Monsoon rains wreaked havoc on the ill-maintained electricity and sewerage systems in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, leaving at least eight more people dead on Tuesday, officials and rescue services said. Media reports said: Most of the victims died due to electrocution, taking the death toll since the rain began on Monday morning in Karachi to 17. At least seven other[Read More…]
At its best, the earth was once likened to a spaceship that sails through the heavens with a crew working together for the common good. Thanks to climate change, this metaphor no longer works. Our planet is now more like a lifeboat that’s sprung a major leak. People onboard are beginning to panic and the clock is ticking. It is, however, the[Read More…]
It was David Bohm’s thesis that the ignorance of humanity is a matter of closedmindedness. He considered closedmindedness the “darkness in the human brain,” a darkness closing access to the Universal Mind; so defined as a supreme intelligence that communicates through the mode of insight. In this essay we will describe the evolutionary origins of the darkness in the human[Read More…]
I attended a honeybee gathering recently at a wild place in rural Sebastopol. During my nearly 30 years of organic farming here, I have usually had honeybee hives on my farm. The berries need their pollination. We two-footeds can learn much from the winged honeybees, especially during this time of international crises. Such bees can help us at this time,[Read More…]
It may well be a finding of some implication should Julian Assange find his way into the beastly glory that is the US justice system. In its efforts to rope in President Donald Trump’s election campaign, Wikileaks, Assange and the Russian Federation for hacking the computers of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, the DNC case was found wanting. The[Read More…]
In the Antímano neighbourhood of the capital district of Caracas, a very special block of flats has been built. Its inhabitants built it with their own hands, after in 2011, on the initiative of President Hugo Chávez, a little less than one hectare of land was expropriated from the Polar company. The idea was to rescue abandoned urban land that[Read More…]
What do Shahed Amer al-Bayoumi, Abdel-Raouf Salha, Arafat Jaradat, Ayoub Asaleya, Mohammed Suleiman, Sawsan Ali Dawud Mansour, Mohammad H., Isma’il Muslem Hamad Abu Bteihan, Ala Ziad Abu ‘Aasi, Fadi al-Darbi, Atef al-Maqousi, Jaber Ibrahim Abu Hweige, Fadiyah Jaber Abu Hweige and Muhammad Jaber Abu Hweige have in common? They are Palestinians between the ages of 9 and 69 who have[Read More…]
With the increasing pace of technological advances and globalisation rapidly taking over, India is all set to become the next hub for economic growth. Adding to this is a young population with an average age of 29 years, which puts India at an advantage. But is India’s human capital prepared to face the challenge? The role of education is crucial[Read More…]
Most of us are not stoics yet. Injustice caused to us evokes strong reactions and whenever we feel empowered enough to effect a change in our circumstances, we do. The critical element here is the personal nature of the impact of such an injustice; and this is the key focus which I address in the situations of social movements. Our[Read More…]
After Dorianne Laux’s “Kissing” They are kissing at gunpoint. They know they cannot be caught kissing. They are kissing as though the chinars never saw any bloodshed, only lipstick. Asifa is grown up now, she’s kissing her love and her horses are dancing the grass is erupting in joy, the valley is rushing in its unviolated grace because they are[Read More…]
At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019, a special United Nations High Level Meeting (UNHLM) will be held on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). 193 countries have promised to deliver on UHC by 2030 by committing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But will push on UHC alone deliver on the promise of health for all where ‘no one is[Read More…]
Co-Written by Dr. P. S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal Courtesy https://www.greengazette.in The above Gazette Notification No. 2387 issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 22 July, 2019 states: “Whereas, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Central Government[Read More…]
A study commissioned by the National Health Authority (NHA) of India has recently (Economic Times Report dated July 22, 2019) red-flagged claims made for hysterectomies conducted in private hospitals in at least six states, under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme. It has sought more caution and tighter scrutiny of such claims under the Modi government’s flagship programme[Read More…]
A 15-year-old boy, who was allegedly set on fire by four men for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. Mohammad Khalid had alleged that he was set ablaze by four men in Chandauli on Sunday. He had been admitted to the Kabir Chaura Hospital in Varanasi with 60 per cent burns.[Read More…]
Pundits from the left, from the right and from the center cannot stop reporting about Greece’s misery. And rightly so. Because Greece, the vast majority of her people live in deep economic hardship. No hope. Unemployment is officially at 18%, with the real figure closer to 25% or 30%; pensions have been reduced about ten times since Syriza – the[Read More…]
