The flouting of scheme guidelines in the NREGS implementation in Uttar Pradesh shows how the programme is still locked in top-down planning. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports on the various findings of the performance audit of the scheme.

When river restoration translates merely into cosmetic beautification of its ‘front’, real estate and urban elite are the only ones to gain at the cost of the larger river ecology. Amruta Pradhan discusses the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project and others inspired by it to highlight the risks in the model.

Even in regions touted as India’s food bowl, Rs 3000 a month is all that a farmer earns for his family! Devinder Sharma crunches data from CACP to highlight the grave crisis in the agrarian economy.

The current situation of impotence that the Government finds itself in should prompt some soul searching about the reliance on market mechanisms to take care of India's food security, writes Kannan Kasturi.

The aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami saw an unprecedented outpouring of goodwill. But with the traditional panchayats in Nagapattinam's fishing hamlets controlling relief, single women and dalits were systematically exlcuded. Two and half years later, nothing has changed, reports S Gautham.

Most Indian languages do not have a specific word for the female traveller. The traveller is by definition male, a fact that provokes Namrata R Ganneri to delve deeper into the gendered nuances of travel and its implications for women.

Our economic and political leaders do not have much faith in the free market, or in trickle-down economics, despite their apparent support for both, says Ashwin Mahesh.

Colonel Pavan Nair studies the allocations for defence and development efforts, and asks what's needed to reach even the modest standards of Brazil or Sri Lanka.

Surekha Sule contrasts the transgenic research of ICRISAT with the self-dependence of women farmers in Zaheerabad, AP.

As the state clamps its annual ban on trawl boats along the Kerala coast, an old battle rages again, pitting traditional fishermen against trawl-boat owners who view the occupation quite differently. Each side feels that positive intervention by the state is required. M Suchitra and P N Venugopal report.

After three years after a loan disbursal to the Jindal Thermal Power Company Ltd. (Jindal) for a power project in Karnataka, the public-sector Power Finance Corporation has drawn flak from the Comptroller and Auditor General for having offered undue benefits to Jindal and causing a loss of Rs.13.48 crores to itself. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

A conference on September 14-16 this year at New Delhi will bring together political decision makers, representatives from entrepreneurial associations and corporate partners, and civil society to discuss growth in Asia. It is backed by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Planning Commission of India.

In his latest book, The Wisdom of Ants: A Short History of Economics, with numerous revealing historical arguments and anecdotes, Shankar Jaganathan traces how economics emerged from being a relatively obscure field to a structured discipline that may be used to explain the basis for every aspect of human life and society, writes Satarupa Bhattacharya.

Lack of development and unmet aspirations in India's villages and small towns not only raise the pressures arising from rural-urban migration, but also trigger an overall sociological malaise that is so difficult to dispel. Puja Awasthi reports from Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a stark example.

The recent closure of a landmark music store in the heart of Calcutta is symptomatic of the larger malaise afflicting the music industry. Shoma A Chatterji reports from a gathering of local luminaries to protest the rising menace of piracy in music.

Winner of the 2013 Economics Nobel, Robert J Shiller adds the latest perspective to a long-standing, heated debate on whether Economics can be called a science at all, and if it merits the prestigious award. Shankar Jaganathan recounts the many points of view on the subject.

Non-performing assets in public sector banks have shot up by more than 400 per cent in the last five years, hitting Rs 164000 crore! Shripad Dharmadhikary summarises findings of a research report that unearths the real reasons underlying these bad loans.

Innovative use of information technology through mobile phones is enabling improved financial literacy and increased access to credit for economically disadvantaged women in rural and urban areas. Swapna Majumdar reports.

Narendra Modi’s attention to the woes and plight of farmers during election campaigning has raised a lot of hope for improvement among members of the beleaguered community, but can he deliver? Devinder Sharma presents an 11-point prescription for turning the agricultural sector around.

Regardless of how it is interpreted, India’s doctrinal promise of ‘massive nuclear retaliation’ in the event of nuclear first use by the enemy would be more than strategically flawed. At a time when India is now poised to review its doctrine afresh, Firdaus Ahmed digs deeper.

The recent episode in which a mysterious boat was intercepted off the coast, and blew itself up, may or may not have anything to do with Pakistani terror, but has important implications for national security strategy, external relations and domestic political dynamics. Firdaus Ahmed explains.

A recent announcement by the army chief that officers of all ranks of the army will donate a day’s pay to the PM’s relief fund for Kashmir floods has triggered an interesting exchange, throwing light on the broader trends of politicisation within the military. Firdaus Ahmed has more.

Nothing is lost by abandoning the principle of seniority, but the armed forces need restructuring says Nitin Pai.

Global oil prices have risen dramatically, and nationalised oil companies have been crying themselves hoarse over the government's reluctance to correspondingly increase retail prices. The sensible long term alternative is to move beyond fossil fuels, with clear policy initiatives. The India Together editorial.

