Dwindle, peak and pine
"HEALTH for all by the year 2000" was the proclaimed objective of the Primary Health Care Conference held at Alma-Ata in 1978 under the aegis of …
Pregnant with meaning
FAR from the media hoopla, the developing world is quietly undergoing a reproductive revolution. According to a report released by the World …
Flood plains of India
India receives an annual rainfall of 400 million hectare metres, of which 75 per cent is received in four months. Floods generally follow, …
The US learns that green laws make sense after all
Make no mistake, US President George W Bush's office has conceded that green laws make sound economic sense. Although the White House reiterated …
Blow to anti-AIDS campaign as condom turns taboo subject
The paanwallah-doubling-up-as-a-condom-vendor ad has been taken off the air. Instead, Doordarshan will show a village council member warning …
Drained India's inland wetlands
During the last ten years, India has lost about 38 per cent of its inland wetlands; in some districts, as much as 88 per cent of the wetlands …
Children of a lesser State
A rare killer disease, Japanese encephalitis, has been annually and invariably breaking out in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. This year, so far, 3,…
How MGNREGA blew Rs 10,853 crore
The “little known” success story of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has unfolded as a disaster. …
Vaccine Eloquent
Universal vaccination became part of government policy in 1978. A quarter of a century since, progress has been fitful. In some parts of the …
Resurgent polio
Eradicating polio in India is proving to be a tough ask. The disease, which seemed to have been contained a few years ago, is rearing its head …
Theirs to mine?
This is the question angry and beleaguered tribals in Orissa and Jharkhand are asking, as mining companies set up shop in the midst of their land …
The political economy of defecation
This is a story about Delhi and the Yamuna, about the relationship between one of India's richest cities and one of her most revered rivers. The …
SEZ, how special?
Despite having burned its fingers with export processing zones, which mainly involved a number of substantial fiscal benefits, the government has …
Brinksman
As Le Clemenceau bobs on the horizon, reactions in India get sharper, noisier. We've discovered occupational safety. Asbestos is used in …
Saga of two villages
Sukhomajri was a dirt-poor village in Haryana. It started pulling itself out of its hole in the late 1970s, making a dizzying ascent to …
Astray?
From the Gir National Park in Gujarat to the Sunderbans in West Bengal, lions and tigers are ranging far beyond territories administered by the …
The small big polluter
Small-scale industries: Where regulations are meaningless and pollution control an unaffordable luxury. Can they leapfrog to cost-effective …
30,000 farmers demand Hirakud dam water
Western Orissa is witnessing an upheaval. In the eye of the storm is the Hirakud dam. Over 300,000 farmers dependent on its water for irrigation …
Food processing industry takes a toll on country's health
Eating at home isn’t the in thing anymore. Hanging out is hip, especially in the mushrooming fast food joints that blister the skylines of …
Clash of the cyberworlds
In an increasingly digital world, the issue of Internet freedom and governance has become hugely contested. Censorship and denial of access occur …
Non-profit diseases
There is a logic to the idea of neglected diseases. Historically the diseases poor people get--largely in the poorer parts of the world--haven't …
Global food crisis: causes and implications for India
Is there a global crisis unravelling? World food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and the prices of most food crops are at a record high. …
Dirty fuel
CSE's Clean Air campaigners ANUMITA ROYCHOWDHURY and CHIRAG SHAH expose the dirty, intelligent and systematic business of fuel adulteration:…
Pure myth
When was the last time you drank water straight from the tap at your house to slake thirst on a hot summer day, without hesitation. Chances are …
Flat in 20 days
Global climatic anomalies allied with local weather conditions produced the most freakish hailstorms in central and north India in February and …