Unnao story is the failure of Indian system and deep rooted corruption and nepotism inside it. The girl who was fighting a lonely battle over a year when she accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of raping her. The thing is that the party did not bother to take any action against Sanger. It is surprising that in the city[Read More…]
“The University of Alaska Fairbanks (“UAF”) is a hub for Arctic climate research, and a magnet for top scientists and international collaborations— and it’s in trouble.” (Source: Sabrina Shankman, A Death Spiral for Research: Arctic Scientists Worried as Alaska Universities Face 40% Funding Cut, Inside Climate News, July 19, 2019) UAF’s International Arctic Research Center sits at the pinnacle of[Read More…]
Migrant detention centers in the U.S. are turning out to be an issue of debate. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence toured two detention facilities on the Texas border Friday, July 12, including a Border Patrol station where hundreds of men were crowded in sweltering cages without cots. “Look, this is tough stuff,” Pence acknowledged at a later news conference. “I knew[Read More…]
Citing the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) media reports including CNN Wires said on July 27, 2019 and on later dates: Three more Camp Pendleton-based service members — two Marines and a sailor — have been arrested, bringing to 19 the total arrests in a sweeping human smuggling and drug probe. Jeff Houston, an NCIS spokesperson, said the two[Read More…]
Deemed the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations strategy, the military method is a US Marine special, still spanking new, featuring “the amphibious landing of troops on islands for seizure and capture as part of a forward projection of sea and airpower aimed at the mainland.” That particular description comes from Bevan Ramsden, an active member of the coordinating committee of IPAN,[Read More…]
Nazareth: Recent events have shone a spotlight not only on how Israel is intensifying its abuse of Palestinians under its rule, but the utterly depraved complicity of western governments in its actions. The arrival of Donald Trump in the White House two-and-a-half years ago has emboldened Israel as never before, leaving it free to unleash new waves of brutality in[Read More…]
The Milgram experiment conducted by a Yale University psychologist of the same name, has perhaps gone on to become one of the most famous human behavioural experiments to have ever been conducted. It was conducted during the 1960s, when Nazi war criminals including Adolf Eichmann were being put on trial. The basic question was this: were the criminals really at[Read More…]
Background LGBTIQ community has been one of the marginalized communities in the world history that has been suffering from disgrace and exclusionfor a long time. There are around 70 countries where members from the LGBTIQ community are criminalized because of which they are not able to participate in the development of their country. These acts have resulted in several protests[Read More…]
India after Modi: Populism and the Right by Ajay Gudavarthy; Delhi: Bloomsbury India; 2019; pages, 236; Rs 599 This book gives comprehensive and insightful understanding about the contemporary politics of India. It is bereft from jargons, lucidly written, and author has attempted to make understand even the difficult terminologies. This is the first honest and comprehensive account about the[Read More…]
Lateef baat bhi ahbab ko khatakti hai/ Na Jaane kaun sa kaanta meri zabaan mein hai ( Even a subtle expression disturbs my comrades/ I wonder what thorn I have in my tongue) is how the latest row between Azam Khan , Samajwadi Party MP from Rampur, UP, and Rama Devi, Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha can be summarised. Rama[Read More…]
‘Tu zinda hai tu zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar…’ ◆◆◆◆ Whatever the Prosecutor State thinks, or, the ambivalent Judiciary rules, or, the compromised media makes out of your “crimes”, Gautam. For many of us, you will always remain one, along with countless others, who made us dreamers over the years: dreamers of freedom, of equality, of justice. We salute your convictions in[Read More…]
Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, recalled on July 28, 2019, the legacy of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez (1954-2013), on his 65th birth anniversary. “65 years of love Commander! We celebrate your life reaffirming the loyalty and commitment you sowed in us. We will defend how you taught us, the happiness of the people you loved[Read More…]
The U.S. is reopening the military aid plug to Pakistan within a week of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan meeting Donald Trump, the President of the U.S. The Pentagon is notifying its decision to approve $125 million technical and logistic support for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets. The aid resumption, made at the “request” of Pakistan, was disclosed by a Pentagon[Read More…]
“An individual’s psychology is the birth place of Terrorism, rather than an institution. If, in the first place, an individual is stopped from attracting other individuals into terrorism by providing ideological and financial support, this menace can be finished” is what this country’s Hon’ble Home minster said in the open Parliament session while quashing the arguments of opposition on the[Read More…]
$trillion space games and false prophecies by billionaires while Rome burns History testifies to powerful rulers’ aspirations for the position of gods, including the Pharaohs and Roman Emperors such as Caligula or Nero, nowadays mimicked by false messianic prophecies of “intergalactic civilization” made by billionaires and their followers in public and the media, including some scientists. This includes predictions of[Read More…]
