The government may shift to per capita allocation of foodgrains and raise the price of wheat and rice meant for the Above the Poverty Line (APL) population under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to meet the objectives of the proposed National Food Security Bill. Raising the price of APL foodgrains is an “unavoidable adjustment,” the Planning Commission has said in a note it has prepared for the Sonia Gandhi-headed National...

Conflicting recollections on Bhopal tragedy highlight need to make old government papers public I was on the last unaffected train out of Bhopal that night, or so I was told. It was the Dakshni Express from Hyderabad to Delhi. There was nothing unusual at the station and next day in Delhi, I went through an entire working day unaware of that night’s news. It was not the age of 24x7 television...

In the absence of whole-hearted steps to implement the provisions effectively, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is falling short of expectations.  The Delhi High Court ruled recently that a woman can also be held liable under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. This the court did on the basis of the interpretation that ‘relatives' included not only male but also female members of...

The might of the Indian state is unable to turn the tide in Chhattisgarh. A violent Maoist insurgency continues to rage despite massive deployment of security forces. Ever wondered why? Part of the answer has come now with the findings of a joint committee that recently visited the state to take stock of the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. The Act, legislated in 2006 to provide tribals legal access...

A UNESCO dossier examines the problems faced by the original tribal inhabitants of the Andaman islands. SINCE the 1780s, a variety of players have vied for space in the Andaman archipelago. Today, apart from the three wings of the country's armed forces, others including rice farmers, timber merchants and academics are trying to push out its original inhabitants from their traditional habitats. For the first time in the past 150 years,...