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.

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.

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.

A local watershed management programme for semi-arid regions staves off bleak prospects in Andhra Pradesh. Rahul Goswami reports.

An environment magazine recently carried a Gujarat government-funded NGO's advertisement portraying vast tracts of Saurashtra and Kachchh supplied with drinking water through pipelines forking off of the Sardar Sarovar Canal. Reports in the print media were telling quite a different story. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

Mere participation as labourers is not enough to mainstream women's concerns in water management. Instead, they must be engaged as partners, whose roles are located in larger social and political structures. Sudhirendar Sharma reviews Flowing Upstream, a collection of essays drawing attention to this distinction.

A Pepsi bottling plant in Kerala is extracting excess groundwater and may be subjecting it to contamination risks, a state government study had reported several months ago. Despite meeting five times, a state assembly committee has not acted. M Suchitra digs deeper.

The second coming of the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh thus has opened the doors for total private control of Godavari waters. Sir Arthur Cotton's legacy is likely to continue without critical examination, writes R Uma Maheshwari.

The extent of submergence of villages and farmland in the Narmada valley under the backwaters of Sardar Sarovar dam increases with successive monsoons. Himanshu Upadhyaya stresses the need for a more realistic and effective look at solutions to the woes of the region.

The belief that slum dwellers convert any structure they are given into another slum is thoroughly disproved in Charkop. There is clearly a sense of community, and each cluster feels proud to maintain the cleanliness of its surroundings, writes Kalpana Sharma.

As the massive disaster in flood-stricken Uttarakhand unfolds, Himanshu Upadhyaya draws attention to the glaring inadequacies in disaster management preparedness and risk reduction in the state, as well as the nation, as exposed by recent audits.

The draft River Basin Management Bill 2012 has been crafted with good intentions but threatens to be counter-productive unless the critical need for decentralisation of power is addressed; a review by Shripad Dharmadhikary.

If you keep water standing in a glass for a while here, it causes a stain around the rim. Pamela Philipose describes the tribulations and ordeal of women in Mamana village of Uttar Pradesh, as they fight to collect potable water everyday.

Much has been written on the inhuman atrocities inflicted on women during the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar and the deplorable conditions in the relief camps. Saumya Uma draws attention beyond these to how the violence has robbed women of their basic rights and voices in myriad ways.

Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts in western Uttar Pradesh had their long standing communal harmony destroyed by the riots that took place there in September 2013. Shoma Chatterji reviews the powerful documentary Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai which looks closely into the how, why and the aftermath of these riots.

As India enters a new monsoon season, Jaideep Hardikar recounts the Chhatisgarh situation where women are increasingly becoming farm managers.

As part of a study on the socio-economic status of women from the ‘Most Backward Castes’, women from the Nayibrahmin or barber community talk of their lives of oppression and deprivation. Akhileshwari Ramagoud recounts their tales.

More than $10 billion a year in U.S. taxpayer subsidies meant to assist house buyers may instead be adding to the profits of lenders. Jack Hough reports on Markets Hub. Photo: Reuters.

Designer Karl Lagerfeld closed his fall 2014 haute couture show with a pregnant model wearing a Baroque-inspired neoprene wedding gown.

Mary Ann Bartels, CIO of portfolio solutions at Merrill Lynch, says low interest rates will continue to support U.S. stocks, and emerging market stock valuations are "the best on the planet."

Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn talks with WSJ Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray about the differences in management style required for different corporate cultures in this excerpt from Tuesday's Viewpoints conversation.

Rana Moitra, a Trinamool Congress polling agent, in Kasba, which falls under the Jadavpur constituency in Kolkata was allegedly beaten up by the Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres during the final phase of polling in West Bengal on Wednesday.

'A majority in Parliament is not necessary to run the government,' says Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap, explaining the legal options before the President once the election results are declared.

Election Commissioner S Y Quarishi on Election 2009 and the challenges many the Election Commission faced.

Water is a big local concern, but at the national level, it does not seem to figure very high up in the considerations of major parties, at least as seen in their pre-election promises. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

Combining provisional voter turnout data and the perceptions of MP performance based on the Daksh-ADR survey, Srinivasan Ramani attempts to make reasonable assessments about what could be behind the high turnouts in this Lok Sabha elections.

While the entire country appeared unimpressed by the Aam Aadmi Party and its promises, Punjab not only sent four of its candidates to the Lok Sabha, but also overcame the rural-urban divide in its mandate for the party. Srinivasan Ramani explores why.

