-The Hindu   Countries endowed with genetic resources contained in rich flora and fauna will welcome the addition of 19 party-signatories to the Nagoya Protocol, which forms part of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. India has been a votary of the accord, which aims at promoting fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, and informed, agreed terms of access to such wealth. The protocol...

The police action against Dalits in Paramakudi leaves indelible scars on the psyche of the oppressed people all over Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Police, in its modern avatar, reflects a glorious tradition of over a century and a half. It was the only force to embark on State-sponsored modernisation in the early 1990s which was pioneered by me during my first tenure as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996....

Managing our soil and water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner needs a new political vision, which can be expressed through the proposed Land Acquisition Bill and the recently formed Global Soil Partnership. On the basis of a proposal I had made three years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at a multi-stakeholder conference, held...

The famine in the Horn of Africa is being seen as an inevitable consequence of drought, "the worst for 60 years". But this famine was almost entirely preventable, and presenting it as a natural disaster doesn't help; nor does our insistence on waiting for a major crisis before responding. Even though lessons about how to prevent famines have been documented time and time again, we don't learn. The conflict in Somalia...

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Director-General (Prisons) seeking his report, returnable in four weeks, on allegations of three prisoners in Bhadoi sub-jail being mercilessly beaten. The Commission acted suo motu taking cognisance of the incident based on media reports. The alleged incident took place on August 20. The media said the prisoners concerned, who tried to escape from the jail, was caught by the...