In Maharashtra, attacks on citizen-activists have increased with the greater use of RTI; four activists have been killed in the last seven months IN the late 1970s, a woman named Shobha Shirodkar was the victim of a hit-and-run in Mumbai. It was no accident. It was a case of murder because Shobha, who was the principal of a prestigious school in the city, had opposed the land mafia and was believed...
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Cut out the shortcuts by Sunita Narain
The Ministry of Environment and Forest’s decision to stall the Vedanta project in Orissa must be understood. The ‘story’ is about a powerful company breaking the law. But it is equally about a development puzzle in which the richest lands of India are where the poorest people subsist. The N.C. Saxena committee has indicted the mining conglomerate on three counts of breaking the environmental laws. One, it took over and...
More »Food security — by definition by P Sainath
Maharashtra ended famine forever by passing an Act that deleted the word ‘famine' from all laws of the State. Maybe the government, the National Advisory Council and other assorted enthusiasts of the Food Security Bill can learn from Maharashtra about moving towards ending hunger altogether. In 1963, the government of Maharashtra ended famine forever in the State. It did this without adding a morsel to anyone's diet. It did so simply by...
More »Farmers’ bandh hits western UP
The bandh call by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (KSS) in the state on Wednesday, received response mainly in districts of Western Uttar Pradesh like Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar. Manvir Singh Teotia, who is heading the KSS, has rushed to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. The AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi may be present at the meeting, said sources. In Etmadpur area of Agra, farmers clashed with the...
More »Appu And Shera by Jyoti Punwani
In the good old days, there were the Asian Games under Indira Gandhi. Inaugurated by the Empress on her own birthday, November 19, 1982, they seem like a fairy tale now. No leaking roofs weeks before the show; no front-page shockers about crores paid to shady firms; everything going like clockwork under Her Majesty’s eagle eye. Definitely no portly, shifty-eyed Suresh Kalmadi. At that time, there was no Organising Committee. Under...
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