POSCO's attempt to separate the mining, steel plant and port components in getting environmental and forest clearances from the central government has been wrong-footed by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court. The committee took a wholistic view, but several concerns remain, says Kanchi Kohli.

Resistance to large projects is founded on many fears and objections. Key among them is loss of access to water. Without proper consideration of the water impacts of development plans, public acceptance of these projects will remain elusive, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

The recession in the West is having a profound impact on the deep rural interior of Orissa. Thousands are returning home, writes P Sainath.

Once-young fighters from Sri Lanka are now mostly family men entrenched in Malkangiri town. The way the one-time, once-brash warriors have woven themselves into the community is touching, writes P Sainath.

Ganjam migrants in Surat send home Rs. 400 crore a year, a fourth of that through the unique Tappawala courier system. But global recession has seen remittances take a hit, writes P Sainath.

Ganjam has been a high-migration district from British times. For two decades, the bulk of its labour force has gone to Surat, but that is changing now, writes P Sainath.

Environmentalist Ashish Kothari discusses the politics behind the approval of the POSCO project, and how the FRA is faring in Odisha, in conversation with Pradeep Baisakh.

There is wide-spread failure in safeguarding the rights of forest communities protected under the Forest Rights Act. State and Central Governments are complicit in diluting it. Tushar Dash reports.

The report of the Roy Paul Committee set up by the MoEF to examine and act on the earlier judgment of the Green Tribunal recommends several studies and assessments, but few of those seem to have been considered in the most recent appraisal. Kanchi Kohli reports.

With numerous court cases, regulatory rulings and pending environmental clearances behind it, the South Korean steel major POSCO still persists with its plans in India. Kanchi Kohli looks at the latest in the case and wonders why.

Rejection of regularisation of mines operating beyond lease areas, and compensation for other violations being used for tribal welfare are among the recommendations of a recent report on mining in the state. Kanchi Kohli places the key points in context.

Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of certain tribal villages in Koraput district of southern Odisha that have successfully overcome the challenges posed by denudation and inadequate irrigation and have etched out a path towards food security and well-being.

The women of Gunduribadi, a small tribal village in Odisha, go out daily for thengapalli or forest patrolling around their village. They are also members of their Forest Protection Committee which decides how to manage the forest and its resources. Sonali Pattnaik spent a day with these sentinels of Gunduribadi to find out how this movement has restored the forest and empowered the villagers.

In spite of the development and welfare plans and programs implemented since Independence, the tribals of our nation remain the most marginalised group. There are many valid reasons for this as Abhijit Mohanty finds out when he looks into the existing Tribal Sub Plan funds and what's happening with it.

Himanshu Upadhyaya examines a CAG audit report to point out the blatant non-compliance of environmental laws largely by the Forest officials.

In response to the devastating floods in Gujarat, state officials were quick to point fingers at activists who have long opposed raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada. And even though their claims were clearly off-track, at least one publication thought it fit to repeat them. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

As 'limited war' doctrine evolves to 'limited nuclear war', the strategic necessities as well as their implications for the polity must be repeatedly examined, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The key challenge facing the security apparatus at all levels is to combat the idea that while carrying out their duties the armed forces can act outside the scope of the law, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Conventional wars are passé, but the military planning for conflict is still rooted in the past. Meanwhile, human security does not get the deserved attention. Firdaus Ahmed wonders how this can win or keep the peace.

The new army chief, Lt. General J J Singh, has drawn much attention as the first Sikh to head the army. More interesting than this sidelight, however, is the fact that he takes office at a time of great opportunity for peace, as political relations with Pakistan have taken a small turn for the better. Firdaus Ahmed welcomes the new commander.

Mani Shankar Aiyar fails on two counts - his poor arguments for secularism, as well as his scant attention to his party's role in creating the economic conditions for communalism. Ashwin Mahesh reviews Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist.

On June 29, about 50 press conferences were held across the globe to publicise the names of the 1,000 women from 153 countries jointly nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. The Nobel Committee in Oslo had received the nominations in January 2005. Kamla Bhasin narrates the story.

The spurt in communal violence along the south-western coast has led to intensive searches for solutions. Some social activists see the answer in the old tradition of kadalkotis, sea courts with strong roots in tradition that kept peace among diverse faiths for centuries. N P Chekkutty reports.

Developments in Manipur seem to indicate that our infrastructure planners are proposing security costs to construction of large dams on the back of strategic risks analysis. This, even though they may not have embraced a sensitivity to undertake geological/ecological risk analysis itself, finds Himanshu Upadhyaya.

That Ex Sanghe Shakti concluded in the plains of Punjab without much ado indicates the determination of both India and Pakistan to keep temperatures below the now usual levels of the summer campaign in Kashmir. However, this positive should not cloud the questionable premises of Ex Sanghe Shakti, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

For too many of us, the killings of terrorists have come to characterise an entire religion, and taint everybody who follows it. In the Muslim areas of Bombay, residents deal with the feeling that an entire city, an entire country, maybe the whole world, sees them as responsible for terrorism, writes Dilip D'Souza.

