When women, of whatever class, are forced by circumstance to migrate, they expose themselves to new forms of violence and exploitation. A new UN report terms trafficking of women as migration 'gone bad' and the 'underside' of globalisation, notes Kalpana Sharma.

Meghalaya's vocational training system, despite being funded by New Delhi as well as the state government, has two problems. One, there is dearth of adequate number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). Two, the placement record is poor and does not generate demand. Ratna Bharali Talukdar finds out what went wrong.

India is at a turning point and needs a holistic education system to meet the requirements and expectations of various existing and emerging sectors. Unless there is a revamp, our youngsters have a bleak future, says Ramesh Menon

The finance minister’s dream of extending social security cover to all unorganised workers in the country is a lofty one undoubtedly, but Kathyayini Chamaraj identifies the many gaps in the existing law that need to be addressed for that dream to be realised.

It is tragic that the new Amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) (CLPR) Act, 2016, which has a seemingly progressive framework, has been largely diluted by chicanery, opines Kathyayini Chamaraj.

World's largest ship-breaking yard at Alang is crumbling as the EU Commission and the Supreme Court are now putting pressure to get them to create modern environmentally friendly facilities. If they do not do it, the graveyard of ships will die says Ramesh Menon.

This is the first part of a three part series on child labour in Kerala by Navya P K, who is reporting on this topic for PII-­UNICEF Media Fellowship, which was awarded to her recently.

Cases on child labour or trafficking are rarely filed by the labour department and police. Even when cases are filed, offenders get away quickly. Navya P K reports.

Kerala lacks a system to rehabilitate migrant child labourers. Navya P K finds out how rescued children are sent off to their home districts, and then forgotten.

While many know him as Gandhi's secretary and translator of his autobiography, few have a real sense of the role Mahadev Desai played in the Mahatma's life. Venu Madhav Govindu finds an intimate and tender portrait of a man and his intensely lived life, in the Sahitya Akademi award winning biography by his son, The Fire and the Rose.

With repeated renamings over the changing course of political history, Indian street names contain many layers of the nation's history. Ramachandra Guha uncloaks some of the more prominent of these, finding memories of this history along arterials and side streets.

"The Constitution is yours. The borders are yours. The sovereignty is yours. The flag is yours. What is ours? What is that is both tribal and Indian in the Constitution?" Shiv Visvanathan recalls an Independence-era conversation that marks the passage of the adivasis, unheard and unheeded, between two worlds.

The centenary of admitting Dalit children into public schools in Kerala is an opportunity to remember Ayyankali, whose leadership of the movement isn't part of mainstream history. A proper retelling of this history is now the responsibility of a new generation of historians, writes N P Chekkutty.

"If we really love Andrews' memory," said Gandhi when his close friend passed away, then "we may not have hate in us for Englishmen, of whom Andrews was among the best and noblest." Ramachandra Guha visits his grave.

Harishchandrachi Factory is a wonderful account that traces the man who made history as much as the first film he made, marking a milestone forever. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Shyam Benegal's film on Subhash Chandra Bose is characterised as much by the patriotism that brought young men in hundreds to join their hero, as by its documentation of history. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Mohun Bagan's famous victory over East Yorkshire Regiment was a historic moment in British India, blending revolution and sport on the field of play. Shoma Chatterji reviews Arun Roy's film about this great game.

Darryl D'Monte talks about his recent participation in a discussion on Nayantara Sahgal's book on Nehru, which delves into Nehruvian policies, his cherished dreams, his lasting legacy and its importance in today's time.

Child Relief and You works with NEWS to set up a hostel for gypsy children, so their education does not become hostage to their parents' migrations.

With tens of thousands still displaced over a week since the Tsunami disaster, some schools are yet to reopen and others are seeing low attendance. And as children wait anxiously in TN relief camps, more awe-inspiring stories are emerging. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

A multi-state campaign to draw attention to the adverse effect of agriculture and trade policies on sugarcane farmers has just ended. Padmalatha Ravi spoke with farmers and campaign coordinators in Tamilnadu, and traces the growth and decline of agricultural families' fortunes around this crop.

In what was seen as a major step forward for the reproductive rights of women, emergency contraceptives became available over the counter from September 2005. But last month, the Tamilnadu government's drug controller seized stocks from Chennai's pharmacies responding to protests. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

Government schools are unable to deliver quality education in most cases. This has prompted some to argue for vouchers - coupons from the government to be given to parents that would let them admit their children in private schools instead. Krithika Ramalingam reports on a movement that is gathering steam.

