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 Gandhi topis, the non-violent crowds, the banners and other symbols of protest, including tonsuring of heads, meditating mendicants, patriotic songs and fervour and, of course, the fasts, are seen as a throwback to the days when the Mahatma exerted enormous and unquestioned moral authority over the ruling government, political leaders and the populace. Most references to the “revolution” started by Anna Hazare and his group, now immortalised as Team...

An RTI activist in Manipur’s Imphal East district has been ostracised inhis own village for raising question over the construction of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan school building. Th Biren Singh (55) of Wakhong village fearing the Eviction of the village school buildingin future if constructed in the unauthorised land, filed an RTI application enquiring whether the school building was constructed within the school’s authorised (patta) land or not. “Now, the villagers who were...

-PTI   Just over a month after they called off a 13-day-long stir that resulted in a loss of about Rs 630 crore, workers at Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar plant went on strike again this afternoon. The workers resorted to a strike when five of them were suspended for "allegedly assaulting a supervisor" yesterday. When contacted, a company spokesperson said: "One of the supervisors was assaulted by workers yesterday and when disciplinary action...

-The Times of India   Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) general secretary Akhil Gogoi is known for drawing huge crowds in his demonstration programmes. But on Monday, when the RTI activist launched an indefinite sit-in stir against the recent hike in electricity tariff, he had only three men and a woman by his side. Is people's support for his campaign on social issues on the decline? Akhil reacts instantly. "The government...