The National Advisory Council (NAC) which was entrusted with the task of formulating the first draft of the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA) finally came out with its recommendations.

There are a number of issues that need to be debated about India’s urbanization. While the popular perception is that of a deluge of migrants into urban areas, others (I among them) are concerned that our urbanization is too slow.

Money comes into Mysore, especially for real estate transactions, not only through legal, banking channels but also in gunny bags, and that has been a common practice. Real estate transactions, with the exception of new apartments purchased from builders, generally include both a legal white money payment through a bank instrument, and a black money component of cash. This flow of money into Mysore has been a constant feature of the last decade, and has mostly involved the real estate and construction industry. Consider this proposition.

The public debate on the IPCC report in India has not gone beyond what I would call page three social science. It has remained obsessed with the politics of personality and hence it is time it were rescued from this obsession and given some academic sobriety. I have flagged five themes in my attempt to do so.

In November 2003, according to the then Union Home Secretary, 55 districts in nine Indian states were listed as

One of the many stories that lie hidden beneath the spate of recent conflicts now unfolding is that of reckless mining and deforestation by corporations. In Goa, despite a successful anti-SEZ struggle, the mining juggernaut continues to roll on, playing havoc with the land, people and environment.

In June 2005, a movement known as the

War and peace, peace and war: the title of Tolstoy

One of the much talked-about young revolutionary leaders of the undivided CPI(ML) in Bengal in the seventies and now with the PCC CPI(ML), a smaller faction of the fractured party, Santosh Rana has emerged as a major critic of the CPI (Maoist) in the wake of the Lalgarh movement.

Right now, the situation in Lalgarh is grave. The combined military offensive has got a nod from the central and state governments; it means we have to be worried about ghastly horror, concerned about more suffering and loss of lives. Since 18 June 2009, the entire area has been under siege by joint forces in the name of flushing out the Maoists.