Feature Article

Despite substantial decentralisation of power through panchayati raj institutions in West Bengal, the presence of an entrenched centralised party in power in the state has meant the use of such institutions as instruments of patronage. Violent battles have invariably taken place during panchayat elections, as these are seen as necessary by all political parties to capture or retain hold over the institutions.

The loan waiver will lighten the debt burden of the farmers. But in the long term this will adversely affect the rural credit institutions that extend loans to farmers. A discussion of the likely fallout.

The world food summit in Rome failed to even recognise the basic problem, let alone remedy it. (Editorial)

India is in danger of losing yet another opportunity to reduce its dependence on petroleum. (Editorial)

We thought wide-scale food shortages were behind us. Just a few years ago, most countries - with the exception of some in Africa - were looking as if they would be capable of adequately feeding their people, and the rich world was trying to figure out what to do with its food mountains. How things have changed. Droughts, high oil prices, changing diets, the rush to grow biofuels and other factors have caused shortages of most of the major food crops. On every continent there is concern over high food prices, and in some places even rioting. (Editorial)

The surface of our planet is mainly water, yet usable water is in short supply. In some parts of Africa people have to walk several kilometres a day to get water, and they are the lucky ones. There, and in Asia, the prospect of conflicts over water is increasing. A particular example is the scheme to bring more water into Turkmenistan and its capital city, Ashgabat.

What do a student in New York, a farmer near Mexico City, a family in London and a nurse in Bangkok have in common?

The Access to Medicine Foundation, based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, has developed a set of criteria to assess how ethically pharmaceutical companies perform towards developing countries. It will make its ranking available online from 16 June and hopes investors will use it to decide which companies to invest in, while encouraging big pharma to make medicines available to poor people.

China's average ecological footprint has doubled since the 1960s, says a joint report from the environment group WWF and a Chinese government agency, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. The average footprint per person, however, is still smaller than the world average, as well as being only a third that of a European and a sixth that of the average US citizen.

It all seemed too easy by half: to beat global warming just sprinkle some iron in the ocean, then watch as algae bloom en masse, sucking up carbon dioxide by the tonne. Now the idea is looking increasingly unlikely to go ahead in a big way. In the wake of a UN moratorium on the practice, the latest research suggests that seeding will trigger the build-up of an acid that can be lethal to marine organisms and humans.