The functioning of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission has been rated as “satisfactory” by its chairperson, S.R. Nayak. This, however, comes with plenty of riders. If the commission is working, it is despite non-cooperation from the State Government in providing adequate staff and space and, worse still, active efforts by government representatives to bring discredit to the commission by indulging in “ill-conceived, motivated and misleading” attacks. Addressing a press...

Recently there has been considerable media discussion about the issue of rise in prices of essential commodities and the problem of food inflation. In a country like India, where the cost of food forms major part of the monthly or daily expenditure incurred by an average family, this is a debate which acquires poignant significance. This is a government that came into power based on a concern for and commitment...

Government job reservation observed more in the breach Even as yet another International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being observed on Thursdaythe differently abled continue their struggle for access and rights. The State Government itself has admitted that the provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995, which inter alia seeks to provide 3 per cent reservation in jobs and education, have been...

The National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) and other organisations have decided to hold a meeting on December 8 in Bellary to chalk out an action plan for intensifying the people’s campaign against illegal mining. Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, NCPNR founder-president S.R. Hiremath, former convenor of Gram Ganarajya Vedike Jyoti Veeranna and Jan Vikas Andolan’s A.S. Salanki said that in the wake of the ruling of the Central...

HAS GREEN REVOLUTION FAILED INDIA'S POOR? Green Revolution Vs Rain-fed Farming OVERVIEW: Of late India’s fabled Green Revolution has come under severe attack. Many development thinkers believe that it has unfairly skewed India’s agriculture policy in favour of the farmers whose land is already or potentially covered under irrigation. The basic criticism is that the Green Revolution has been largely irrelevant for India’s 60 per cent cultivable land which is un-irrigated. These...