Dr Binayak Sen has given a double blow to the state administration of Chattisgarh. First, the Supreme Court rejected the sedition charges levelled against him for which the state courts found him guilty. And then he was appointed to the 40-member steering committee on health in the planning commission. The Chattisgarh government has been vocally protesting against Sen's appointment, saying that he still remains a convict out on bail and should...

The current perception that cash transfers can replace public provision of basic goods and services and become a catch-all solution for poverty reduction is false. Where cash transfers have helped to reduce poverty, they have added to public provision, not replaced it. For crucial items like food, direct provision protects poor consumers from rising prices and is part of a broader strategy to ensure domestic supply. Problems like targeting errors...

How the global garment industry is using regressive customs in Tamil Nadu, enabling it to exploit young women workers… Behind the smiling exterior of a fast-growing economy lie the tears and tragedies of women like these workers. Girls. Dowry. The two go together. No matter what you do to separate them, they somehow get conjoined, like twins that have remained connected in one body. We are told this is one of the...

Farmers and leaders in Bhavnagar district flocked in hundreds to protest nuclear-based power plant at Mithivirdi in Jasapara village. Farmers are protesting against setting up of a N-power plant in the area as it would destroy their fertile land. Gram Swaraj Manch and politicians of all major parties have given their support to the campaign. Farmers from Mahuva, Mithivirdi, Jasapara, Khadarpar, Mandva and surrounding villages participated in the meet which...

-The Times of India   National Commission for SCs may summon officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, claiming that two dalit boys were missing since the police action on Bhatta Parsaul. NCSC chief P L Punia's day-long visit on Thursday to the villages hit by farmer-police clashes appeared an extension of Congress's campaign against UP chief minister Mayawati, starting with Rahul Gandhi 's sensational charge of mass murder and rape. Punia said dalit boys...