Orissa government's surreptious move to acquire more land in Niyamgiri

the Vedanta controversy has acquired yet another twist, with the Orissa government trying to acquire more land in Kalahandi district's Lanjigarh block, the place where the company's one million tonne capacity alumina refinery is located.

Remembering Kalinganagar - Will cheap and dirty industrialization work?

From the highway the gravestones were visible. Thirteen headstones, rough and blunt, carved with names of each dead tribal. Each stone was placed so that together they formed a semi-circle looking down at us. In front of the 13-stone platform was a fenced area with scattered burnt sticks lying as if for the picking. I realized I was looking at a cremation ground. I also realized in shock that this must have been the place where the tribals killed in police firing were consecrated to fire and that the place has been left intact as a grim reminder.

Poor India speaks

That some of our nation's poorest and most marginalized people, the adivasis, inhabit some of our richest land in terms of mineral deposits is well-known. Already pushed to the fringes of society's consciousness by centuries of social, economic and political neglect, India's tribal communities are now faced with yet another battle for survival: this time, against market-driven forces intent on extracting what lies beneath their ancestral lands.

In credible India

Sometimes, a fortnight can mirror a year. With the year-end approaching, a flashback is usually in order. But recent events have made completely clear to me where we are and where we are headed.

PDS protests in West Bengal

bithari village, Swarupnagar block, North 24-Paraganas: the men of Uttarpara hamlet in Bithari are hiding out in the fields every night despite the winter chill in the air. Better brave the cold than the police lock-up, they say. This remote village near the Bangladesh border is one of the many in West Bengal where people have protested violently against corruption in the public distribution system (pds)in the past one-and-a-half months.

Salwa Judum: Nemesis of Chhattisgarh's tribals

"The Salwa Judum leadership said enough was enough. The government backed them." These are voices of supporters of Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh--a mission that was put together to pit civilians against Naxalites but is proving to be a nemesis for the area's tribals.

Politics of water resource management in India

"Mahua memoirs", a documentary

It is sometimes easy to dismiss a film like Mahua Memoirs as activist harangue. After all, it is about the impact of mining on tribal people--not exactly a subject that will draw the multiplex-going public. But there is an ineffable poignancy about Mahua Memoirs that holds your attention once--rather if--you decide to see it.

Efficiency versus democracy

Industrialist Ratan Tata has reportedly written to the prime minister cribbing about delays in implementing big buck projects. In his capacity as the chair of the government's investment commission he says over us $50 billion is tied up because of delays in allocating land and resources. His list includes major steel, thermal power, mining and aluminium projects of powerful houses--South Korean corporate Posco, uk's Lakshmi Mittal and India's Essar, Reliance, Jindal and, of course, Tata itself.

'Maps of resource-rich, poverty stricken tribal India overlap'

Which areas in India are most prone to ethnic conflict? These days unrest begins in Nepal, and proceeds down along forest lines to Kerala; from north Maharashtra it spreads to the east coast. Maps of forest-laden India, poverty-stricken India, illiterate India, and natural resource-rich India overlap. These areas are also coterminous with tribal India, a realm prone to ethnic conflicts. What are the main reasons for the unrest? Interviewee:  Ram Dayal Munda