Is drought being used as an excuse to delay the national Food Security Act? An informal network of organizations and individuals involved in the Right to Food Campaign believe so. The campaign groups are demanding that a national consultative process on an improved draft bill must be started immediately so that the proposed Food Security Act could be passed as soon as possible. The campaigners also demand that exports of...

PETTAH, India — As he approaches his first tree of the day, S. Mohan presses his calloused palms together and bows his head. “Oh God, I am climbing the coconut tree,” he whispers. “Protect me from harm.” With no safety gear beyond a strap of palm frond tied around his ankles, he launches himself onto the tree’s arcing trunk, which rises dozens of feet into the air. With a swift...

AMIT KUMAR must be one of the few bankers in the world turning away depositors. The manager of a village bank in the Indian state of Rajasthan, he was reluctant to take a cheque for 1m rupees ($21,200) from the elected head of the village, or sarpanch. The cheque was meant to pay hundreds of villagers for their work under India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which guarantees 100...

A UN Habitat publication warns that inequalities and worsening informal settlements (read slums) could lead to widespread violence and chaos in the cities and towns of the world. The newly-released report titled “Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009” says that with almost 200,000 new dwellers flooding into the world cities and towns each day, there is an urgent need to check the mushrooming of such settlements. The...

That the economies of Asia, in particular China, India and Australia, are responsible for whatever growth is currently taking place on the planet is now acknowledged and underlined by the West as well as by multilateral financial agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The 3.5 per cent growth in the American economy in the July-September quarter has enthused many into believing that the worst of...