Census 2011 – Rural-Urban Distribution

Nearly 70 per cent of the country’s population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to …

Tagore’s Santiniketan, “an Abode of Learning Unlike Any in the World” – West Bengal

If ever the idea of an institution could be captured and carried forward by a single individual, the life and work of Amartya Sen have truly embodied the ethos of …

Video | “We need to learn from tribals”: Vandana Shiva on reviving indigenous knowledge at the “Grandmother’s University” Dehradun – Uttarakhand

An Interview with Dr Vandana Shiva, one of the world’s foremost environmentalist, anti-GM activist and an advocate of ecological farming and sustainable agriculture as a solution to climate change, food …

Reviving native ecology as to restore the wealth of the people: Cultural continuity for the twenty-first century – Kerala

Places like Kerala where there were numerous sacred groves and related culture, are ecologically disturbed now due to ill conceived developments chartered out by those who did not have any …

“Diversity enriches”: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May) – Unesco

Held every year on 21 May, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development celebrates not only the richness of the world’s cultures, but also the essential role …

Convention on Biological Diversity to ‘integrate traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for conservation of biodiversity” – Fact checking

The Convention on Biological Diversity, 20 years on, is still struggling to stem the precipitous decline in biodiversity. After missing the 2010 target of reducing biodiversity loss, it is now …

Audio | World renowned Indian journalist Palagummi Sainath: “The greatest stories are now coming from non-journalists”

World renowned Indian Journalist Palagummi Sainath says the greatest stories of journalism are now coming from non-journalists“You will never find a great establishment journalist. My argument to you, is that …

Audio | “Each language is an incredible creation of the human mind” – Success stories from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme

A language is a window onto a culture, history and way of life. So what do we lose when a community stops speaking the language of its ancestors? John Gallagher …

Elephants & tigers: Recurring motifs and issues for India’s tribal communities

“The tribals I was told about are elephant people. As far back as any one can remember, they have taken care of elephants. They understand elephants as no one else …

“Indigenous people are at the forefront of the struggle to save the planet”: Defending the guardians of nature

On a very small scale compared to the widely promoted homogenising mega-schools, [alternative schools] respect diversity and are sensitive to the socio-cultural and political context of the children. […] The …