Over 1400 families who had started living on the rubber plantation of Harrisons & Crossfields -- the Chengara struggle -- will now get land in a deal brokered by the Chief Minister in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition. P N Venugopal takes stock.

Can a legal ruling, never mind if it is from the apex court of the country, change the socio-cultural and psychological ramifications of unwed motherhood in India? Shoma A Chatterji probes deeper to find out the social and sociological impact of the ruling on the family.

A simple way to claim that everyone affected by dam construction is properly rehabilitated is to make a list of affected persons - and then leave off thousands of them from the list. This has been the history of rehabilitation in the Narmada valley. Himanshu Upadhyaya notes that after many years, the game isn't quite adding up in the courts.

Collective Action for Rural Development (CAFORD) encourages families in Andhra's Prakasam district to keep their children in school.

Following allegations of wide-spread child labour in their business activities, foreign and Indian agri-business firms pledge to reform themselves. An update from The India Committe of the Netherlands.

A new report on finds agribusiness corporations from India and abroad are reneging on their promises to stop employing children in Andhra Pradesh. Gomati Jagadeesan reports.

A moratorium on loan recoveries is supposed to bring distressed farmers a bit of relief. But in the Parakal region of Warangal district, the Andhra Pradesh government's directive has taken farmers from the fire to the frying pan, says one farmer. Kondal Rao has more.

Krishna Rupanagunta urges a determined beginning to counting the true costs of hardship in labour.

Over the next two decades, Indians are going to see an enormous challenge to the value systems of the past, being replaced by the new value systems of globalisation says Ramesh Ramanathan.

New Delhi's relations with Naga leaders may at last be taking a turn for the better, and offering hope for an end to the long-running insurgency, says Ramachandra Guha.

Women must be encouraged to speak up, express their own truths and create solidarity networks. Only then will things change, says Deepti Priya Mehrotra.

The World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy ignores reduced employment and a shrinking resource base as the reasons for continuing poverty, says Sudhirendar Sharma.

From biogas to solar cookers and improved cookstoves, from agricultural tools to drudgery reducing technologies, most research and development in appropriate technologies has not been backed-up by appropriate market incentives. In contrast, hi-tech is totally market driven, says Sudhirendar Sharma.

What gets measured gets done. The First Annual Survey of Education Report has helped assess the scale of problems in public education better. It is now up to education ministries and administrators, as well as civil society to show progress in specific indicators, until the goal of universal education is met, writes Ashok Kamath.

Many development projects now mandate cost-sharing by beneficiaries, but better-off citizens are exempted from the rationale used against the poor. Cash-strapped governments are also happy to subject the poor to a different logic, if it helps dilute their own accountability, writes Sudhirendar Sharma.

Are quotas the way to redress inequities? A majority of the members of the National Knowledge Commission did not agree, but the UPA government is pressing ahead with its focus on quotas. Two of the NKC's members, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Andre Beteille, have resigned from the commission.

Policies of privatisation and globalisation are changing not only economies but societies and cultures. At their core is the fight of ideas, and these will be expressed in words. What these words are, and what they mean, therefore, matters greatly, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

The World Bank's much touted 'knowledge' products are coming out of a flawed process. The bank hires highly paid consultants who are mostly directed through a system of incentives towards arriving at a pre-determined policy consensus. Information and experiences that run counter to the consensus are ignored. Shripad Dharmadhikary on the implications for India.

The primary role of the navy is the protection of the seaboards. Having been shown up by the recent failure, the security establishment now has to get the strategy right, says Pavan Nair.

The inability of India to adequately provide for its own population no longer reflects a failure of implementation, but rather of a failure of innovation, writes Aditya Dev Sood.

Shashi Tharoor finds that Nehru's imprint on India rests on four tenets. But each of these must be understood in light of the events and values of its own time. Our judgement of this important figure cannot be determined exclusively by our approval or repudiation of those tenets today. Venu Madhav Govindu reviews The Invention of India.

Acute poverty linked to armed conflict and displacement is a major reason for the growing number of commercial sex workers in Manipur. Drug abuse too is common, further impacting those turning to the world's oldest profession. Thingnam Anjulika Samom reports.

Traditionally, India's dairy cooperative societies have been run by men, but this is gradually changing. Today, 18% of cooperative members are women, and nearly 2500 all-women cooperatives are functioning in the country. Sunanda Nehru Ganju reports from Gujarat, where new livelihoods for women are being established this way.

In the shadow of India's most controversial dam, men and women struggle to live with dignity. The first in a series on uprootment and survival in the Narmada valley by Neeta Deshpande.

Labour contractors and large landowners continue to employ children, often exposing them to vulnerable situations. Extreme poverty in Rajasthan's tribal districts fuels the practice. Pradeep Baisakh reports.

Tribal societies and groups belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in India are traditionally known to have been relatively gender-unbiased, but recent reports and statistics point to a deteriorating child sex ratio in these communities, too. Shambhu Ghatak analyses the findings.

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.

Behind the concern for girls and women, some of it genuine, is both fear and a desire to control, says Kalpana Sharma.

In the passing of Kalpana Chawla, the genuine feeling of loss expressed by so many reveals the thirst amongst the young for role models, says Kalpana Sharma.

Nothing exposes the hollowness of the claims corporations now make to intellectual property as much as their own histories, says George Monbiot.

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.

Sushma Swaraj used the most backward face of religion - its treatment of widows - to register her protest at the prospect of Sonia as PM, notes Kalpana Sharma.

In any society, the process of change is painful, and in ours, women are being forced to pay the price for this, 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.

Why is it that whenever there is any talk of values, it is women's behaviour, their dress, their attitude that comes into question, even though there are more men than women in India? Societal values and morality should apply to everyone, men and women, says Kalpana Sharma.

The key to understanding information and communication technologies is that their potential for development does not lie in their electronic wizardry, but rather in the information that is communicated by their use, and the subsequent informed actions of citizens. Ashwin Mahesh on the much-touted ICTs.

Once, our universities made a fundamental contribution to the opening of the Indian mind. Now, it is more likely that they will act as a constraint to the further economic and social development of India. Ramachandra Guha notes the four ills that plague India's universities, 150 years after the first three of them were established.

Even in the not-so-remote parts of Assam, you are constantly reminded of the fact that the entire region remains apart. It is evident in many things - its scenic beauty, its poor connectivity, the stories in the media, and the attitudes of young women here, writes Kalpana Sharma

Why when we want recognition as a nuclear power and a growing economic power, why when we want to boast of our educated and trained manpower, should we not come to grips with the issue of sanitation? Kalpana Sharma on the larger reality.

On the evidence of their respective performances in the trust vote, it must be said that the young Abdullah appears to be better qualified for the post he seeks than the young Gandhi is for the job some think should be his by right of birth, 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.

India cannot afford not to take a proactive approach to migration. In particular, adaptation measures in key sectors are needed to improve resilience and reduce the pressure on migration from climate change, writes Sujatha Byravan.

The survey of child labour in agriculture has helped to draw attention once again to many issues that must be addressed if every child is to have a meaningful right to education, writes Kalpana Sharma.

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.

A media that cherishes its independence must recognize this freedom is as essential for the judiciary to deliver justice as it is for the media to observe it impartially, says Dasu Krishnamoorty

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.

The media is unconsciously desensitising society towards the youth, and pressurising them to conform to a stereotype, says Shivam Vij.

As the government shows Doordarshan's director the door, Prasar Bharati member B G Verghese protests the intrusion by the administration into constitutionally protected domain.