Who Was Fritz Schumacher? by Diana Schumacher E F Schumacher, the economist-philosopher, was born 100 years ago this year. The following article is edited from a longer paper written for the Schumacher Society in 2008. Ernst Friedrich (Fritz) Schumacher was an unlikely pioneer of the Green Movement. He was born in Bonn in 1911, studied at Oxford […]

Timeless Inspirator: Reliving Gandhi Edited by Raghunath Mashelkar Sakal Publications 2010 HB pp369 ISBN 978 93 80571 48 5   This is a book on Gandhi that looks much more to the future than to the past. It takes the form of 45 short essays by ‘superachievers’ (almost all Indian). The idea came from the editor who […]

India – Question for Short Debate Asked By Lord Parekh To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of economic, political and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and India. Lord Parekh: It is a great privilege to initiate this debate. Since it is a common practice to declare an interest, I begin by saying that […]

10 July, 2011 On July 5, 2011, the Adivasis of Munda Khutkatti areas – Khunti, Murhu and Arki blocks of Khunti district gathered in Kachary Maidanof Khunti situated at a distance of 31 kilometres from the state capital of Jharkhand. In fact, the Khunti district administration had given them permission to hold a rally and […]

How do we bring peace and justice to the dispossessed and who is responsible? Those who came to the Annual General Meeting at Kingsley Hall on 10 July 2010 were privileged to hear two presentations on the plight of the indigenous peoples of East India. The Adivasis are the tribal people of Orissa and Jharkhand […]

31 July, 2010 After the arrival of the Monsoon, the city dwellers are enjoying the cool weather. The farmers are busily preparing their paddy fields. However, the atmosphere in the red corridor is more or less the same, a mood of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, pain and shock prevails in the region. Perhaps, one could hear […]

Much of Gandhi’s constructive programme was based on village India where the majority of Indians lived (and I believe still do). However, in the West, and increasingly throughout the world, most people live in urban centres. This, along with changes in society brought about by rapid technological developments perhaps require some adaptation of Gandhi’s ideas. […]