The proactive engagement with business and corporate leaders and the reciprocation in turn indicate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's ability to exploit the superficiality and lack of ideological depth on part of those preoccupied with profit and business isolated from a larger world view, feels Jatin Bhatt

'Unless he engages with the darkness within, unless there is remorse for what happened within his rule, I don't think he is going to be my leader,' says filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in his forthright style.

The iconic London Eye has been turned into a social media "mood ring" for the Olympics games, portraying in a light show the mood of the British people during the games, as interpreted through data analysis of Tweets. WSJ's Andy Jordan reports from London.

Shripad Dharmadhikary critiques the recently released NITI Aayog’s report on Composite Water Management Index.

The central government prefers that large multipurpose storage projects are not converted into run of the river hydro-electric schemes by the states. Not stopping there, at a meeting last year, top officials of the water and power ministries made it clear that they wanted their preference to be binding on all the states. Himanshu Thakkar has more.

In January, the Ratan Tata-chaired Investment Commission green-lighted coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology for India and the goverment appears eager to develop policy to promote CTL. But beyond the pressing demands for energy security and new investment lies a starker reality less seen by the public, notes Sunita Dubey.

A 90-second video put together by a group of women activists demands a pop-up statutory warning on screen every time a woman is assaulted or abused. Shoma Chatterji critiques the video, raising several questions over its content as well as the stance that it takes.

In the recent history of development in India, examples of interconnected success -- in local autonomy, forest rejuvenation and agriculture -- such as this, are rare. For Nagaland, it all started under the stewardship of Achyut Madhav Gokhale. Surekha Sule has it all.

A new scheme launched by PM Narendra Modi envisages development through a model in which every MP chooses a village to develop, with people’s participation. Vikas Jha looks at the numbers and realities to explore the real needs of rural development at the panchayat level.

While defense may be at the heart of security concerns, it is not necessarily the most important sector for security, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Permitting Musharraf to sell the notion that what could not be wrested from India in a decade and half long jihad has been obtained through diplomacy can help with this. Doing so would deflate the legitimacy that jihadi forces seek from their presence in Kashmir, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Pakistan, under pressure in the Global War on Terror (GWOT), has restrained its hand in the proxy war. By most accounts, Kashmir appears headed towards peace. This is the right juncture to approach the issue politically, both in its external and internal plane, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The happenings in Pakistan, which have culminated in the unfortunate assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, are equally portentuous for India. India needs to contain the Pakistani predicament at the border, notes Firdaus Ahmed.

Towering pylons and high tension wires seem to discourage any idea of resistance to environmental destruction in Tehri Garhwal, but the villagers persist. Bharat Dogra reports.

Surendranath C reports on a power project proposal that threatens to put the Kerala biodiversity hotspot at risk.

Until women are provided adequate access to information, both about their rights and available budgetary resources, Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes will only lead to more disempowerment for them, says Madhu Sarin.

In Kerala's Marayoor forest, the sandalwood tree faces an uphill battle against destruction. With politicians implicated in illegal cutting, and forest officals' hands tied by inadequate legislation, the last remaining tract of the fragrant tree in the state faces elimination. Deepa A reports.

Access to and control over media are critical for the survival and sustenance of marginalised rural communities. Yet, this is elusive because media policy-makers rarely concern themselves with this, and focus instead on private and corporate media's expectations, notes Ammu Joseph.

A government panel supports freeing Doordarshan and AIR from having to run socially relevant programming. But what else is public broadcasting for, asks Ammu Joseph, pointing out that all over the world there is growing awareness of the need to keep media honest in serving the public interest.

By framing the debate as one of protecting the 'autonomy' of PSUs from 'microcontrol by government', some pink papers are trying to confuse readers into thinking that CAG audit is a governmental intervention, which it is not. The CAG's role is constitutionally enshrined for ensuring accountability of PSUs, writes Himanshu Upadhyaya.

Agitators in West Bengal have squarely accused the ration dealers of manipulating the supplies of wheat and rice for the open market by selling them at higher prices. Many of the ration dealers are themselves ruling party functionaries presiding over panchayat bodies. Shoma Chatterji has more.

In major finding, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported to Parliament earlier this year that a key objective of the SEZ policy, -- augmenting real exports -- has not only been defeated, but the policy had further resulted in revenue losses of hundreds of crores of rupees. Himanshu Upadhyaya has more.

From wanting CBI-like and CIC-like powers to not being able to push Ministries to learning lessons and more, India's top auditor has time and again rung the bells. Who is listening? Himanshu Upadhyaya on a recent conference.