With the CIA’s Dirty War in South Sudan winding down its time to take a brief but comprehensive look at the origins and history of this most secret of Pax Americana crimes in Africa. It is in the national interests of the USA to deprive China of access to African energy resources, with the Sudanese oil fields being the only[Read More…]
Could Donald Trump end the Afghan war someday? I don’t know if such a possibility has been on your mind, but it’s certainly been on the mind of this retired U.S. Army major who fought in that land so long ago. And here’s the context in which I’ve been thinking about that very possibility. Back in the previous century, it[Read More…]
As I pen this short essay, Iran is standing against the mightiest nation on earth. It is facing tremendous danger; of annihilation even, if the world does not wake up fast, and rush to its rescue. Stunning Iranian cities are in danger, but above all, its people: proud and beautiful, creative, formed by one of the oldest and deepest cultures[Read More…]
It would be unfair to claim that Palestine has not produced great leaders. It has, and Bassam Shakaa, the former Mayor of Nablus, who passed away on July 22 at the age of 89, was living proof of this. The supposed deficit in good Palestinian leadership can be attributed to the fact that many great leaders have been either assassinated,[Read More…]
During the two-day debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Indian President’s Address in the Parliament held on 24th June and 25th June 2019, Mahua Moitra, the first time Member of Parliament, in her maiden speech in the Parliament on the 25th June took on the government, led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, point-by-point on a host[Read More…]
If you are born in Uttar Pradesh or for that matter, in any other northern state of India, acquaintance to Ram is similar to those of a new-born getting familiar with the outer world. One understands Sita Ram, Siya Ram,Sitapat Ram,Siyavar Ram etc. are the words forRam conjoining his wife Sita, protagonist of a minimum of 300 Ramayanas written so[Read More…]
Earlier to the mid-nineteenth century, the government influenced the powers delegated and was quite opaque and transgressing towards the rights of women. Only when the men began to speak up against the evil, oppressing practices to be followed by the women of India, like “Sati”, started the First-wave of The Feminist Movement in India. It was later joined by the[Read More…]
I met the two of them at the Clinica Condesa Iztapalapa, in Mexico City, where I had gone to attend the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019). Was it a mere coincidence that they had many things in common – they share the same surname; they speak fluent English; they neither drink nor smoke nor are on drugs;[Read More…]
The government of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed keeps rattling the growth at 8-9% over the past few years, but the statistics do not tally with the global benchmarks, which find the actual number lower by up to 2 points. The lower figure may still look impressive, but the existence of glaring discrepancies in the development calculations rarely meet the[Read More…]
I am a Structural Engineer and I am NOT an Islamic Scholar. But sometimes I do get curious about certain practices among Muslims like Animal Sacrifice and Ritualistic Sacrifice and want to open a debate whether it has sanction of Quran and Allah. In a few days from now millions of Muslims all over the World will be slaughtering animals[Read More…]
Western Zionist media and political establishments are up in arms accusing the Islamic Republic of Iran of “violating” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the “Iran Deal”. This is never about Iran’s non-compliance with that Deal. To the contrary, Iran has consistently and verifiably abided by the Iran Deal since it was signed in 2015 by[Read More…]
Sunaina Devi, an illiterate, has knocked all the available doors after her husband disappeared eight years ago but her struggle is yet to end. “My hopes diminished with his disappearance,” says Sunaina Devi, 62, of her husband who went missing on April 28, 2011. “His paltry income was the light in our darkness, what else is there for the poor[Read More…]
The change from a constitutional republic to a majoritarian state need not entail a change either in the constitutional framework or in our national symbols. What do people mean when they say ‘Hindu rashtra’? And what would it feel like to live under such a state? People might imagine grandiose parades, banners, armbands or even official paramilitaries. They might perhaps expect[Read More…]
Two years ago on July 7, 2017, 122 nations approved the text of the Treaty on the Prohibition of NuclearWeapons (TPNW). The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for spearheading this achievement. Few Americans are aware of it and none of the major presidential candidates are informing us. None of the nuclear[Read More…]
Google sustainability and the first few pages that pop up are all talking about cutting-edge technology in renewable energy, waste management, resource utilization and the likes. But what if sustainability did not always require that? The same question was asked by Rajendra Singh and a handful of villagers in Rajasthan in 1985. The result? 7 rivers which had been dry[Read More…]
