They may be at the bottom of all social indicators but most Naxalite-affected districts have better scores to show in the rural job scheme than areas that are not under the insurgency shadow. The main reason was better implementation, the direct result of the resolve by the state and central governments to counter the influence of the rebels through a development surge. The other reason, rarely stated but tacitly acknowledged, is...

Ram Prasad Ghosal, a potato farmer from Bamunpara (Dist Burdwan) in West Bengal, owns 10 acres of land. Just two months earlier, though, his ilk faced a major scare. The region witnessed a bumper potato crop of 9.5 million tonnes — 73 per cent higher than last year’s production. Wholesale prices in Kolkata crashed to Rs 300 a quintal. Retail prices, too, dropped to Rs 6-8 a kg. Farmers were...

Governments of cotton growing states have spiked proposals by companies to increase prices for genetically modified (Bt) cotton seeds. Makers of Bt seed have asked for a rise in the price they could charge for a 40-seed packet of the BG1 variety to Rs 850 (from Rs 650 now) and for the BG2 variety to Rs 1,050 (up from Rs 750), as input and labour costs had gone up by 35...

Take a look at the accompanying map and you can’t but notice the extent of overlap between India’s thickly forested areas, the regions with the bulk of the country’s most important mineral wealth and the territory over which Maoists are dominant. Is this just a coincidence? No, that would stretch credulity. So what connects the Maoist menace with forests and mining? Clearly, forests give a guerilla force its best chance...

Human rights groups combating sexual assault, women's groups and groups working on child rights have come together to reflect on the extent to which the proposed Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2010 addresses concerns on the ground.  The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2010, being proposed to bring about changes in the criminal laws with respect to protections against sexual assault, has been a subject of discussion and popular misinterpretation in the...