In a year of sparse rains and spiralling food prices, with hundreds of districts being officially declared as drought-hit, a rally by activists in the capital demands a Food Entitlements Act.  Perhaps the most vocal demands at the rally were those aimed at a complete revamp of the Public Distribution System (PDS), starting with universal — instead of targeted — coverage. Over 5,000 grassroots activists, agricultural workers, farmers, lawyers, doctors and...

CITIES MAKE one simple promise to newcomers: Sacrifice yourself to me and your children shall prosper. This promise drew Ahmed Raza, a small-time wrestler from an Uttar Pradesh village and millions like him to the capital of newly-independent India. Raza kept his part of the bargain, yet half a century later, his daughter was pushed out of the city her Father helped build, the only home she has known. “I...

Wajahat Habibullah’s new job as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief information commissioner has run into rough weather even before he has taken the oath of office. Jammu and Kashmir High Court has admitted a writ petition that challenges his appointment as the state’s first CIC. Wajahat recently quit as chief information commissioner (CIC) of India to take over the fresh assignment at chief minister Omar Abdullah’s request. State officials say Wajahat, an old...

From the bed of an intensive care unit, Samavedam Sriramachari today recalled his two decades of research that helped demystify the poison gas which caused the worst chemical disaster in human history. The Indian pathologist, who helped the world Fathom how the methyl isocyanate gas that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal 25 years ago killed and harmed thousands of people, is now himself fighting a lung disease probably...

SOMETIMES, TO accentuate the intransigence of the present, one must revisit the past. So first, a flashback. The year is 2006. An ordinary November evening in Delhi. A slow, halting voice breaks into your consciousness. “How shall I explain? It is not a punishment, but my bounden duty…” A haunting phrase in a haunting voice, made slow with pain yet magnetic in its moral force. “My bounden duty.” What could...