(Dying to Forget – Oil, Power, Palestine, & the Foundations of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Irene L. Gendzier. Columbia University Press, New York, 2017.) Many books discuss the transition of U.S. interest in Palestine/Israel mostly through the lens of Truman’s Christian Zionism, either as a part of the political history involving Truman or a more generalized history of[Read More…]
When Michelle Alexander, a distinguished African-American scholar, wrote her now famous column in The New York Times, ‘Time to Break the Silence on Palestine’,her sympathetic words toward Palestinians received huge attention. Her article became a “watershed moment … with arguably even more impact on mainstream U.S. opinion than Israel’s onslaught last spring against Gaza’s Great March of Return, which left[Read More…]
Israel is a Zionist colonial project based on the destruction of Palestinian homes and cities, the ethnic cleansing of all Christian and Moslem goyim Palestinians, and the implanting of Zionist foreign Jews in the land. Such destruction and expulsion were accomplished through terror, massacres and devastated wars; a real Palestinian holocaust. This holocaustal expulsion ideology could be seen in the[Read More…]
Legendary communist revolutionary leader Tarimela Nagi Reddy (TN) died on July 28, 1976, and he is remembered along with his comrade-in-arms, DV Rao (1917 June 1- 1984 July12), every year across Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana State (TS) in memorial meetings held at several places in July. Hundreds of activists and supporters, including landless, poor and adivasi peasants attend these[Read More…]
As I sit on the small balcony on the top floor of an old house in the working class neighborhood of Alfama in Lisbon, Portugal, it is early evening, the time for wine and voices wafting on the fragrant breeze through the twisting cobble-stoned streets. The National Pantheon (Panteao Nacional)stares me in the face. I stare back, and then look[Read More…]
Environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason has just written to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Chemicals Regulation Division (HSE) in the UK claiming that the glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup has poisoned her nature reserve in South Wales and is also poisoning people across the UK (she includes herself here, as she[Read More…]
The Human Rights Forum (HRF) is deeply disappointed and concerned with the July 18, 2019 order by a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the ‘encounters’ case. This is not an order that upholds the landmark judgment by a 5-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on February 6, 2009. It does not state, as the AP HC[Read More…]
It looks like India is becoming a police state. With the passage of three amendments to existing laws the central government is impinging upon the powers delegated to the states, becoming opaque and transgressing upon the rights of individuals. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act amendment bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha gives the government the power to designate[Read More…]
“Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It’s not about making ‘correct’ decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions.” goodgovernance.org.au Good governance is the art of looking at problems, diagnosing them and finding solutions through collective decision making. It is the process of decision making with the participation and consensus of all members of society.[Read More…]
China and Russia are as much allies as they are rivals. A joint Tajik-Chinese military exercise in a Tajik region bordering on China’s troubled north-western region of Xinjiang suggests that increased Chinese-Russian military cooperation has not eroded gradually mounting rivalry in Central Asia, long viewed by Moscow as its backyard. The exercise, the second in three years, coupled with the[Read More…]
In another case of mob lynching a minor Muslim boy was beaten to death by a mob in India’s capital New Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar locality. Sahil, a 15 years old boy was brutally thrashed to death by his neighbors , who allegedly entered the house of his neighbor Mukesh for stealing . The incident took place on Friday morning. The[Read More…]
The Climate Emergency is finally getting the attention of the media and the U.S. (and world) body politic, as well as a growing number of politicians, activists and even U.S. farmers. This great awakening has arrived just in time, given the record-breaking temperatures, violent weather, crop failures and massive waves of forced migration that are quickly becoming the norm. Global scientists[Read More…]
Homo sapiens is a creature of the earth. Understand that food is the tap root of life for the human species. There may be other factors that help sustain human life, but food is the ‘tap root’ for the growth of absolute human population numbers, just as is the case with other species of earth. Our problem is a biological[Read More…]
So Boris Johnson has become Britain’s prime minister. He has been trying and scheming, scheming and trying including undermining David Cameron. A ‘remainer’ before, Johnson saw political capital in the ‘leave’ campaign, and in a sudden about turn became its face and leading campaigner. Always superb at the latter and having the inbuilt advantage of a clown’s rapport with his[Read More…]
There are hardly two opinions that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Banks were implementing predatory economic policies of the West. The poor countries are now in the IMF and World Bank debt trap. The rise in debt has been swelled, with external sovereign loans to developing country governments more than doubling from $191 billion per year in[Read More…]
