An ancient matrilineal tribe of northeast India has a thriving culture and an increasing population, while a similarly ancient Dravidian matrilineal tribe is in danger of vanishing. Linda Chhakchhuak reports on what the Dravidian tribe can learn from the northeastern tribe to revive its culture and population.

An India Together radio program featuring Professor Jagdeep Chhokar of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad on the new anti-criminalization rules for India's elections.

This India Together radio program features a talk by well known women's rights lawyer Flavia Agnes. She speaks on the current critical juncture for women and the women's movement.

The Government of India's draft community radio (CR) policy proposes to allow NGOs and other non-profit organisations to run low power radio stations with limited advertising. The policy is expected to go to the Cabinet for approval soon, but CR advocates and broadcasters are keeping their fingers crossed, notes Surekha Sule.

A recent report from environmental research group Toxics Link exposes how multinationals are flagrantly violating the MoEF-notified rules on e-waste, even as the authorities empowered to enforce implementation remain passive. Richa Malhotra details the key findings.

It will be a mistake to view the WSF merely as a platform for those dispossessed and displaced by market-driven globalization, says Rajni Bakshi.

World Bank funding of development projects in Andhra Pradesh is criticized by rights activists in the state who argue that conditions for the poor are worsening.

Jobless growth and regional imbalances have collectively spurred migration, and this is the larger malaise behind recent mass murders on ethnic lines, says Swati Narayan.

V Jagan Mohan says that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) can be the vehicles for rural credit in a reforms era.

The Thanjavur region in TN is currently an economy in distress. Lalitha Sridhar captures the voices, concerns and the many questions.

With small coir manufacturers in Kerala unable to modernise their processes, their loss has become Tamilnadu's gain, reports P N Venugopal.

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

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.

Village economies are increasingly unable to adjust to the forces of globalisation, which is capital-intensive, and has a large urban footprint. Aparna Pallavi reports on a meeting to address the challenges villages face, and the suggestions thrown up by participants confident that the challenges can be met.

Even though caste barriers are far less visible in the Chingrajpara slum than in the villages its residents came from, how far one goes is still a function of where in the hierarchy one starts. Yet for many migrants, arrival in this Bilaspur, Chhatisgarh slum is the first rung on the ladder of upward mobility. Ashima Sood concludes SLUM DIARIES.

Financial audits of public undertakings can be conducted as in other firms, but how about audits of their administration? Himanshu Upadhyaya observes that the government's move to limit the CAG's mandate confuses financial scrutiny with oversight of governance issues, and the public auditor's role in the latter function is still vital.

The Kerala government gives the entertainment industry a huge tax break, by reducing dues from the operations of amusement parks. With no political party interested in opposing the drain on the treasury, taxpayers will be left to foot the bill for this largesse, note M Suchitra and P N Venugopal.

Can we be a 'rich' people without doing any of the things that 'rich' countries now do, without the foundations on which they built their progress? That's an important question - because if the answer is no, then our current path to prosperity is in vain, and won't forestall another few decades of poverty and all-round deprivation. The India Together editorial.

The establishment's appetite for large dams diminished marginally in the late nineties, but encouraged by the World Bank's low-key decision to restart funding, Indian governments are ready to start building again. But are large dams worth the expenditure? Tarun Jain and Ashima Sood report on the findings of a new research paper.

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.

With their long history of affiliation to political parties, unions have been unable to articulate the interests of workers independently. Also, a narrow understanding of labour has made them irrelevant to the majority of workers in the unorganised sector. A new formation proposes to tackle these failures. Aparna Pallavi reports.

In a few seconds, advertisers tell us stories from a fairy-tale world of the strongest, whitest, coolest and simply the best. And alas, like most fairy-tales, advertisements are often false. How can consumers be better informed? Varupi Jain talked with VOICE, a New Delhi-based consumer rights non-profit.

