In today’s world, where everything can be done with a tap of a finger, why not something for the greater common good? That thought has led to the development of Equalize, which as its name suggests, aims to empower individuals to reduce social disparities. Rasika Dhavse-Wadodkar has more.

Inspired by a recently released movie, Shoma Chatterji explores how the lipstick and burkha establishes a woman’s identity in public spaces and liberates them in private.

The backdrop is contemporary India, but the thematic concerns of the film are those of Mahatma Gandhi - the village and the powerless man. Shoma Chatterji reviews Mohandas, Mazhar Kamran's film due for release in February.

Nandita Das's Firaaq is like a celluloid anthology that will carve a niche in the minds of the audience for capturing moving images of the personal anger and anguish at the Gujarat catastrophe, writes Shoma Chatterji.

For more than a decade now, Supriyo Sen has been making his way through awards bestowed for excellence in choice of subject and aesthetics of creative expression, the latest being accorded for Wagah. Shoma Chatterji looks back at his films.

Joshy Joseph's latest film captures the great poet candidly, minus the halo of genius and her achievements. It also marks a defining moment in the director's journey as a documentarist. Shoma Chatterji reports.

"I wanted to show not just a few victims, but to help viewers understand the mechanics and the politics of trafficking and migration," says Ananya Chatterjee. Shoma Chatterji revies Understanding Trafficking.

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.

Set in conditions that are bare in many ways, Bilal defines the purity and the innocence of the child even in the most desperate circumstances. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Bhor is a psycho-social journey into the minds and lives of inmates of a rehab centre, trying to build a world away from the mainstream. Shoma Chatterji reviews the play.

Suman Ghosh's documentary about the Nobel Laureate has not found its way to many screens yet. Nonetheless, it is a noteworthy effort to bring the economist a little closer to the people. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Watching Paan Singh Tomar, which resurrects a forgotten sports hero and his compelling life, Namrata Ganneri can't help but notice what's missing.

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.

Flickering Angels, a moving documentary on the lives of children of imprisoned parents in West Bengal, helps a child of an illegal immigrant caught in tragic circumstances to go back to her homeland. Shoma A Chatterji dwells on the reformative capacity of cinema.

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.

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.

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.

4 Tamarinds and Toffees is a delightful and nostalgic film on two women directed by a young and thoughtful director, 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.

While land reforms and decentralisation in West Bengal have been successful, far less has been achieved in tackling gender disparities and discrimination, says Jayati Ghosh.

There is a surprising hope in the most despairing places. It isn't often that many of us see this, but when we do, we are struck by the determination with which enormous deprivation is tackled by real heroes. Somnath Mukherji encounters the work of Tomorrow's Foundation in Kalighat, West Bengal.

Maternity leave is generally not available to adoptive mothers in India, even though an adoptive mother needs it just as much as a biological mother. The central government recently passed an order reversing this situation in part, thanks to Atmaja, an association of adoptive parents in Kolkata. Ranjita Biswas reports.

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.

Irrespective of the dress they wear, or, their ages, their looks, their educational, professional and marital status, never mind the time or place, women in Kolkata and elsewhere are being subjected to all kinds of harassment, including eve-teasing. Shoma Chatterji peels the layers and exposes myths.

Samir Chanda's Ek Nodir Galpo, which premiered in Kolkata in November 2007, offers the moving experience of a father who makes it his mission to name a river after his dead daughter. His struggle evolves into his way of reinventing his daughter. Shoma Chatterji has more.

A CRY report from Nandigram finds that children's experience of the violence there is intensely personal. Their vocabulary now includes words like shilpo, santrash and proshashon. 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.

At the crux of Ekbalpur's women boxers' passion lies a sense of liberation and recognition that they do not get from anything else. Sudhiti Naskar reports.

Over the years, several thousands have made their way to this Kolkata eatery to feast on authentic local food. It's the star feather in the All Bengal Women's Union's cap. Aditi Bhaduri 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.

Motivated by the media attention in Nandigram, six volunteers of Child Rights and You decided to examine how the urban poor are faring against State-sponsored eviction. 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.

Violence during college union elections, the death of a protesting 22-year-old student in police custody and a resultant chain of events have led to earnest debates in West Bengal over whether students should stay away from active politics. Promona Sengupta explores the reality underlying prevailing sentiments.

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.

Moved by a personal tragedy, young Bengali engineer-turned-actor Bobby Chakraborty has launched a singular campaign to educate schoolchildren about the impact of alcohol and other addiction and deter them from the path. Shoma A Chatterji brings us his story.

In West Bengal, girls are being empowered to refuse early marriage thanks to a state government initiative that enables them to stay longer in school. The Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme has been remarkably successful in curbing child marriage and promoting girl child education, says Saadia Azim.

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.

The tragic reversal of roles is the result of national policies that have neglected agriculture and farming in the wake of globalisation, says Devinder Sharma.

Developing countries must take a collective stand on 'Zero-Tolerance to Subsidies' to protect their agriculture, 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.

Biofortification is no cure for hunger. Devinder Sharma says boosting nutrients in various crops isn't going to make them any more affordable for the poor.

The negative terms of trade against agriculture have to be turned around if the country is keen to emerge from the hunger and poverty trap, says Devinder Sharma.
Q&A on the Minimum Support Pricing policy

A new publication from the Delhi-based Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security. (40 pages)

Removal of agricultural subsidies should be a pre-requisite to further movement on the WTO agricultural negotiations, says Devinder Sharma.

Devinder Sharma points out the deeper flaws in the thinking behind Budget 2004-5.

According to the European Union's plans for agricultural reforms, subsidies received by farmers will now become their entitlement until 2013. The big businesses that get most of these subsidies are quite happy; meanwhile the subsidies continue to create starvation and death in the developing world, notes 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.

How can 'drastic cuts' in trade subsidies lead to no reduction? Simple: fudge the language. Economic jugglery and clever wording cannot, however, conceal the horrible effects of US and EU subsidies on livelihoods and food security in the developing world. Devinder Sharma urges the G-20 to simplify the terms of trade.

For the sixth time in a row, the trade ministers of the developing world have been duped to believe that agricultural trade is for development. Despite making loud noises and fuming over injustice, the faulty framework that underlies the WTO remains very much in place, says Devinder Sharma.