Although relations between the United States and India have largely been cold or chilly since our independence, briefly in the early 1960s, there was a phase when Washington sensed the possibility of an entente. Ramachandra Guha recalls love and hate between the two nations before the age of George Bush.

The All India Services Performance Appraisal Rules, 2007 reminds us that women's work is assessed not necessarily by neutral, objective criteria. The gender angle somehow creeps in, directly or indirectly, as IAS officers in Maharashtra can now testify, writes Kalpana Sharma.

For the sake of millions of voiceless women and marginalised groups, who were given a voice through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, it is important to challenge laws that attempt to take away grassroots participatory democracy as it has begun to evolve, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Goa is, by Indian standards, a prosperous and progressive state. In terms of human development, access to education and healthcare, for example, it ranks almost as high as Kerala. But, as a small and beautiful state, it feels itself peculiarly vulnerable, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The association of the disenfranchised male with violence is manifest among all religions, and on both sides of the political spectrum. Ramachandra Guha looks at age, sex and class as factors in extremist violence in Bangalore and elsewhere.

The issue of sexual harassment is out in the open and is being discussed. It gives a chance to hundreds of women who have faced situations for which they thought there was no solution to come forward and share their experiences, writes Kalpana Sharma.

In their readiness to identify with the oppressed, Naxalites are in contrast to the bureaucrat, the politician and the police officer, but they are not revolutionaries, writes Ramachandra Guha.

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.

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.

A multitude of grassroots movements are emerging across the country in resistance to the mainstream economy and polity. These initiatives are exploring sustainable, equitable and  just paths to human well-being. Ashish Kothari and Pallav Das offer an insight into the need for such movements.

Lack of media concern for hunger and related issues makes it that much easier for the state to get away with doing nothing. An interview with Prof. Jean Dreze.

New ideas and initiatives are emerging from the liaison between the press and the advertisers. Advertorials and advertising features are manifestations of this relationship, says Deepti Mahajan.

Local problems in India are compounding faster than solutions are being found. But the extent of national and regional coverage in our print and broadcast media is over-proportionately more than local news. More local journalism is the need, and will improve prospects for our local self-governance. The India Together editorial.

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.

Lalit Vachani's latest film places the Mahatma's historic Dandi March in perspective, juxtaposing it against the reality of the depriveations faced by the poor. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Hope Dies Last in War is a saga of individual and collective struggle, spanning three generations, to get back the men who remained as prisoners of war after the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

If there are differences between a documentary and a feature film, Faiza Khan's Supermen of Malegaon dispels them all. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Despite its apparent focus on middle class insensitivity to the conditions of the working poor, At My Doorstep makes a more important contribution in depicting experiences of male powerlessness. Romit Chowdhury reviews the film.

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.

A mainstream Bollywood production in the making, titled Gulab Gang, draws heavily on the circumstances and even the name of a now-famous real life movement, but purports to be purely fictional. Shoma Chatterji explores the questions of ethics and creative morality that this raises.

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.

Though based on strong reporting, India’s Daughter remains restricted in its scope, and even strays from its purported objective, thanks to a very pronounced colonial supremacist gaze, writes Shoma Chatterji in a dispassionate review that cuts through the noise.

Court narrates a compelling story and evolves into a hard-hitting realistic portrayal of the Indian legal system. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film with a deep exploration of all that sets it apart from a regular courtroom drama.

Shoma Chatterji talks about caste and the portrayal of Dalit in Hindi cinema beginning with Bombay Talkies Achhut Kannya (1936) to Bimal Roy’s Sujata (1959) followed by many mainstream films, and the small-budget, low-key ones which have focused on this significant social issue in the past so many years.

The hypocrisy with which the Government of West Bengal acted at Nandigram this March is a serious cause of disillusionment and has opened the door to further radicalisation of the dispossessed. Tanveer Kazi presents the dalit perspective, even as the High Court continues to pass strictures on the state government.

Free Bird Productions, a Kolkata-based documentary unit that makes cultural, ethnographic and documentary films, has made two of the more noteworthy films about the recent events in Singur and Nandigram. Shoma Chatterji notes the unanswered questions the films raise.

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.

Not many trace their way back to the human tragedy that has given rise to the culture of violence that marks Lalgarh today. The women do not appear scared of any police reaction in response to their protests. Soma Mitra has more.

Young women and girls in red light areas face extreme levels of desperation, stemming partly from poverty, but also because of sheer physical exploitation, even by husbands and fathers. Ruchi Choudhary 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.

Character assassination, social and economic ostracisation and even assault, seem to have become the standard responses to all who protest against the culture of violence against women in West Bengal. Shikha Mukerjee reports on the ground realities in the state.

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.

Has the introduction of Bt Cotton been successful? The deliberate attempt to find a "yes" answer has required a lot of incredulous 'science', says Devinder Sharma.

The concerns of Third World citizens have been routinely overlooked - until now, i.e., as technologies developed for animals are conveniently passed off as adequate for the world's poor as well, says Devinder Sharma.

If you raise the price of your product and offer a discount on the higher price, some people will get taken in by such 'sales'. The WTO has just pulled off this kind of scheme, says Devinder Sharma.

Business honchos are descending on the rural markets, expecting to make a killing from whatever is left in the pockets of India's poor, led by an NCAER forecast of robust sales growth here, writes Devinder Sharma.

Amidst this anomalous global pandemic, as the whole world wars against a sinuously strong, mutating virus what has metamorphosed is the human spirit. Whether it is a housewife who files her first writ petition to...

Mother is prowling around the house like an overzealous detective looking for clues of my ineptitude as a homemaker. This is an old habit. In the past, when I once asked her to babysit while...

Aaaah! Rejoice… love is in the air…and it is beating the virus! Let’s unashamedly swoon over the parallel ‘love tracks’ of these two ‘Lockdown relationships’ — one featuring a 51-year-old, world famous, London-based scientist, the...

At a time when the government should be deeply troubled by the coronavirus pandemic and devising long-term health strategies, its inner circles are busy planning the upgrade of Parliament House and the Central Vista. But...

India’s lockdown has been eased by dividing the country into red, orange and green zones, with high, medium and minimal infections so far, and correspondingly tough curbs on economic activity. This can at best be...

Coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced people around the world to delay their nuptials or adapt to the unusual times by celebrating via web link. But in China -- where livestreaming is extremely popular -- some young couples are allowing anyone to watch their big day and even send them gifts.

The US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in spectator badges to ensure fans maintain social distance at the July 16-19 event, Golf Digest reported Saturday.

During an interview with TOI, world No. 3 Thiem spoke about his comeback plans and how he is keeping himself ready for the season, as and when it restarts.

Virat Kohli is in a good frame of mind which gives him confidence of being able to pick up from where he left as and when cricket resumes in the post-Covid world. "... once I am in a good frame of mind and I am keeping myself positive and happy, whenever I return to the game, I know I will be in a good position to start again from where we left," Kohli said.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Umar Akmal, who was found guilty of two charges under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code has refused to divulge details of his two meetings with suspected bookies. According to the source, Akmal had a meeting with two unidentified men in Defence Housing Society in Lahore. The PCB source said Akmal also gave conflicting statements before the Disciplinary Panel hearing on April 27.

Though there is no avian flu outbreak in Tamil Nadu, poultry farmers across the state have taken precautionary measures.

Minister for Industries, mines and parliamentary affairs Prakash Mehta will attend the programmes regarding 26/11 on behalf of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.