The disaster in Uttarakhand cannot be viewed as a result of isolated factors such as faulty governance or flawed environmental policy. It calls for a more holistic and deeper look at the entire range of issues that are endemic to the mountain region, writes R. Uma Maheshwari

Financial irregularities, a probable political conflict of interest and unsavoury social impact have thrown a cloud over the potential of Sikkim’s casino industry, once envisioned to attract revenues for the state from gaming tourism. Soumik Dutta reports.

Most Indian languages do not have a specific word for the female traveller. The traveller is by definition male, a fact that provokes Namrata R Ganneri to delve deeper into the gendered nuances of travel and its implications for women.

The framework for assessing the environmental impact of new projects has in the past served to merely facilitate projects getting started. It was hoped that revisions proposed recently would change that, but there is little evidence of a new course, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

Researchers conduct experiments to study Kaushik Basu's idea that only bribe-takers should be punished, and get insight that may help anti-corruption efforts. Tarun Jain reports.

Humanity has collectively crossed the limits necessary for ecological sustainability. Ashish Kothari argues for a sustainable consumption line that would ensure individuals and communities do not partake of resources in a way that deprives others or endangers the environment further.

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.

The environmental benefits accruing from green buildings and living spaces are widely known, but it is often inertia that prevents the adoption of these alternatives. Chandrashekar Hariharan discusses a few easy steps that could foster greener urban infrastructure.

Lijjat Papad does not turn its women into millionaires, but its the realization of dignified self-employment that is its success, says Arun Srivastav.

As tea estates are closing down, 70,000 plantation workers in Kerala face joblessness. M Suchitra and M P Basheer report from Peermade.

Craftspersons must be equal partners in the production, marketing of crafts and in deciding the government policy says Jasleen Dhamija.

Rasika Dhavse summaries a study on bus transport systems from India's Auto Fuel Policy report of 2002.

Why is it that large expenditure on food subsidy in India does not achieve more in reducing undernourishment? At a New Delhi public hearing earlier this year, Dr. Amartya Sen addressed this question.

Does the IMF have a role to play in reducing poverty? Or is it part of the reason why many countries remain poor in the first place? A Bretton Woods Project report.

A community-based microcredit programme attempts to revive the economy of coastal Kerala's villages. Prathapan B reports.

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.

Hyderabad has been seeing a spurt in construction activity whose benefits are not exactly trickling down to daily wage workers. Safia Sircar finds out why.

infraSys, a development-driven enterprise that creates physical, financial, and knowledge infrastructure in rural areas.

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.

Colonel Pavan Nair studies the allocations for defence and development efforts, and asks what's needed to reach even the modest standards of Brazil or Sri Lanka.

Solutions to crises in the informal economy should encourage entrepreneurship, but also recognise that a large portion of the shadow economy is downgraded labour.

An audit of construction contracts handled by the Rajasthan irrigation department finds that expenditure often exceeds budgets and bypasses rules. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

M P Ranjan suggests pro-active design and dynamic institutions for craftspersons to cope in a rapidly changing world.

The hike in defence spending is one of the reasons Budget 2004 did not do enough justification for development expenditure, says Pavan Nair.

A government task force has recently made a series of tax and revenue recommendations designed to restore the nation's fiscal health. Ashwin Mahesh reports.

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

Among the traders at the crowded Crafts Bazaar in Secunderabad, the struggle for survival and economic security seems to be the only noticeable thing. But in some ways, their worries are those of ordinary merchants everywhere, thanks in part to Mahila Sanatkar. Safia Sircar reports.

The April 2005 deadline for a nationwide Value Added Tax regime is only months away. But what exactly is on the cards, and what will it achieve? Dinkar Ayilavarapu considers the rationale for the shift, and finds that many of the goals have been whittled away already.

The Kerala government complains that nearly all its revenue is used to pay the salaries of government employees. Why, then, is the government busy adding new members to its recruiting agency? P N Venugopal notes the contradictions, as the government's finances slide further into the red.

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.

45 km south of Nagapattinam, the 26 December tsunamis washed away thousands of tonnes of stock salt at the Vedaraniam salt pans, filled them with debris and black silt. With government relief coverage withdrawn and the start of the season missed, manufacturers are in despair. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

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.

Despite notoriously variable and low earnings, close to 30% of the male population in Bilaspur's Chingrajpara slum are cycle-rickshaw pullers. Third in the SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood cuts across boundaries to chronicle the forces impinging on the pullers' livelihoods.

The first few weeks of the Value Added Tax have been shaky, with traders and some states threatening to bring down the whole system. Economic pundits too are angry at the diluted focus of India's version of the VAT. But the method has merit, and must be persisted with, notes Dinkar Ayilavarapu.

In Bilaspur's Saturday vegetable market, loaders complain of interminable waits each day to receive payments as low as Rs 5 from traders and vendors. In this fourth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that a plethora of labour laws are being flouted, with Chhatisgarh's minimum wages schedule not helping.

Allocations in the annual budget are the real indicators of the government's priorities. It is by studying these that we can really judge how committed the administration is to the goals proclaimed publicly. Jacob John examines Budget 2005 and finds a yawning gap between promises made and the money approved to achieve them.

Although the government has spent large sums of money tackling problems, most social and economic indicators in the country are far short of the goals. Jaydeep Biswas and Debashish Sircar say we need better interim assessments of how money is spent, and social infrastructure to complement physical nation-building.

At Cochin's Special Economic Zone, independence is a forgotten ideal. Here, as in other SEZs, the government has long treated native soil as territorial possessions of foreign nations, exempt from taxes, rules and safeguards that apply elsewhere. The only losers are the workers. P N Venugopal reports that now this charade is being expanded.

The vendors and hawkers of the Chingrajpara slum in Bilaspur are the lynchpin of the slum’s homespun economy. In this seventh article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that operating on small capital outlays, these petty retailers offer a humbling portrait of entrepreneurship in action.

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.

Today there is much more space for the idea that we can succeed in the market-place as social and moral beings not merely as slaves to some supply and demand curves, says researcher Rajni Bakshi, author of Bapu Kuti. She spoke on socially responsible investing at the National Stock Exchange, Mumbai, on the NSE Annual Day, October 21st, 2005.

Does the World Bank advocate development, or is it simply a money-lender pushing its loan packages? For too long, the distinction has been blurred, allowing the Bank to make self-serving recommendations. Sudhirendar Sharma notes the latest instance of this as the Bank pushes into water sector reforms in India.

There is now mounting hope that micro finance can be a large scale poverty alleviation tool. Banks too are shedding their old reluctance to lend to the poor, and are looking to tap the expertise of micro credit groups to create a new market. Ramesh Menon reports on the status quo and the challenges ahead.

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.

A traditional rural residence is almost always based on adaptations to the local environment, and is often built with the labour of the villagers themselves without the need for external mechanised inputs. Surekha Sule reports on the Rural Building Centre, a NIRD initiative showcasing several such homes.