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...
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‘At the first meeting, Shanti Bhushan said something about how we are here, writing the Constitution afresh’ by Ravish Tiwari
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...
More »‘Decision to keep CBI out of RTI is illegal, illegitimate’ by Chetan Chauhan
The government’s decision to exempt the CBI from the RTI Act has been termed as “illegal and illegitimate” by civil society activists. On Saturday, the members — Team Anna and the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) — lambasted the move, saying it revealed the government’s true colours on the transparency issue. “It only serves the government’s purpose to keep the CBI corrupt, opaque and thus pliant. As long as...
More »In The Deep End by Chander Suta Dogra
Eco-activism has Punjab’s polluters in a tizzy Operation Clean-Up * Industrial and organic pollution from the Sutlej and the Beas is affecting southern districts of Punjab and parts of Rajasthan * A popular movement straddling both states and helmed by eco-activist Baba Balbir Singh * Seechewal has the election-bound state government worried * Seechewal organised a massive exercise to prevent the Kala Sanghian, a highly polluted Sutlej tributary, from draining...
More »Undermining people’s power - A story of five years by Nikhil Dey
More than five years have passed since the world’s largest employment programme was launched in India. The scale of employment generated was not the only reason that this is a path breaking legislation. The MGNREGA is the first national law to establish rights in the development sector. It is demand based, and not constrained by arbitrary and restrictive selections like the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list. Any person living in a...
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