Kalpavriksh - LEAD India, paperback, Rs.100 / U.S. $10
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Unlimited Girls explores the ideas and experiences of feminism in contemporary urban India. Sameera Khan reviews Paromita Vohra's film.

The National Human Rights Commission should investigate Punjab's forced disappearance, says Human Rights Watch

An INASAF investigation finds the state grossly indifferent to the health, medical needs, and humane treatment of its prisoners, some of whom haven't even received trials.

Researchers at the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment have found alarmingly high levels of pesticides in blood samples of villagers in Punjab, the showpiece state of India's green revolution. India needs to urgently take a tough look at the indiscriminate and careless use of pesticides, writes Ramesh Menon.

The most flexible information dissemination medium ever invented can still be used for the betterment of all, says Subramaniam Vincent.

There is now a quiet but intense debate within some segments of the corporate sector on the crisis in governance due to communalism, says Rajni Bakshi.

Real rehabilitation and a promise of a peaceful future will not come from deinal of justice says Kalpana Sharma.

Indians continue to believe that we are the moderate nation and that Pakistan is extremist. But sometimes, what we observe isn't what we expect, says Kalpana Sharma.

If a woman, or a group of women, does well in any sport in India, it is despite the State and the establishment and not because of it. Their achievements therefore are that much greater than of those who are pampered and feted, even for failing continuously, says Kalpana Sharma.

Sania is the star today, but there are many more waiting on the horizon, expecting to be noticed and determined to excel. Sania has forced the media, and the country, to sit up and take note. Sania and her "sisters" will not be stopped, says Kalpana Sharma.

Perhaps one of the most moving and inspiring stories to have come from Pakistan in recent times is the story of Mukhtaran Bibi or Mukhtar Mai as she is now called. Her fight is an uplifting example for all women, not just those who are victims of sexual crimes, says Kalpana Sharma.

There is plenty of native intelligence among the people that is very useful in averting and responding to disasters. Planning for disaster management must see this as an asset. The top-down planning and implementation currently in vogue is a poor substitute for community participation, says Videh Upadhyay.

One often hears that the country's large population is at the heart of many of its troubles, but doing the numbers doesn't suggest anything of that sort. Still, in an important way, it does have to do with people. Here's how: some of the people don't think the rest of the people are even people, says Ashwin Mahesh.

The IMF's meeting in Singapore next week is expected to endorse a decision to enhance voting powers for four middle-income countries: China, South Korea, Mexico, and Turkey. For a 184-member body still controlled by seven developed countries, this won't pass for democratisation, says George Monbiot.

Crippling poverty, Naxalism and government bungling may have depressed the lives of poor women in Chhatisgarh, but there is now a shining ray of hope. 60,000 women have become trained community health volunteers and are making an impact, notes Kalpana Sharma.

Although much amended and bent, the Constitution of India is still a charter for a democratic republic of men and women. But a recent experience made me realise that we are in danger of ceding highly resonant words to the men on our right, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The real issues in Bali are not technical or economic. The crisis we face, with climate change, demands a profound philosophical discussion, a reappraisal of who we are and what progress means, writes George Monbiot.

Women like Mukta Jodia, the first recipient of the Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime, are a reminder of the other India, the real India. What triggers their struggles is quite often the lack of transparency, writes Kalpana Sharma.

In the run-up to the elections, only the dominant voices from "mainland" India will be heard. But we need to listen to what those living at the margins of this country are saying, writes Kalpana Sharma.

An excess of secularism may be as problematic as bigotry, whereas pragmatism is in salutary contrast to both of those, writes Ramachandra Guha.

K Balagopal refused to accept, from either State or Maoist, the justification of "a culture and mentality which celebrates power and use of force in society", writes Ramachandra Guha.

How could someone not known to her at all prove and establish her identity, while at the same time no one in her own village was authorised to do so? R Balasubramaniam begins a series of Voices from the Grassroots.

A large number of existing and proposed investments along the Tamilnadu coast are at risk from likely changes to sea level in the coming decades. Plans for the future must bear this risk in mind, writes Sujatha Byravan.

A meaningful and enduring bilingualism, embracing both English and the mother tongue, remains out of reach of the vast majority of citizens, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Why has this honest, intelligent, experienced man, whose appointment as prime minister in 2004 was so widely welcomed, been such a disappointment in office, asks Ramachandra Guha

Pope Francis’s Encyclical talks about poverty, social inequality, climate change, and other global crises mankind has created and proposes newer ways to resolve them. Ashish Kothari finds the Encyclical lacking in certain aspects but hopes that other religious and political leaders will learn to stand up and speak up like the Pope.