While they represent an important technology option in an environmentally-challenged world, large scale adoption of electric vehicles aided by government policy might remain a pipe dream till cost structures become more competitive. Shiva Prasad Susarla explains.

Is modernisation of transport the sole answer to air pollution problems in Delhi? In view of the NGT's proposed ban on older vehicles in Delhi, Sarath Guttikunda draws attention to several problems that need to be addressed for cleaner air in the NCR.

Two tigers have been relocated from Ranthambore to Sariska tiger reserve, but wildlife conservationists are not about to rejoice, given the extent of work pending at Sariska to reverse past wrongs. Malini Shankar digs deeper.

Rejuvenation of the Ganga has purportedly grabbed a big share of the new government’s focus, but would plans ignoring the upper Ganga basin really be effective? Shripad Dharmadhikary discusses the findings of an expert body that could be crucial to the agenda.

The World Bank, IMF and WTO want 'coherent' operations, but poor nations worry that behind this vague objective is a determined effort to hijack their aspirations.

New Delhi's policy-makers are busy bartering the millions of jobs in agriculture for the far fewer ones with outsourcing firms in the cities, says Devinder Sharma.

More than a year after the application for recognising Basmati as a GI was filed, there is still no way to be certain if the grain on our plates is the real thing. As a result, a lot of the rice packed and sold in Haryana is called basmati, and traders in other countries too freely use the name. Varupi Jain reports.

Last year, Reliance Industries Ltd. had filed a geographical indications (GI) application for its Krishna-Godavari gas and Jamnagar petroleum products, despite the fact that the products are not characteristically attributable to geography. Varupi Jain finds that if RIL is granted the GI, it will gain exclusive benefits that it has no rightful claim over.

The central government launched the Handloom Mark scheme in June 2006. The idea is to popularise handloom products in domestic as well as international markets and provide a guarantee for the buyer that the product is genuine. But will it work? D Narasimha Reddy looks at the challenges.

A range of criticisms raised at a recent seminar in Mumbai are a sufficient indication of the extent to which SEZs are being pushed as a government policy without any public consultation on their pros and cons. The seminar, on SEZs and their implications for urban planning, was held at the Rachana Sansad School of Architecture. Darryl D'Monte reports.

In search of new funds to keep the growth story alive, the Centre opens the doors to foreign investment a little further.

P Sainath reports on the serious problem of rural hunger in Andhra Pradesh, and the politics of free lunches.
Part II : Hi-tech, low nutrition

The India Shining advertisement campaign is a government-media joint venture, says P Sainath.

P Sainath on the fault lines in Andhra that led to the ouster of the Chandrababu Naidu led Telugu Desam Party.

P Sainath.

Going back on its promise made in the Common Minimum Programme, the UPA government has put Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. on the carving table, allegedly to fund health and education. But the proceeds from the proposed sale of equity in BHEL are a fraction of what could be raised by different, less repulsive means, says P Sainath.

The agrarian crisis in Vidarbha has spun almost out of control. Appeals for swift measures by many have fallen on deaf ears. The farm suicides are the tip of the huge crisis raging here, not its whole. They are, though, its most powerful symbol, writes P Sainath.

Maharashtra began by telling the NHRC there had been 140 suicides Statewide since 2001. It ended 2005 conceding a figure of 1,041. That is the fourth figure the same State has put out within months. For Vidarbha, it is decidedly not a happy new year, writes P Sainath.

Those turning to the Government 'helpline' in Mahbubnagar, Andhra Pradesh, learn the hard way what happens when the little farmer of the countryside runs into the large apparatus of the state. P Sainath reports on a farmer's near-death brush with the government's promise of relief.

Converting water to a commercial good to be sold for profit invites disaster. Most of all for poor people whose already pathetic access to water will shrink swiftly, writes P Sainath.

After 15 years of a battering from hostile policies and governments, the world of the peasant has turned highly fragile. But the onus of changing is on the farmer. Not on those driving a cruel process and system, who have only contempt for ordinary folk, writes P Sainath.

The Beautiful People whose next-door neighbours never vote are back, teaching the masses - who do vote - how to go about it in the civic elections in Mumbai. This is the upper middle class trying to preen itself in the one process where they matter less, writes P Sainath.

Eleven young women in Maharashtra have chosen to become Foresters. These women Foresters are mostly from rural Maharashtra. From places such as Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal and not from the big cities. P Sainath reports.

In that the trend of falling state investment in sector after sector continues, this budget does not break with neo-liberalism. Instead, it just dolls it up. India is still on a path damaging and dangerous to the poor. The UPA has learned nothing and forgotten everything, writes P Sainath.

Even nations that are far below us in the Human Development Index rankings - and which have nothing like our growth numbers - have done much better than us on many counts, writes P Sainath.

The UPA government's waiver of farm loans that was announced in the Union budget is no solution to even the immediate crisis let alone long-term agrarian problems. Nothing in this budget will raise farm incomes, writes P Sainath.