New Delhi's two months time for feedback on its draft Coastal Management Zone notification expired on 8 July. Activists say the proposed law will make way for beach-front villas and water-front recreation parks and do little to protect the rights of fisherfolk and the environment. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

Papri Sri Raman

Stone quarries, brick kilns, sand mining and silk weaving are stealing SC/ST children out of school in Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts of Tamilnadu. Krithika Ramalingam reports on the hard reality these children face.

The odds of children in villages in Krishnagiri district, Tamilnadu, making it to college are one per cent, ten times below the low national average. Some interventions are helping, finds Krithika Ramalingam as she records the many realities here.

The desire for quality education for all children is noble and surely one shared by all. But Tamilnadu's Samacheer Kalvi makes that more difficult, writes Parth Shah.

While jackfruit farmers across India lament the lack of fair compensation, one farmer in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu earns an income of two lakh rupees a year from his unique and succulent “Maharajapuram” variety. Shree Padre brings us his story.

Stem rust, the worst of the three rusts that afflict wheat plants, has made a comeback. Wheat crops in Africa have been at its mercy and the fungus has already broken into the middle-east. India is directly in its path, scientists predict. Sudhirendar Sharma has more.

Almost one in every two children under three years of age is hungry. This is the invisible half of our population, people who disappear from our consciousness until they die in large numbers, writes Kalpana Sharma.

As food prices rise around the world, the political economy of food is being rewritten, with countries and companies moving to acquire large tracts of farmland around the world to secure their interests, notes Devinder Sharma.

The National Food Security Act proposes to lower ration prices, but also reduce the quantity of grain that is given to each family. Devinder Sharma suggests a Zero Hunger programme instead.

India's food security bill is on top of the negotiating agenda for the forthcoming WTO Conference at Bali. Devinder Sharma explains why the likely compromise in the face of posturing from developed countries could have serious ramifications for food security and self-sufficiency.

An increasing number of farmers from across the country are flocking to the annual rice sharing festival in Tamil Nadu, where a whopping number of traditional rice seed varieties are exchanged and subsequently cultivated in different locales. Devinder Sharma reports from the 2014 event.

Ironically at a time when food shortage is being widely perceived as a potential global concern in the near future, policymakers seem to be doing everything that would take agriculture further down the path of ruin. Devinder Sharma highlights the findings of a recent NSSO report to substantiate that.

Amongst the various models for sustainable livelihoods being tried and tested in the tribal areas of India, the Wadi model has shown a lot of promise. Abhijeet Mohanty, Kieran Robson and Rosie Clarkson find out why and how the Wadi model is doing in the tribal areas of Koraput district of Odisha.

On Constitution Day, E S Ramamurthy describes how our government is failing in its primary duties of raising the level of nutrition and the improvement of public health as prescribed in our Constitution and thereby creating a nation of malnourished children.

The proposed National ID should be a backbone upon which governance and economic development rest comfortably, rather than merely a tool for auditing schemes, writes Ashwin Mahesh.

Technology-only approaches to addressing the problems of 'hidden hunger' are missing the point completely, says Devinder Sharma.

The hype that surrounded the introduction of Bt Cotton has now predictably proven false, says Devinder Sharma.

India's position is opaque, based on incomplete research, and unresponsive to public health and food security issues. Dr. Suman Sahai lists recommendations from a national symposium.

A New Delhi based non-profit organization has filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court against commercialisation of GM crops until a sound regulatory and monitoring system is put in place.

India Together

The Green Revolution was a publicly owned technology, but the current version is its opposite; processes, products, and research methodologies are caged in patents and the farmer has little say or control. But chasing nuclear stardom, India has once again sacrificed agriculture, writes Suman Sahai.

How does one countenance a regulator that does not adhere to the law of the land and is also unable to protect the interest of one group against another? The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, says Bhaskar Goswami, itself needs to be regulated to ensure it plays a balanced role.

Following Gene Campaign's challenge to the government's decision to withdraw all existing regulatory oversight over the import of GE foods, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre, writes Suman Sahai.

The Bt gene in brinjal does not increase productivity. But what it is surely about to do is bring India's first genetically altered food crop to your dining table. And there are lots of reasons why this should worry you, writes Devinder Sharma.

Any discussion of GM crops must take place within the larger framework of the indispensable need to promote biodiversity and set up agricultural policies linked to this need, writes Sujatha Byravan.

As debates around genetically modified (GM) mustard pick up in India, Shalini Bhutani takes a look at the neglected diversity of the oilseed mustard crop on native farmers’ fields and points to the bias of the existing law.