Contrary to popular understanding, the nationalist struggle recognised that swaraj was to extend beyond politics into the realm of ideas. And it is still a fine tool with which to understand the challenges we face in our continuing encounter with western ideas, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

The leading ladies of Bengali theatre in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries presented an intriguing portrait of women caught between two worlds, liberated in a way, yet shackled in others. A recent performance as tribute to these artists leads Shoma Chatterji to reminisce their lives and times.

Boregaon is a small village in Solapur district of Maharashtra where men have shunned the patriarchal mindset to support women’s political empowerment and gender equality, writes Suchismita Pai.

Dr C S Lakshmi, the eminent Tamil feminist writer, who writes under the pen name Ambai, has been a researcher in women’s studies for the last several decades, and is also the Founder Trustee of Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women (SPARROW), that has undertaken several oral history projects. She speaks to Pratibha Umashankar about issues concerning women.

Financial irregularities, a probable political conflict of interest and unsavoury social impact have thrown a cloud over the potential of Sikkim’s casino industry, once envisioned to attract revenues for the state from gaming tourism. Soumik Dutta reports.

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.

Does the IMF have a role to play in reducing poverty? Or is it part of the reason why many countries remain poor in the first place? A Bretton Woods Project report.

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.

Forced by the Supreme Court to make its research public, the agency that claimed to have conducted feasibility studies on interlinking rivers puts out an incomplete document. Sudhirendar Sharma notes, however, that the politics of this mega-project will keep it alive, despite such incompetence and disregard for regulations.

Large water management projects are often announced with much fanfare, but as an audit of Gujarat's implementation shows, they're more likely to steer money towards other ends, and leave the taxpayers holding the bill for the benefits that have been diverted elsewhere. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

Allocations in the annual budget are the real indicators of the government's priorities. It is by studying these that we can really judge how committed the administration is to the goals proclaimed publicly. Jacob John examines Budget 2005 and finds a yawning gap between promises made and the money approved to achieve them.

While some of the handloom sector's troubles come from the relentless march of mechanisation, modernisation and sophistication, there's more to the troubled weavers' plight, says Narasimha Reddy.

The recall of the decommissioned French warship Clemenceau back to France in the wave of protests worldwide opens a great opportunity for India to clean its ship breaking yard in Alang, and improve conditions for its workers. A thorough assessment of facilities at Alang is much needed, notes Ramesh Menon.

Crores of taxpayer rupees are spent by government institutes each year on fisheries technology and research. How much does this impact the lives of the average fish hawkers who vend on foot? Is there any impact at all? M Suchitra visited one Kerala hawker, at a coastal village near Kochi.

India has made cotton fabrics for 20 centuries, and its scale in India was unimaginable. But modern market structures have pushed millions to the edge, and a few intense efforts, such as those of Dastakar Andhra, are not enough to reverse this. Darryl D'Monte reports.

There is an urgent need for reliable and transparent consumer price indices that covers the large majority of Indian families, from the poorest upwards. Kannan Kasturi reports.

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 Kerala government's pet 'Seaplane' project, initiated with minimal homework and impact assessment, has run into stiff opposition from environmentalists and local communities. P N Venugopal reports on the developments.

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.

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.

Responsible governance, economic security for the maximum numbers and ecological sustainability are the three key challenges facing the country today. Ashish Kothari deconstructs the Congress, BJP and AAP manifestos to see what these parties promise on these fronts.

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.

The media frenzy over Narendra Modi’s first 100 days in office is complemented by the cheer in markets, but Devinder Sharma sounds a caveat against judging the performance of the government by the standards of markets alone.

The thrust on ‘smart cities’ by PM Narendra Modi has been impossible to miss since he took over the reins. Sujaya Rathi and Shrimoyee Bhattacharya look at critical considerations to be made at the pilot stage of the evolutionary journey towards such urban centres.

