinamool Congress whose agricultural land was acquired for a railway project are threatening a major agitation if their family members are not provided with jobs immediately. Their land was acquired for the proposed 20 km Dankuni-Furfura Sharif track in West Bengal and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised a job for every family whose land was taken.Agricultural landowners of Furfura Sharif, a major Muslim pilgrimage site...

Mumbai is all set to have a new airport as the Environment Ministry gave a green signal to the Navi Mumbai airport project. However, the question of rehabilitating 15000 villagers from the site has run into some turbulence.While the residents of Waghiwali village carry on with their daily tasks, there is an air of uncertainty in the village. Waghiwali is one of the 10 villages that will make way for...

Today, the Indian media—both print and television—is focusing on the recent corruption scandals involving the UPA Government with unusual zeal. However, I fail to understand why almost every commentator, every TV anchor, every editorial writer feels compelled to pay ritual obeisance to the “personal honesty and integrity” of Dr Manmohan Singh while dealing with the scandals emanating from his cabinet colleagues. They do so even when there is clear evidence...

Forcible acquisition of land for setting up of township at Rajarhat allegedThree years after Nandigram and two years after Singur, the theatre of political combat over land in West Bengal has shifted to Rajarhat on the northeastern fringe of Kolkata, where the Trinamool Congress braces itself for a fresh movement against what it alleges is forcible and dubious acquisition of land for the township coming up in the area. And...

South Asia in general and India in particular have the dubious distinction of standing out for wrong reasons every time a new global poverty report is released. We not only have the largest number of underweight children, a very high maternal mortality rate and the world’s highest number of out of school children but we also top the global malnutrition chart. (See links below for more details)  However the 2011 United...