Ammini( Amminichechi to many) sat looking at the turbulent Athirapally falls through the meshed window of the teashop which has been the source of her livelihood for many years. A face withered by the turmoils of life, she came across as a woman bound to her convictions and life experiences. What made her strong was the lessons she learnt from[Read More…]
Co-Written by Sandeep Pandey and Praveen Srivastava Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, Professor of Education Economics at University College London and President of City Montessori School Lucknow has critiqued the New Education Policy in an article published in Times of India on 24 June, 2019. She has identified poor school and teacher accountability as the main cause of learning crisis in public[Read More…]
A FIR was registered against 10 Assamese poets (July 10, 2019). These poets mostly Muslims; have been pioneers and are leading lights of what has come to be known as Miyah Poetry. One sample, by the initiator of this trend; Hafiz Ahmed goes like this Write, Write Down, I am a Miya, My serial number in the NRC is 200543,[Read More…]
Reviewer: Abid Ahmad Shah Book: Kashmir-Rage and Reason Author: Gowhar Geelani Publisher: Rupa Publications Price: 395 Kashmir is glorified the world over as paradise on the earth, second to Switzerland in terms of scenic beauty, serene valleys, calm and fresh waters and colourful flora and fauna. But, beyond the gaze of this whole matrix lies a narrative of pains,[Read More…]
TB and HIV both are preventable, but cutting the chain of transmission of HIV and TB is proving to be a daunting task. Treatment exists for both TB and HIV but disease-burden and deaths every year are indeed alarming. With countdown on towards TB and AIDS elimination targets for 2030, the writing on the wall is clear: business as usual[Read More…]
I am a postgraduate student and through a college course recently, I came across a 10th standard student speaking passionately about global warming and climate change.It got me wondering that would the current situation be so worse if our national leaders and decision makers had similar concern about this issue. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated an increase[Read More…]
A blond-haired US President openly hinting only white immigrants can be true American citizens, blue-eyed Nazis marching boldly on the streets of Europe, brattish Brexiteers in Britain harking back to days of the Raj and ‘twice-born’ Hindu supremacists in India fulminating against religious minorities. Many have called the times we live in the Age of Anger but more accurately it[Read More…]
Our struggle to survive hasbeen a relentless drive towards self-destruction. Sigmund Freud identified two basic human impulses: Eros, the drive to survive and reproduce, and Thanatos, the drive towards death and destruction. However, dialectically speaking, these are not two separate and opposing forces, but a unity of polar opposites which grow out of the same expenditure of energies, exist in[Read More…]
“This Land Is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto” by Gujarati Indian American author Suketu Mehta is an important argument for the right of immigrants (creditors) to migrate from the impoverished Developing World to today’s wealthy countries of the former brutal colonizers (debtors). Mehta argues cogently that the colonizers have run up an immense debt that must be met by their[Read More…]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced: All standing agreements with Israel will be suspended indefinitely. President Abbas announced the decision on Thursday afternoon. The Palestine President said the suspension would take effect by Friday. The move by Palestine comes in response to the Israeli government’s demolition of homes in Wadi Hummus, a Palestinian community in southeast Jerusalem. Israeli authorities claim[Read More…]
President Bolsonaro, a far-right leader presented himself as the opposite pole of the leftist Worker’s party during his election campaign. The Workers party assured the development of poor and disenfranchised people of Brazil. In the regime of Bolsonaro, the basic rights of aboriginal inhabitants are violated. He has triggered fears that rates of deforestation in the Amazon will expand. The[Read More…]
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the Grimms’ fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Terrified by cruel conditions at home, the brother and sister flee, winding their way, hungry and scared, through unknown woods. There, they encounter an old woman who lures them in with promises of safety. Instead, she locks one of them in a cage and turns the other[Read More…]
The difference between liberalism and progressivism is ideological. Historically, liberalism started with John Locke, whose philosophy was superbly summarized, explained, and referenced to its sources, here; but the following will instead quote directly from those sources: Locke (as the commentator said) “praises money as probably no one prior and after him,” because Locke’s 1689 Second Treatise on Government, Sections 49[Read More…]
Co-Written by Punsara Amarasinghe & Prof.Sanjay Rajhans When Indian national Mr. Kulbushan Jadhav was arrested in 2016 by Pakistan alleging him as a RAW operative andthe reaction came from New Delhi was based on their interest in providing consular access to Mr. Jadhav and strongly denied any espionage link. Nevertheless the judgment given by a military tribunal in Pakistan[Read More…]
