When a victim of trafficking is rescued, the reports often describe in detail the physical torture, the sex and the violence that was forced on her. But not where she came from, nor where she is going. Now that she has been rescued, what does life have on offer? “Trafficking is an invisible crime,” said Malini Bhattacharya, chairperson of the West Bengal women’s commission. No camera captures the moment a person...

India and China Two largest populated countries of the world and next door neighbors; though greatly different in their cultures, lifestyles and most important pace of growth. Maintaining an edge over India in the manufacturing sector and urban infrastructure development, China is also not lagging behind in the rural development sector. China feeds 21% of the world population with only 9% of the world arable land. The 2nd largest populated country has to...

A strong protagonist who overcomes all odds, a village scoundrel who takes advantage of the ignorance and naivete of the people around him, family drama Usha Rajeswari's new directorial venture has all this and more. But Shakti Pirakkudhu' (A New Strength Is Born) is not your regular Tamil feature film. The protagonist is a middle-aged woman with two kids, and the odds she surmounts are the difficulties faced by women...

In three districts of Haryana, they have been agitating against the land acquisition policy of the State government. WHEN farmers of western Uttar Pradesh took to the streets protesting against the acquisition of their lands and demanding a just compensation package from the State government, the central leadership of the Congress was quick to cite the example of Haryana, where, according to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the best policies...

With more than 400 million Indians going to bed hungry each day, food security has become a crucial issue. On June 4 last year, the president made an announcement: “My government proposes to enact a new law — the National Food Security Act — that will provide statutory basis for a framework which assures food security for all. Every family below the poverty line in rural as well as urban...