The people of Manipur had ‘histories’ and ‘memories’ that were longer and deeper than those of most other Indians when India attained independence.  Every time one travels to Manipur, one returns humbled. This has been the case since my first visit in the late 1960s, long before becoming a journalist. Active insurgency was not even on the horizon then though some resentment against ‘India’ was evident. Between 1983 when I...

Senior biotechnology scientists have questioned the rationale for public consultations on genetically modified (GM) brinjal called by the environment ministry to decide the fate of what could be India’s first biotech food crop. “I think this (public consultation) is absolutely unwarranted,” said Shantu Shantaram, a scientist who was among the world’s first regulators of biotech crops in the US during the 1990s and who says he strongly favours the introduction...

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said a nation-wide Comprehensive Environmental Assessment found that 88 industrial clusters were critically polluted. Out of these 88 clusters, 8 are in Maharashtra including Tarapur and Chembur. The environment Ministry will not give clearance to any industry in these 88 clusters unless Action Plan is prepared and implemented to improve the environment in these areas, said Mr. Ramesh,...

The government needs to allocate more funds for public health. The mismatch between the declared objective of universal healthcare through the public health system and the actual level of expenditure remains serious.  One of the three most important planks on which Barak Obama won the U.S. presidential election was the country’s healthcare system, which he promised to fix. Indeed, the most important legislative measure initiated by Mr. Obama so far...

If your child can go from a ‘near zero’ learning ability to getting 95 per cent in mathematics and from a state of malnutrition to WHO-approved standards of health, chances are that you will not find the Naxal ideology all that attractive. I was in the Naxal heartland of Bastar to review the learning skills of children in 300 schools who were being educated by the Naandi Foundation when news...