Reflections on Today’s World of Politics President Trump and young looking Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met this week at the White House. Trump is master to transform rhetoric into reality as he did to North Korean leader. Both were trying to overcome the historic indifference and prejudice to bridge the ever widening gaps between the reality and perceptions of[Read More…]
Hindutva’s Second Coming by Subhas Gatade; published by Media House, Delhi; 2019; pages: 272; Rs 395 (US $ 18). The return of Modi to power with a huge margin in this 2019 election is a clear verdict for the Hindutva plank. Why and how it happened leave us, the secular billions, to ponder about the reality and its aftermath. And at that juncture[Read More…]
You all know my butler Bastian who I have written about earlier. Bastian like most of his tribe spoke ‘Butler English’ and was very snobbish. My wife used to speak to him in the same way to make it easier for both to understand what was going on. So sometimes I would come in to hear, ‘Bastian, tomatoes got, not[Read More…]
Kashmir is a place endowed by divinity from every niche. From eons valley has been witnessing umpteen legendary writers, scholars and poets. Besides breathtaking, splendiferous natural beauty, Kashmir has rich historical traditions. Folklore is one of the important parts of our culture which is passed down from generation to generation. Folklore is an oral history preserved by the people; these[Read More…]
In what can be seen as censorship of academic work by the representatives in Canada of the world’s so called largest democracy, the Indian consulate has removed a slide quoting Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy from a presentation on Dr. B.R Ambedkar. Ambedkar was a towering Indian scholar and social justice activist. He was also an architect of[Read More…]
Rex Tillerson, former US secretary of state (SoS) tells about state of a state. Tillerson’s seven-hour closed-door testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May reveals facts related to an important arrangement of the state – a machine – he once represented. A few of these stories are amazing while a few astonishing and embarrassing; and the whole lot[Read More…]
This is the morning after the night before. This is the reality check. This is the most ominous thing that could happen to us Palestinians at this stage of our struggle against occupation and persecution. Britain has its new Prime Minister. Who is Boris Johnson? The shambolic, disheveled, stuttering Boris Johnson we all know is but an act. it is[Read More…]
Sudan’s army chief and at least a dozen high-ranking army officers and Islamists have been arrested in a second coup plot, the country’s military said Wednesday. The coup was hatched to foil transition to democracy in the African country. Sudan’s military said on Wednesday that it was a plot to restore the party of ousted autocrat President Omar al-Bashir to[Read More…]
It takes an entire mountain range to make a river. Hundreds and thousands of small rivulets merge together to make a river. I can’t help but take this as an analogy of a civilization where individuals come together and define it. What we do to our rivers in a way becomes reflection of who we are. Once you have seen[Read More…]
Following the renaissance epoch of Bengali vocal music between 1900-1950, established by key creative figures such as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Dwijendralal Roy (1863-1913), Rajanikanta Sen (1865-1910), Atul Prasad Sen (1871-1934) and Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976), five compositional geniuses who blazed their trails into musical history, and to whom Bengal’s musical heritage owes its identity to this day–there occurred an expected[Read More…]
Seven-year-old Tariq Zabania from Al-Khalil (Hebron) was killed on the spot when an Israeli Jewish settler ran his car over him on July 15. Little Tariq’s photograph, lying face down on the road, was circulated on social media. His untimely death is heartbreaking. Tariq’s innocent blood must not go in vain. For this to happen, we are morally obliged to[Read More…]
The first rush of enthusiasm on looking at this is clear: a high-achieving swimmer on the circuit – the Australian Mack Horton – decides to take a stance. It’s not about refugees, Donald Trump or climate change. Unlike other sportspeople of history, his opposition is directed at his sport, his spear of indignation sharpened against a target closer to home[Read More…]
The British-flagged tanker “Steno Impero”, heading for Saudi Arabia, was seized on Friday, 19 July 2019, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the Strait of Hormuz, after it rammed an Iranian fishing boat, whose distress call it ignored. The tanker was taken to an Iranian port, because it was not complying with “international maritime laws and regulations,” Iran’s[Read More…]
On 23 July 2019, the Russian Government’s “Collective Security for the Persian Gulf Region” was presented in Moscow by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov. Bogdanov stated that “The main principles are incrementalism, multilateralism, and strict observation of international law, primarily the U.N. Charter and Security Council resolutions. The looming strategic challenge outlined is creating a holistic mechanism of[Read More…]
(God gave us a beautiful world to live in. Instead of being grateful to Him and improving the beautiful land He bestowed on us, we are destroying it in every possible way! The Cambridge Dictionary has two definitions of the word Environment. As related to Nature, it says, “the air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live.” In relation to surroundings, it[Read More…]
