Over the years, nationalised banks have had to buckle up and polish their looks to serve new generation customers and meet stiff competition from the private sector. But the personal touch, valuable to many customers, has been lost, laments Sudha Narasimhachar a former PSU-banker.

Father Benjamin D'Souza's rain harvesting measures in four acres of the Tallur Church campus in coastal Karnataka have assured zero runoff for the last half a decade and watered neighbouring wells too. Shree Padre reports.

Rainwater harvesting need not be limited to household purposes. It can be successfully implemented to solve water problems in commercial establishments too, as demonstrated by an automobile dealer agency in Mangalore. Shree Padre has more.

Earlier, this tank was providing water for 600 trees only. Now 2000 trees are being irrigated from the tank itself for four months. Shree Padre as another success story, this one from southwestern Karnataka.

In the name of good governance, decision-making powers in Karnataka are being given to parastatal organizations and non-elected task forces. Kathyayini Chamaraj asks for a re-look at outsourcing government.

This is a bill that the Governor of Karnataka sent back to the state government in 2007 saying that it "evidently seems to undermine the Constitutional mechanism for rural development governance.." The same bill may be back in the state assembly soon, warns Nandana Reddy.

It's a classic headline: "Government-funded rainwater harvesting for public schools goes wrong, money wasted". However in one district, the tale is altogether different. Shree Padre records the positives and the lessons.

North Karnataka's flood victims feel that it was relatively easier to run away from raging waters than dealing now with a corrupt bureaucracy and eking out a livelihood fraught with imponderables. Savita Hiremath investigates.

Ankola railway station along the rainy Konkan coast is in a heavy rainfall area yet is suffering from water shortages. Shree Padre reports on half-hearted water harvesting efforts here.

"Trying to measure the success of water harvesting only with increased water level is not fair. The vegetation improves, so does the soil moisture.” Shree Padre reports on an arecanut farming family's success.

Did you know that Titan Industries, the wristwatch major, does safe disposal of 600,000-700,000 of its old watches each year as part of e-waste management? Darryl D'Monte on a recent UN report that highlighted India's massive e-waste challenges and silver linings.

A tigress recently attacked and killed a man inside the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka. Malini Shankar digs deeper to find answers for the inevitable question.

With two decades of continuous research and wise management, this ex-lecturer in Karnataka's Udupi district has made a barren hillock into a model of rain harvesting. Shrikrishna D reports.

Karnataka's Human Rights Commission's work suffers from many weaknesses - the composition, manner of operations, and the lack of force of its recommendations to the Government. Swagata Raha writes.

The unseen impact of corruption on the millions of the deserving poor does not seem to affect our collective conscience. We are losing a great opportunity to show we care, writes R Balasubramaniam.

There is no data at the constituency level about how the development indicators have changed over the tenure of the local elected MLA or MP. Veena Ramanna reports.

Despite a political decision to drop charges against Kannada TV reporter Naveen Soorinje, he continues to remain in prison. A PIL filed soon after the decision has put the case in limbo. Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya tracks and analyses the developments.

Bangalore, once the poster-boy of new age India and its development, is now crumbling, having been sorely let down by the administration and politics of the state. As Karnataka heads for polls, Subramaniam Vincent, discusses the prospects and necessary preconditions for change with independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised Bengaluru world class infrastructure on the eve of elections in Karnataka, recently. Subramaniam Vincent exposed the farce in a letter to him.

A performance audit of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Karnataka reveals delayed payment of wages, sometimes by three months or more, to nearly five lakh workers under the scheme during the period 2009-12. Himanshu Upadhyaya looks at the key audit findings and connects the dots.

Hospital-based Collaborative Child Response Units can go a long way in providing immediate medical attention, minimising secondary trauma, and ensuring that children abused sexually get adequate social support. Vinita A Shetty looks at why these CCRUs are so critical for minor victims.

The Karnataka government’s attempts to reintegrate Naxals into the mainstream through the provision of a surrender and rehabilitation package have met with limited success. Akshatha M reports on the ground realities.

Legal and procedural lapses as well as disregard of critical public submissions are tarnishing the EIA of the proposed Tadadi Port in Karnataka. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act Amendment Committee suggested reforms in the 1993 legislation to realise the ideal of decentralisation in letter and spirit. Nandana Reddy, a core member of the committee, holds the state accountable for the manner in which it has dealt with the report and proposed amendments.

Recent incidents, where sex workers were detained by the police and subsequently forced into a state shelter for beggars, are symptomatic of the continuous harassment faced by them and a basic lack of understanding of their realities. Pushpa Achanta elaborates.

