From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars. In the United States, when world wheat prices rise by 75 percent, as they have over the last year, it means the difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10. If, however, you live in New Delhi, those skyrocketing costs really matter: A doubling in...

I must begin with two disclaimers. The Singur land development and rehabilitation bill, 2011 was moved in the West Bengal legislative assembly last Tuesday by the industries minister with whom I happen to share a name. However, I believe he does not share any of the opinions or sentiments expressed below. Second, I was a persistent critic of the Left Front government when it was in power and what I...

Team Hazare has been very critical of the responses of the government representatives in the drafting committee. They even said the Lokpal had become a Jokepal. During the discussions, we did not want to do anything that would upset the applecart. We did not go to the media, except for Kapil Sibal who held a daily briefing. The Hazare team did not want a joint briefing. We agreed. We did a...

Capitalism is supposed to bring in modernity, which includes a secular polity where ''babas'' and ''swamys'', qua ''babas'' and ''swamys'', have no role. Many have even defended neo-liberal reforms on the grounds that they hasten capitalist development and hence our march to modernity. The Left has always rejected this position. It has argued that in countries embarking late on capitalist development, the bourgeoisie allies itself with the feudal and semi-feudal...

Recently launched National Rural Livelihood Mission might help the government in getting desired results from its social benefit schemes. Seen as the next big rural project after the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, NRLM will provide a platform for formation of village groups that will then assist in fine-tuning existing government schemes. The government's expectations from NRLM stems from the instances of success in some states that have been able to...