Caste, class, and religion are not determinants of a happy marriage, do not let these aspects come in the way of your children’s happiness. Ask any parent if they love their children unconditionally and you are bound to get a confused stare, and probably followed by a retort like, “What kind of a question is that?” Most parents love their[Read More…]
The German envoy’s visit to the Nagpur headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has worrying implications for both India and Germany. Silence on what transpired at the meet can only make matters worse. ‘…The burden of National Socialist crimes accompanies Germany to this day. Immediately after the war ended in 1945, and in following decades, confronting the crimes committed under National[Read More…]
The Afghanistan government requested Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump explain his boast of terminating the Afghan war in 10 days by wiping out Afghanistan and its 10 million residents. “The Afghan nation has not and will never allow any foreign power to determine its fate,” Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesperson for the President of Afghanistan, said in a statement. The statement said: “Given[Read More…]
Death has finally overtaken Santosh Rana, the prominent activist-cum-intellectual and one of the foremost leaders of the historic Debra- Gopiballabhpur peasant struggles that attracted attention throughout West Bengal in 1969-70. He died on 29th of June after a prolonged fight with throat cancer at a private hospital of South Kolkata. Hailing from a poor peasant family of West Medinipur, he[Read More…]
Following his official visit to Indian organization revering Nazi ideology, 2500 sign petition to recall Germay’s ambassador in New Delhi Amid international media fallout after German Ambassador Walter Lindner’s 17 July 2019 visit to the headquarters of the RSS — a volunteer organization that has enshrined Nazi and Italian fascist ideology — calls are increasing for Lindner to resign. In[Read More…]
The Human Rights Forum demands that the Central government withdraw ongoing efforts to survey and explore the Amrabad Tiger Reserve located in the Nallamala forest of Nagarkurnool district for establishing uranium deposits. We strongly urge the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments to reject the survey and exploration proposal and to state clearly and unambiguously that they are against any[Read More…]
Ten adivasis including three women were massacred and nearly 14 others wounded in a bloody attack on them by the feudal caste forces led by the head of the village in district Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh. According to reports appeared in newspapers, the main accused Yogdutt Bhurtiya, his two brothers and 23 other people have been arrested out of the total[Read More…]
“I felt shaky and uneasy all day, preparing for this talk” – Jehad Abusalim, a Palestinian from the territory of Gaza Jehad Abusalim, a Palestinian now living in the United States, grew up in Gaza. In Chicago last week, addressing activists committed to breaking the siege of Gaza, he held up a stack of 31 papers. On each page were names of[Read More…]
[Editorial note: This remnant of a manuscript, discovered in a vault near the coastal town of Walpole, Massachusetts, appears to have been part of a larger project, probably envisioned as an interpretive history of the United States since the year 2000. Only a single chapter, probably written near the midpoint of the twenty-first century, has survived. Whether the remainder of[Read More…]
The BBC World Service took its listeners to the English cathedral town of Ely, set in picturesque Cambridgeshire, during the course of a hot July 23 in an effort to take the pulse of the country. Well, at least that particular, erratic pulse. It found, for the most part, a certain enthusiasm for Boris Johnson, the fop-haired, bumbling wonder of[Read More…]
China’s infrastructure and energy driven US$1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances. Seeking to reduce risk, China is bumping up against the limits of its own long-standing foreign and defence policy principles, foremost among which its insistence on non-interference[Read More…]
There was a pandemonium in India over President Donald Trump’s statement on the Kashmir issue. At a White House press conference Monday (July 22) with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate the Kashmir conflict. Trump said that Modi had discussed the subject with him during their meeting[Read More…]
It has been 38 years and 1 month since the first case of HIV infection was detected in 1981, reminded Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (#IAS2019) taking place in Mexico City. Dr Fauci is a recipient of Robert Koch Award and US Presidential[Read More…]
Torrential monsoon rain induced floods, landslides, collapse of buildings and houses, lighting, etc. have already taken a heavy price in the South Asia region. The disaster has created havoc in the life of the people in regions of Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Severe floods and lightning have claimed the lives of more than 650 people across India, Nepal, Bangladesh[Read More…]
Comrade A. K. Roy, the legendary trade union leader of coal miners in Dhanbad region died on July 21, 2019. With him an era of trade union movement has come to a close. He and later Comrade Shankar Guha Niyogi of Chhatisgarh were pioneers of a new trade movement that came into being in the early 70s and became vigorous[Read More…]