In October 2014, a draft consultation paper from the Planning Commission detailed the many issues faced by India’s handloom sector and the failure of earlier schemes to solve the problems faced by weavers. Elizabeth Soumya summarises key points from the report.

The declining participation of labour force in agriculture could have been treated as a natural, inevitable phase in India's transition towards industrialisation, but for the employment trends visible in the industrial sector. Kannan Kasturi’s analysis captures the real cause for worry.

What could the taxes, allocations and schemes in Arun Jaitley’s budget ultimately mean for the country and its people? Shankar Jaganathan takes a bird’s eye view of the government’s most anticipated annual document for the year.

This summer, stories of the impacts of drought and water scarcity highlighting the conditions of farmers, cattle, and domestic water supplies in villages, towns and cities have been regular. What is not reported is the situation with industries, particularly the coal based thermal power plants, reports Shripad Dharmadhikary.

India claims that Pakistan is stockpiling more nuclear weapons than it needs for minimum deterrence. But this could just turn out to be an excuse for it to do likewise, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

While the procedural track of talks between India and Pakistan may stay on course, nothing significant can be expected to emerge from them, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Outsourcing the policy-making function is bad enough, but the government should certainly not have allowed trespass on its domain by the Naresh Chandra Task Force, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The assault at the Line of Control appears to be a well-planned ambush. It comes at a time when India and Pakistan are tentatively inching closer. It is a message not only to India but also to the Pakistani civilians keen on better relations with India, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

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.

As India takes on the role of a mature power centre in the Indian Ocean region, Firdaus Ahmed wonders if it will stick to its traditional defensive culture or if the move to a rightist polity will bring about a different doctrine altogether.

Our government and the National Security Adviser are promoting 'defensive offence' as India's Pakistan strategy. Firdaus Ahmed explains why that's not the case and that our strategy is more 'offensive-compellence' than 'defensive offence'.

A mega Indian Army exercise aimed at sharpening Army's deep strike capabilities in enemy territory concluded last month in Rajasthan. Firdaus Ahmed analyses why having the strike capabilities in this nuclear age might be a mixed blessing.

Is India shifting its nuclear strategy in a new direction? Firdaus Ahmed analyses what that would mean.

The  two-front war remark made by the Indian Army Chief recently makes Firdaus Ahmed question the usage of nuclear weapons in case of such a war.

Firdaus Ahmed ponders if India’s nuclear weapons are in safer hands or not.

Pokhran-II  happened on May 1998, Firdaus Ahmed writes if nuclear weapons have made us more secure in these last twenty years.

Work zones are an important source of traffic disruptions, and, if not properly managed, can cause both hardship and accidents. But the cost of planning and managing them is often only a tiny portion of the infrastructure costs, and the resultant savings in time can be very high, writes Madhav Pai.

Fundamentally, the challenge of traffic and transport management in any of our large cities is not merely to create more road infrastructure. The more powerful way to tackle the problem is through analysis of road use patterns, and through the creation of transport services based on them, says Ashwin Mahesh.

The Supreme Court's order on the removal of tinted films from vehicles is being implemented across the country, amidst complaints from the public. Navya P K reports.

Compressed Natural Gas is by no means a clear cut winner in the race to find a clean burning fuel for our vehicles. The real solution is in promoting public transport, and better design of our cities, writes Madhav Pai.

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.

Gil Penalosa is an indefatigable evangelist for public transport. In the first of a two-part report, Darryl D’Monte details his observations at a Mumbai presentation on streets as public space and the need to make them pedestrian-friendly.

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.

Darryl D'Monte analyses why the proposed Bullet Train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is not the need of the hour, nor worth the cost.

The Jerdon's Courser is the latest endangered species to be caught in the path of unregulated development. Its habitat in wildlife sanctuaries in Andhra Pradesh is threatened by illegal construction activity within the protected lands, and environmental activists have taken the matter to court. Kanchi Kohli reports.