India has only 5,100 Industrial Training Institutes and 1,745 polytechnics compared to 5,00,000 similar institutes in China. The USA boasts of 1500 trade training programmes compared to India's 171. A national conference in Delhi this February recommended measures to bridge the yawning gap between growth and jobs, reports Varupi Jain.

Moments after a customer approaches this cart, the vendor pours tender coconut juice into a funnel-like part. Chilled juice comes out of a stainless steel tap below, filling a 250 ml glass, for Rs.10. Shree Padre reports about Fruit Hut Beverages, a Hyderabad-based firm that has launched the Coco Fresco brand.

A number of implicit and explicit constraints influence the extent to which carts and kiosks work as avenues of creative entrepreneurship. Varupi Jain compares the Indian scenario with that in the US, and notes cultural and social realities that shape the Indian experience.

The origins of today's law for land acquisition for SEZs act can be traced to 1824, when the British colonial power felt the need to codify the undisguised forcible seizure of land. While colonial rule has long gone, the unjust application of the principle of eminent domain remains, writes Kannan Kasturi.

Against the wishes of the local people, and even the State government, a salt factory is proposed to be established on land that has been used freely by 20,000 villagers for decades. In the face of shifting politics, the residents are determined that they will protect their livelihoods. Aparna Pallavi reports.

The Indian economy is creating millions of varied job opportunities. Despite this, scores of educated youth are not readily employable and face a grim future. Companies are struggling to find and retain talent. Ramesh Menon on the challenges.

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.

The newly announced country assistance strategy for India is the continuation of what the World Bank has been pushing in this country and elsewhere in the last 15 years or so years, with nothing to show for it, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

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.

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.

The 260-km Sharda Sahayak canal took 32 years to complete, and cost almost 20 times the original estimate. It irrigates only half the area it was supposed to, and has created untold suffering along its path. Puja Awasthi reports.

In the old days, government was responsible for controlling inflation. Now if you feel the pinch of inflation, you have to fend for yourself, and especially because everyone is so busy looking after you, writes Pratap B Mehta.

The government's new plans to boost manufacturing in the country look quite similar to its earlier promises made when SEZs were set up. But there are a few lessons to be learned from that experiment, writes Kannan Kasturi.

The principal contribution of the Malkha initiative is in its idea of rooting cotton handloom production in the rural economy, much against the trend in urban discourses. Neeta Deshpande reports.

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.

Given our Constitutional mandate to "endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities," Shankar Jaganathan explains why reintroduction of the Inheritance Tax may be a step worthy of serious consideration.

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 benefits of providing access to energy and lighting to increasing numbers of the populace are indisputable, but many of the current initiatives to provide cleaner energy rely on corporate partnerships. Darryl D'Monte examines its pros and cons vis-à-vis an alternative model.

With the paradigm of projecting profits as the sole end of business steadily on the wane, Darryl D'Monte reports on developments in the Indian financial sector that indicate a growing thrust on sustainability and social responsibility.

The agreement between the Kandla Port Trust in Gujarat and the Adani Port & Special Economic Zone Ltd appears set to be passed without the kind of environment impact assessment mandated for an eco-sensitive zone such as this. Kanchi Kohli reports.

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.

The findings of a recent study by scholars at the University of Oxford point to the adverse outcomes and poor economic returns associated with large dam projects. Amruta Pradhan summarises the findings and shows how they have been consistently borne out by empirical observations in Maharashtra.

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.

Several recent studies bring out the abysmal deprivation from entitlements among India’s vast internal migrant population. Shambhu Ghatak throws light on the problems faced by migrants and explores if the UID can indeed live up to its promise of making mobility a smoother process.

The excitement leading up to the budget was almost feverish, but it turned out to be a staid affair in the end. Here's a round-up of some of the key provisions of Arun Jaitley’s maiden budget, presented in Parliament on 10 July.

The erstwhile UPA government’s Food Security Act, now set to be implemented by the present government, could mean unendurable strain for the country’s public distribution framework. P V Rajeev spells out better alternatives to explore.