A citizen’s probe unearths a racket in which toxic burnt waste is sold to farmers in the garb of vermicompost; what’s more, the packaging indicates involvement of a composting firm under the government. Shree D N and Akshatha M report from Bengaluru.

Lack of clarity over legal requirements, shoddy implementation and selective approvals have made it extremely difficult for poorer communities to build or maintain their houses in coastal zones. Vinod Patgar describes the situation based on his experience in Karnataka.

The 1200-MW Teesta III hydroelectric project has already seen years of missed deadlines and huge cost overruns, but more serious threats loom ahead as the promoter fights its own internal battles. Soumik Dutta has more on the various problems plaguing the project.

Teesta Urja’s penchant for getting into trouble and illegalities continues unabated. Soumik Dutta reports.

An India Together interview with Nirmalatai Purandare, of the Vanasthali Rural Development Centre.

From water-harvesting to science education to agriculture, Vidnyanvahini's all-round efforts create vibrant communities, and inspire others to pursue similar paths.

Vivek Pandit, anti-bonded-labour campaigner, recounts the the journey his work has taken to free bonded workers in Maharashtra.

Geeta Seshu reports on a recent study that recently looked at decreasing funding for women specific schemes.

The government claims to provide equal opportunities for women, but the traditional power structure and corruption usually ensure the opposite. Aparna Pallavi reports from Ramtek, Maharashtra.

A multimedia curriculum developed by a Mumbai non-profit aims to have students critically explore the relationships between women, beauty and advertising. Geeta Seshu reports.

Rasika Dhavse profiles Arvind Gupta, winner of the National Award for Science Popularisation.

Maharashtra is the first state in India to adopt a reform policy in the water supply and sanitation sector. In Nanded, the first signs of this paradigm shift - from centralised decision-making to allowing village bodies to manage their water - are now evident. Meena Menon reports.

Rajani Mani tracks the spread of watershed development from Ralegan to Panoli in Maharashtra and notes that women have come to play a critical role.

Jaideep Hardikar reports on the precarious monsoon situation at the Narmada valley.

The government machinery has a number of explanations for the deaths of numerous tribal children in Maharashtra's Melghat region. But the adivasis themselves do not identify any of these as the cause of their deaths. Instead they point to the systematic destruction of their traditional livelihood in the name of law and development. Aparna Pallavi reports.

Akanksha began as an idea to give slum children time and space to simply be kids, to laugh and play. It has evolved into a unique learning environment that not only provides opportunities for them to gain employment but also in the process teaches tolerance and a broader view of the world. Jemma Purdey reports.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the BSP devastated the Congress-NCP alliance. In the Maharashtra elections, the Sonia Gandhi factor appears to have bailed the Congress out of big trouble. But this time, the BSP wrecked the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in many places, notes P Sainath.

Offer to build 320,000 houses for slum-dwellers. Deliver only 1146. In two years, only a tiny fraction of the number of houses a Maharashtra government plan called for actually got built. Dilip D'Souza dissects an infamous cross-subsidy fiasco that was born as an election promise.

Many teenagers in Mumbai are spending their evenings on the "untiring toil" of tuitions, trying to learn what their teachers should have been teaching them in junior college but don't. This is a system that unthinkingly takes away these kids' leisure time, says Dilip D'Souza.

Municipalities are outsourcing city waste collection to private contractors. As a result, rag-pickers face a loss of their livelihood, unless the informal sector itself is institutionalised within the hierarchy of solid waste management. Surekha Sule reports.

Why were more than a dozen bills introduced late on the last day of the session, giving legislators no time to even read them? Why was there no debate? Questions are now being asked about how the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill was passed, reports P Sainath.

A new law could put irrigation beyond the reach of most farmers in Vidharbha. Huge hikes in water charges, penalties against farmers with more than two children, and prison terms and large fines for non-payment, all signal the transfer of agriculture to a few rich farmers, observes P Sainath.

A new publication released by a leading UN research organisation shows that municipal water utilities may make efficiency gains and meet increasing water demand by innovative revenue collection and limited private sector participation. Researchers studied 4 cities in Maharashtra. Surekha Sule reports.

In Yavatmal district alone, there's been an eight-fold increase in farmers' suicides in just four years. Yet, thanks to a flawed counting process, even that is a huge under-estimate. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Vidharbha.

Water-starved Vidharbha has a growing number of water parks and amusement centres. The iron laws of rural life don't apply in the entertainment complexes built right next to the poor. In a region that scarcely receives adequate water to meet people's drinking needs, there is plenty of water for the playgrounds of the rich, finds P Sainath.