The only bright spot in the latest Census, 2011, was the data on literacy. It seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. In fact, one would imagine that walking into the forests of Jharkhand, the first man you meet will know how to read and write fluently in Hindi or the local dialect. Or, Bihar which will receive a trophy from the President for achieving the highest growth in literacy...

You have the right to: Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Form, join or assist a union. Bargain collectively through representatives of employees' own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions. Discuss your terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union. Take action with...

Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing policy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symbolic. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...

The global 'farmland grab' in Ethiopia and the rest of Africa has become competitive, with companies from Asia, including India and China, joining it. AN extraordinary new process has been at work in the past few years: the aggressive entry of Indian corporations into the markets for agricultural land in Africa. At one level, this process is simply following the hoary old tradition in global capitalism of firms (often supported...

Floods are vital to Kaziranga; dams on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra could disrupt the balance A few weeks ago, much of the grasslands of Kaziranga National Park were under water. The monsoon floods bring with them their own set of problems—some of the animals, for instance, have to be rehabilitated—but they are required for the very existence of the park. The annual floods of the Brahmaputra creates grasslands, floodplains, and...