Voices for peace are plentiful as well as poignant, but even when there is considerable coverage of a conflict, we almost never read of any of these. There is resistance within the media to the idea of 'peace journalism'; opponents believe 'objectivity' would suffer if the media pursued indisputably worthy goals like peace, writes Ammu Joseph.

Film-makers are finding new ways to get around the difficulties of their new environment - the loss of state patronage, subtle self-censorship in the media, and the taboos of mainstream society. They're putting the new IT world to work promoting their films, and setting up their own events to find their audience. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The army may have delivered on its mandate of ensuring the return of an environment more conducive to law and order since more than a decade, in Kashmir. But the recent spate of suicides and fratricides within are showing that the army is under stress, a slide that the political side can and must prevent, says Firdaus Ahmed.

India claims that with the recent nuclear cooperation deal it has inked with the US, the global order has been changed. And it is right. It has upset the non-proliferation regime and re-configured forces, possibly leading to a renewed arms race, writes Sandeep Pandey.

A conference on nuclear disarmament and peace reminds us of the world's forgotten commitment to disarmament. Speakers at the event also debunked a number of claims that governments usually make in support of their militaristic and geo-political objectives. Aparna Pallavi reports.

An Expert Group in the Planning Commission calls for a more development-led approach to people's resistance, and a renewed commitment by the State to the democratic system. K S Subramanian says a lot of people should read the report.

There has been a massive erosion in public confidence in our criminal justice system. There have been numerous commissions set up to suggest improvements, but nothing much has come of these, writes C V Madhukar.

A future government that is without the check of a strong opposition could strike out on a course that is markedly divergent from India's past record of abstinence from geo-political conflicts, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Plenty of criticism has been levelled at excess use of force and abuse of human rights by the Army in Manipur. And yet, with much infighting and corruption, insurgents themselves have lost the moral high ground, writes Surekha Sule.

Arguing against the nuclear enclave and its retainers is a kind of national service, and we must press on, no matter how futile it may appear at times, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Circumstances surrounding the death of alleged terrorist Khalid Mujahid in UP underline how sloppy investigations and a bias for emotion instead of facts have dented the credibility of the fight against terror. Puja Awasthi fears that such half truths will only feed the evil of terrorism further.

As the spectre of communal violence raises its ugly head yet again in the build-up towards elections, India Together talks to Ramachandra Guha to explore the threats to the secular imagination in India and the hopes for religious pluralism in the democracy.

As the world mourns the loss of one of history's most remarkable leaders, Devaki Jain reminisces the occasions when she met Nelson Mandela and dwells on the qualities that set him apart.

The calling off of talks between India and Pakistan is being attributed to the latter’s interactions with separatists, with an extended reference to incursions along the LoC. Firdaus Ahmed digs beyond the obvious to highlight the more likely cause behind the move.

The International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21 every year, has little meaning for people living in conflict areas. Like the Manipuri women, Anjulika Thingnam talks to, who feel that decades-old violence in Manipur has not only increased but taken many different forms.

In light of events in Pathankot, Firdaus Ahmed analyses Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, given to the military brass last month at the Combined Commanders’ conference aboard the INS Vikramaditya, on the way forward with Pakistan.

The SC recently ruled that a 19-year-old Chandigarh-based mentally retarded girl must be allowed to carry on her pregnancy that was caused by sexual assault. The verdict throws open more questions than it answers, writes Kamayani Bali Mahabal.

The findings of a 2012 Lancet study on death by suicide in India reveal the alarming trend of suicide among those under the age of 29. Comparing the Lancet figures with NCRB data, Shambhu Ghatak highlights the real extent of the problem and identifies some of the key causes.

While any act of self-killing is tragic and worthy of attention, one cannot help wonder why the proportion of male suicides in the country steadily rises with age. Take a look at the stark and sustained picture revealed by the data published by the NCRB.

What happens to the mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives of the Muslim men who are rounded up, rightly or wrongly, for being terrorists? From society to media, none listens to the voices of these women, the results of which could be dangerous finds Puja Awasthi.

Days before Telangana goes to polls, Venugopalrao Nellutla examines the lack of exuberance and the dilemmas among people in the region, even as they look ahead to statehood and their own government in weeks from now.

Widely labelled as the first of its kind, the Intensive Family Survey conducted in Telangana on 19 August gave rise to a range of speculations, and predictably drew its share of brickbats and bouquets. Venugopalrao Nellutla seeks to decipher the real motives and usefulness of the survey.

With the news increasingly slanted towards the rich, public health takes a back-seat while the concerns of the few are overblown. SARS is the first of many signs in the media of this disparity, says P Sainath.

Rajasthan is getting ready for a mass installation of fluoride filters on water handpumps in over 23000 villages. The state's drinking water has dangerously high fluoride levels. But the government's reliance on pumps may cause more harm than good, asserts Deepak Malik.