Former political cartoonist Sharad Sharma’s comics movement seeks to empower the rural population by teaching them to express their problems through comic strips, says Nikhil Walia
Depriving farmers of remunerative prices is a corporate conspiracy that plays out regularly. Biju Negi points at a few recent instances that only prove that FDI in retail cannot help farmers
Bowing to a five year campaign by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a government department stops using bullock carts leaving 465 cart owners and their families in the lurch
By demanding the removal of atomic scientist M R Srinivasan from the expert panel, anti- Kudankulam nuclear plant activists have shown that they would not hesitate to take on Jayalalithaa
A woman’s urge to put an end to the illegal practice of ‘dedicating’ young girls to Gods, thus depriving them of all human dignity, has saved many dalit teenagers from becoming joginis. Kavita Kanan Chandra finds out how Grace Nirmala did it
T Hanumantha Rao, former chief engineer of Andhra Pradesh's irrigation department tells Bharat Lal Seth that there is no need to decommission Mullaipieriyar dam, as it is safe
Irom Sharmila, who has been on a fast for 11 years, is an icon for all peace-lovers and activists fighting oppression. She tells Tripti Nath about the special man in her life, Desmond Cutinho
The Tamils of Sri Lanka now have a friend in Ram Vilas Paswan, who hit out at Mahinda Rajapakse at a convention on war crimes. Akash Bisht finds him to be the new champion of the Tamil cause
Swami Agnivesh was in the limelight when Anna Hazare went on a fast to press for the Lokpal Bill. But then, Agnivesh has been taking up public causes for quite a long time, says Akash Bisht
The wife of a porter, 38-year-old Sanuja Rajan, has won Rs. 1 crore in a TV reality show in Kerala. Life has come full circle for the woman, who has endured many hardships, says Sanu George
The scenic East Coast Road that connects Chennai with several tourist destinations has turned into a death trap due to increase in number of accidents. KP Subramanian analyses the problem
A small army of friends have joined hands to strengthen TWL under the banner of the Friends of Positive Journalism, a forum that was launched two years ago. P C Vinoj Kumar has the details
Ravi Kalra is a former taekwondo instructor whose NGO cares for senior citizens, and mentally challenged people. He carries on with his work though his family deserted him, says Rahul Vaishnavi
Is Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam playing a dangerous game of dividing Indians? He has been accused of instigating the North Indians against the people of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu
Indian cricketers, including Dhoni and Sachin, let their hair down after their historic whitewash of Australia by zooming and careening around the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida
Student outfit warns IPL against fielding Sri Lankan players in Chennai. Political parties echo the demand as the ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ campaign gains momentum and casts its shadow on cricket
The Weekend Leader captures the ongoing students’ struggle in Tamil Nadu in photographs, even as the protests appear to be taking the shape of a popular movement for creation of Tamil Eelam
Buoyed by pro-Eelam freedom protests in Tamil Nadu, V Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of TGTE, downplayed the US resolution in UNHRC and pitched for an independent Tamil Eelam, says Radhika Giri
Sanitation is the last thing crisis managers provide to people displaced from homes by disasters. Now a former banker, Promita Sengupta , has come up with a quickly deployable toilet that has come handy for NGOs, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
A young innovator from Tamil Nadu aspires to create 50,000 jobs by popularizing his herbal mosquito repellent, ‘Hermo’, which repels mosquitoes effectively but does not harm humans as it is non-allergic and non-toxic, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Village Ways, launched by Manisha and Himanshu Pande on the principle of responsible tourism, helps urbanites have a real feel of rural life. Not a ‘home stay’ kind, the enterprise ropes in the locals as partners, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
Social work is no pizza business, it requires commitment and passion says Vidyaakar, who has been running a home in Chennai, Udhavum Karangal, for 30 years. Catherine Gilon met the Papa, who now has 1263 people, 314 of them kids, in his care
A young IAS officer mobilized Rs 40 lakh through Facebook to build a road in Manipur, earning the sobriquet ‘The Miracle Man’. Gaurav Sharma met Armstrong Pame to find out why he wanted to build the 100 km ‘People’s Road’ and how he did it
A grassroots innovator, Dharamveer Kamboj, has changed the lives of people from the barren land of Rajasthan to the dense forest of Nagaland by designing a food processor. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how it works well for women and tribes
They call him the ‘glacier man’. Chewang Norphel of Ladakh built 12 artificial glaciers that prevented farmers in high altitudes from moving out of the villages in search of alternative livelihood. Akash Bisht profiles the visionary with grit
Identifying clothing as a basic necessity after food and shelter, a journalist couple, Anshu Gupta and Meenakshi, started a social venture, Goonj, providing ‘Cloth for Work’. Then they did more, reaching parts of 21 states, says Roohi Seghal
A father-daughter duo is turning rhinoceros dung into paper, which in turn has turned out to be an economically lucrative venture. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how Elrhino, the micro-enterprise, will also help in wildlife conservation
Driven by a desire to succeed after he was told that he did not deserve a Pilot pen in class V, Ramesh Babu who worked his way up to own a fleet of 127 cars, including a Rs 3.3 crore Rolls Royce, yet remains a hairstylist, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Crusade
