Based on fieldwork, this paper examines the problems and prospects of the handloom sector in Andhra Pradesh. One major finding is that the growth performance of cooperatives determines the growth of other institutions

The Maharashtra government has extended the transfer of development rights instrument

Public health issues are inextricably linked with human rights and it is only apt that many health professionals will involve themselves in such issues. The response of governments and the corporate sector to the work of such professionals suggests how they are seen as threats to the established order.

The report, Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, authored by an expert group set up by the Planning Commission, looks at the Naxalite/Maoist movement in a way that is different from the prevalent official attitude and draws attention to many of the positive effects of the movement. The report rejects the official "security-centric' approach in dealing with the movement and instead suggests an "ameliorative approach with emphasis on a negotiated solution'.

The criticism of the government of Tamil Nadu's tsunami relief and rehabilitation programme (April 19, 2008) does not accurately reflect the situation on the ground and the progress made.

The poverty of an entity is manifest in her deprivation not only in income but also in other dimensions such as health, nutrition and sanitation. Hence, a comprehensive measure of poverty must ideally take into account the performance of an individual across multiple dimensions. Vulnerability to poverty captures the likelihood of an entity falling into poverty, given the current status of the household. Unlike poverty, which describes the status of an entity at a point of time, vulnerability is predictive in nature.

There are serious concerns about the entry of organised retailing in the Indian food sector. What impact will it have on farmers,

A discourse analysis of court documents in slum-related cases from the past 25 years leads to the conclusion that the basic statement that "slums are illegal' is a very recent juridical discourse and the rise of court orders to demolish slums is due to reinterpretation of nuisance law. The "new nuisance discourse' that arose in the early 2000s re-problematised slums as nuisances and became the primary mechanism by which slum demolitions take place at present.

Traditional cooperatives have been unsuccessful in linking small farmers to the global market. Can the development of producer companies as new generation cooperatives turn out to be different?

Land reforms in Kerala, far from being a remarkable success, have been a major failure. They were meant to redistribute land and not to improve productivity. It is time the state government considered ordering that redistributed land should be returned if the beneficiaries do not cultivate it and also reversing the existing anti-tenancy law. Kerala's food security demands that the state think afresh about its policies for land and production.

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