Sreelatha Menon &Amp; Sundaresha Subramanian

Stories by Sreelatha Menon &Amp; Sundaresha Subramanian

Weaving costliest items, but earning nothing

Weaving costliest items, but earning nothing

Rediff.com   19 Feb 2008

Sadly, in India, wages for artisans never take into account their specialised skills.

Who invented the Jaipur foot?

Who invented the Jaipur foot?

Rediff.com   15 Jan 2008

Days after he died on January 6, Sethi's legacy is being questioned by the very NGO which is today known for taking the Jaipur foot to the masses. The invention won the doctor a Magsaysay award, which in turn has given him enemies.

Protest planned against the Tata Rs 1-lakh car

Protest planned against the Tata Rs 1-lakh car

Rediff.com   10 Jan 2008

The protests are meant to highlight the plight of the hundreds of sharecroppers of Singur besides the 12,000 landowners whose land was acquired by the Bengal government for the Tata factory which is to make the small car.

You a tribal? Passport, please

You a tribal? Passport, please

Rediff.com   3 Jan 2008

Passports or satellite images are two documents among options for tribals to produce as proof to avail of any entitlements under the ST and Traditional Forest Dwellers Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2007.

A humble stove that can trigger a fuel revolution

A humble stove that can trigger a fuel revolution

Rediff.com   26 Dec 2007

Clean development mechanism (CDM) should be used to make the prices affordable for the poor.

New money centres to bridge banking divide

New money centres to bridge banking divide

Rediff.com   26 Dec 2007

These are the Zipp money centres which are being introduced for the first time in the country by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), a forum formed in 1997 and which has inclusive banking interventions as one of its key projects. The money centres have already brought banking to the doorstep in many villages and far-flung areas in one district in Uganda where CBC started the project.

In search of clean energy

In search of clean energy

Rediff.com   24 Dec 2007

The main "culprit" for CO2 emissions is coal-based energy which has 24 per cent share in India's emissions and 41 per cent worldwide. While coal accounts for 25 per cent of energy, the role of renewables is 13 per cent. Of these, wind, solar and bio masses contribute just 4.1 per cent.

Ogilvy takes sports to villages

Ogilvy takes sports to villages

Rediff.com   11 Dec 2007

Ogilvy has signed on with the Madhya Pradesh sports department to pump up an awareness drive about the sports centres or the Grameen Yuva Kendras among the villagers. But, for Ogilvy, the drive stretches beyond the villages into the ears of the industry.

The laptop schools of Mewat

The laptop schools of Mewat

Rediff.com   28 Nov 2007

These schools bring literacy to women in a one-month course.

Montek blows hot on climate change recipe

Montek blows hot on climate change recipe

Rediff.com   28 Nov 2007

He rejected the recommendation of the report that "major emitters" in developing countries should aim at an emission trajectory that peaks in 2020 and leads to a 20 per cent cut by 2050.

India a new hub for climate change research

India a new hub for climate change research

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2007

The DEFRA project with MoEF is yet to identify a research institute in India and the bidding process is to start now, Coyne added. However some green groups in India look at this rush for climate change research in India as a ruse to promote technologies like genetic engineering.

Unemployment up among the disabled: Study

Unemployment up among the disabled: Study

Rediff.com   22 Nov 2007

The study commissioned by the Government of India and based on a sample of 2,000 households in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh says that employment rate among people with disability (PWD) fell from 42.7 per cent in 1991 down to 37.6 per cent in 2002.

Orissa: More scams in NREGA

Orissa: More scams in NREGA

Rediff.com   16 Oct 2007

Orissa, where the programme was already under a cloud after an NGO alleged false data were being entered on the state's NREGA website, is now uncovering more scams. A team of researchers led by economist Jean Dreze and Ritika Khera, which is doing a survey focussed mainly on the corruption in the programme in Orissa, recently dug out a doctored muster roll in Badhigam gram panchayat of Boudh district.

Violence-hit Posco turns to Gandhian NGO

Violence-hit Posco turns to Gandhian NGO

Rediff.com   16 Oct 2007

As part of its strategy to woo the villagers, not only has Posco CMD started taking lessons in the local Oriya language besides strolling into more peaceful villages, the company plans to tie up with an NGO which was started by Manibhai Desai a follower of Gandhi.

Slum-dwellers run a health insurance fund

Slum-dwellers run a health insurance fund

Rediff.com   15 Oct 2007

When the rest of the country is going in circles seeking health insurance for the society's most vulnerable, these slum-dwellers are part of a health security fund to which each person contributes Rs 60 annually.

'Gandhiji was a social entrepreneur'

'Gandhiji was a social entrepreneur'

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2007

Social entrepreneurship is a marriage between effective business techniques and social good. It is something that Mahatma Gandhi pioneered, Uday Khemka tells Business Standard.

'Quit Retail', protestors plan rally on Oct 10

'Quit Retail', protestors plan rally on Oct 10

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2007

About 50,000 to 100,000 people - representing associations of farmers, traders, hawkers, and even chemists from all over India - will converge on Mumbai's Azad Maidan to demand that big corporations quit the retail business.

Salwa Judum & tale of 644 deserted villages

Salwa Judum & tale of 644 deserted villages

Rediff.com   18 Sep 2007

These villages don't have citizens and hence there is no National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme for them or any health services or cheap rations.

Spend more, save less: New age mantra

Spend more, save less: New age mantra

Rediff.com   17 Sep 2007

A social activist in Bhopal has grabbed the essence of consumerism to work out a social security programme that should give the proposed social security programme of the Government of India a run for its money.

Govt plans insurance scheme for disabled

Govt plans insurance scheme for disabled

Rediff.com   14 Sep 2007

It is to be funded through a Rs 2400 crore (Rs 24 billion) corpus that has accrued to the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment from public sector banks.