By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External … More Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries, especially Qatar

By Sekhar Bandyopadhyay*, Jane Buckingham** More than half a million people of Indian descent live in Australia and New Zealand. The history of the Indian diaspora in these countries is older than many might imagine, going back 250 years. Indians are today widely acknowledged as a successful ethnic community that makes significant contributions to their … More Recent Indian migrants to Australia and New Zealand are young, from lower rungs of social ladder

By Debmalya Nandy* The Ministry of Rural Development is restricting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) from attaining it’s full potential, and at the same time dictating it’s implementation by not honouring local knowledge and decision making. As per the Act, the Gram Sabha has the sole power and responsibilities for the … More Insufficient funds and untimely payments have made MNREGA weak in the past few years

By Ritayan Mukherjee* The camels – around 40 of them – had just swum back from an island in the ocean off Mohadi village in Abdasa taluka. They belonged to Ismail Jat, a herder from the Fakirani Jat community. I could barely believe what I was seeing – camels who swim? But these were the magnificent … More Swimming camels of Kachchh, who get vital elements of their diet from marine mangroves

By Moin Qazi* Microfinance – an approach to financial inclusion based on providing small denomination loans and other financial services to poor people who lack the collateral, credit history, or other assets -has generated considerable enthusiasm, not just in the development community but also at political levels. It has infused an entrepreneurial spirit in tiny … More Naysayers may say “king is dead, long live the king”, but microfinance can redefine itself

An Amnesty International India field story from Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, by Manohar Chauhan*, on the occasion the World Indigenous People’s Day 2018, which fell on August 9: I spent the last few weeks in the small district of Raigarh, Chattisgarh. Raigarh has historically been populated with various Adivasi communities as it comes under the fifth scheduled area. … More How pollution caused by neighbouring companies is destroying lush green environs of Raigarh

The National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF), in a letter to Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, Government of India, has demanded quick and stern action against those responsible in the killing of 12 fishermen in Kochin. Text of the letter: As you might already know that the early morning hours of 7th August, three fishermen died while nine … More Fishermen have the right to take boats up to 200 nautical miles in sea, why are they not protected?