Summary
Contents
This collection analyzes and assesses the complexities of contemporary India's socio-economic reality from multiple perspectives. The contributors comprise eminent thinkers and grassroot activists from diverse fields like the judiciary, social development, environment, education, contemporary science, and art. Unlike the bulk of available literature on emerging India, which focuses mainly on the positives, these articles posit contrary views, necessary for a balanced, objective understanding of the issues.
The Other India: Realities of an Emerging Power talks of an India far removed from the India of glass and steel high-rises and air-conditioned schools; glistening malls and multiplexes; and fashion shows, Bollywood, and T20 cricket. It explores issues like the role of spirituality in social justice, conflicts associated with false religious identities including terrorism, the dangers of mindless destruction of nature and the consequent disempowerment of people dependent upon it, and so on. In this volume, dispassionate analysis of history and contemporary forces alternate with straight-from-the-heart narratives of grassroot activists. Candid despair shares space with encouraging stories of collective action bringing about real change.
This book will hold tremendous appeal for the general reader and will also be useful for academics and thinkers working in the fields of sociology, environment, education, human rights, law and justice, development issues, and politics.
Unfair Land Deals, Unjust Water Grab
Unfair Land Deals, Unjust Water Grab
India's natural resources are under siege. In the past few decades, realty developers, corporate interests, politicians, and bureaucrats have joined in a reckless and rapidly accelerating grabbing of land and wanton plunder of water resources in our riverine and coastal regions, displacing people who have lived on them for centuries, and threatening the ecosystem itself. This systematic takeover of common resources, and dispossession of the communities that have traditionally lived off them, can only lead to suffering and violence on a massive scale.
Land: The New Gold Rush
The Satyam fiasco has brought to light not only the nearly absent corporate governance, but has pointed in clear terms, the modus operandi, the policy maneuvers and the ...