Both India and Pakistan played well in the Twenty20 tournament, and played in a positive frame of mind. Why then should a mainstream media channel insist on harping on the rivalry between two countries that are making tentative attempts at peace, asks Kalpana Sharma.

The terror attacks have raised numerous questions of media ethics, values and news-gathering methods. While the government and politicians faced the wrath of the public, the media too was under the lens. Ramesh Menon reports.

Can technology restore the balance between people in their conversations about public issues? And can this help foster a better and more inclusive democracy, asks Shubhranshu Choudhary.

The politically motivated appointment of a hardly-known personality to the post of chairperson at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India has predictably created outrage amongst students and the artist fraternity. Shoma Chatterji looks at the real arguments behind the ongoing debate.

In 50 percent of the killings of Indian journalists since 2010 there have been no arrests so far. We need to come together to protect our tribe, urge Geeta Seshu and Sevanti Ninan.

We usually wake up to their existence when they don't turn up for work. And the first response is annoyance, because of the inconvenience caused to us. Films like Lakshmi and Me open our eyes to the plight of people who hold up our homes, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Loha Garam Hai is a no-nonsense, no-holds-barred comment on lop-sided strategies of development. It is focused more on information and education than on the aesthetics of cinema, writes Shoma Chatterji.

The System of Rice Intensification, known to increase rice yields significantly merely by following a few simple rules, is spreading throughout Bihar, thanks to an award-winning film that educates farmers. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Is freedom of speech and expression deeply accepted in Indian society? Or is it merely a European cultural import that made its way along with the English language and appeared in the Constitution because of the founding fathers' genius? Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya reviews Freedom Song, a film and connects the dots.

Sanjay Kak's latest film Red Ant Dream weaves together disparate stories of people's movements and transports the viewer to hidden pockets of resistance to paint a picture of conflict and revolutionary potential in India today. Freny Manecksha reviews the film.

The recently held Kolkata People’s Film Festival – an offshoot of the founding movement called The Cinema of Resistance – screened powerful documentaries and feature films portraying the struggle and resistance of the marginalised and downtrodden. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Debaranjan Sarangi, a documentary film maker, writer and human rights activist was arrested recently in Kashipur, Odisha. Shoma Chatterji writes about Sarangi's arrest, his activism and his films which deal with Adivasis and their struggles.

Shunyota, a feature film in Bengali, has an all-India resonance that will echo across the country if and when it’s subtitled version will be screened, writes Shoma Chatterji.

Since 1979, this Kolkata school has pioneered an educational process where kids from different economic and social sections of society study, play and share together as equals.

The rural Muslim women of Murshidabad district in West Bengal have circumvented religious curbs and successfully used a prevalent religious tradition to eke out a living as well as create social awareness. Ajitha Menon has more.

A division bench passed a series of orders last month while hearing a public interest litigation alleging that the West Bengal government had failed to enforce the ban against violence on children in schools. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Eleven years after journalist Rina Mukherjee was fired following her allegations of sexual harassment against a senior, the West Bengal Industrial Tribunal passes an order against The Statesman, offering hope of redress for other victims. Navya P K reports.

The death of 14 women in Chhattisgarh following botched sterilisation procedures has rightfully led to furore across the country. But a detailed, historical analysis of family planning as it has evolved, by Shoma A Chatterji, exposes an inherent and sustained gender bias in policy as well as practice.

Science's biggest tragedy, as we are reminded by the Columbia disaster, is that truly independent criticism is simply gone from its midst, says Devinder Sharma.

Eight months before the upcoming WTO ministerial of December 2005, prominent economists are closing ranks to dwarf sustained criticism of agricultural subsidies in developed nations. Devinder Sharma asserts that the continued undermining of food self-sufficiency in developing nations is economic lunacy.

With an estimated 24,000 people succumbing globally to hunger every day, more than 120 million people could perish by the year 2015 from this shameful scourge. In Gleneagles, however, the leaders of the world's richest economies did not even provide lip-service to the hungry and malnourished, Devinder Sharma writes.

It is ironic that 'Conservation Agriculture' the new wave from agriculture scientists, requires so much new technology, and focuses so little on existing traditional knowledge of conservation techniques, writes Devinder Sharma.

India’s unemployment rate jumped to 27.1% from 8.4% as per the latest report by CMIE. The numbers in USA are 16.1% & 30 million folks unemployed, that’s close to ten percent of the American population…...