A step backward

Chidambaram's success

Same problem, differing approaches

The government is roping in NGOs in the fight against pollution whereas industry is trying cleaner manufacturing processes

The virtual reality of being Indian

The remoteness of 190 villages in Orissa's undivided Koraput district is an elegy on governance. Over five decades, living in islands inside huge …

Large promises

Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …

Circuit breaker

it in India has failed to connect people to the information they want

An ad a day will keep voters away

How bizarre can a government policy decision get? India's first national policy on resettlement and rehabilitation for people affected by …

Information power imperative

Democracy is not yet dead

The power of the zephyr

The government is sowing the wind for energy, attracting investments with the promise of fiscal felicity

Gene check

Sounding warning bells

Diluting standards

Cleaning up Mt Everest

Lifting of ban earns UP government brickbats

The Uttar Pradesh government's decision to lift the ban on tree-felling in the Garhwal Himalaya has brought on it the wrath of both the Central …

The merit factor

New Bill aims to restrict groundwater use

The government is preparing legislation to regulate the use of tubewells because water-tables in the country are falling rapidly. But the …

Liberalisation viewed through worker's eyes

FOOD, HEALTH AND SURVIVAL IN INDIA AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Stuart Gillespie and Geraldine McNeill Publisher: Oxford University Press, Delhi Price:

Is ecology a constraint on female literacy?

Industry wary of entering handicapped market

New, more efficient aids are being developed for the physically handicapped under a government project. The stumbling blocks, however, are the …

Tatas carry on

Alternative bill

Boost to ecofriendly farming

A department of biotechnology project to popularise the production of biofertilisers has recently been approved.

No time to lose

The Union environment minister says that a comprehensive bill to protect India's biodiversity is on the anvil. But whether it can be a timely, …

Lethal gambit

The failure of the government to ban lethal pesticides, used to control the spread of malaria, poses a hazard to human health

Shedding the load

The government proposes reductions in subsidies on power, irrigation and higher education