Commercial flights currently make up around 2.5% of global carbon emissions which is certain to be increased with increase in volume of air travel. According to European Environment Agency, an average plane trip emits 285 grams of carbon dioxide, while similar train journey would emit only 14 grams. Therefore, taking a train over plane do save the environment. The movement[Read More…]
New Delhi, July 22 : Responding to the national call for action by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, more than hundred protest demonstrations, public meeting etc were organised across the country today. Millions of adivasis and other traditional forests dwellers submitted memorandums to the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, Ministry fo Tribal Affairs through their district administration authorities and demanded that their rights[Read More…]
If Donald Trump’s shock election for the world’s most powerful office had been seen as an accident and as a recipe for disaster by many, he has done everything to justify those fears over the past three and half years. Not a day passes without the President casually throwing away all the love and respect that the United States has[Read More…]
In his last book on Venezuela, Daniel Kovalik, a lawyer and a long standing friend of latin american people in countries such as Colombia and Central America, is tearing away the veil of war propaganda : “the humanitarian part of the intervention is now barely a fig leaf for the real and usual intention – the control of another country’s oil[Read More…]
It was barely a little after nine on a summer morning in Kandhei Posh village in Banei block, Sundergarh district of Odisha. The six children in the anganwadi centre (AWC) rush out after having spent two hours lazing indoors with some drawing, playing, and recitation in between. The fidgety young ones line up dutifully towards the pail of water outside[Read More…]
If you were Iranian and learned that U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton wanted to attack your country, wouldn’t you feel terrified? But we’re taught to dismiss that. The training begins early: Complete the assignment. Get good grades. Insulate your life. Automate your soul. Don’t worry about U.S. bombs pulverizing Baghdad or U.S.-funded death squads mutilating peasants in Latin America.[Read More…]
South Asian activists came together to raise their voices for a senior Indian police officer who is being persecuted for standing up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, July 21 at Holland Park in Surrey. Bhatt was recently given a life sentence for the custodial death of a man arrested in connection with sectarian violence in 1989. Members of[Read More…]
The Fourth Estate, that historical unelected grouping of society’s scrutineers, has become something of a rabble, and, as a confederacy of strewn dunces and the ongoing compromised, is ripe for analysis. An essential premise in the work of WikiLeaks was demonstrating, to a good, stone-throwing degree, how media figures and practitioners had been bought by the state or the corporate[Read More…]
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has condemned hostile U.S. policies against Venezuela. The non-aligned countries demanded on Sunday that the U.S. immediately lift economic and financial sanctions against Venezuela. The NAM members, in a statement, indicated that only Venezuela can decide its fate, no other state can intervene in Venezuela. The two-day ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the NAM (Co-BNAM) began on July 20 in Caracas.[Read More…]
Uzbekistan always fascinated me. I always wanted to visit this country for several reasons. This is the country from where Timur Lung, the ‘Emperor of three Continents’, the ancestor (great, great, great grand-father) of Emperor Babar, the founder of Mughal Empire in the Indian-sub-continent came from and ruled. This is also the country where Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari who introduced in[Read More…]
Four women, all above 60 were dragged from their homes and beaten to death in a village in Gumla district of Jharkhand on Sunday, after being accused of witchcraft. The victims were identified as Chapa Bhagat, 62, and his wife Piri Devi, 60, and Umraav, 65, and his wife Fagani Devi, 62. The victims were dragged out of their homes[Read More…]
Climate change, much like war, could prove to be a geopolitical and commercial gold mine. At least, that is the take of DP World, Dubai’s global port operator, and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. DP World is partnering with the fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to create an all-year round maritime sea route from Europe to Asia through the[Read More…]
In a country with poor human rights record and rampant violations of fundamental right to life of citizens, the Supreme Court ruling is a positive step towards accountability. The Supreme Court made it clear that policemen, who are part of encounters that result in deaths of individuals , have to necessarily face FIRs, trial, etc. A three judge bench of[Read More…]
Every case of active tuberculosis (TB) disease comes from an individual with latent TB infection. And every new case of latent TB infection is a sign of failing infection control, as someone with active TB disease transmitted the bacteria to an uninfected person. Quarter of world’s population has latent TB. TB continues to be the most common opportunistic infection among[Read More…]
On 10 July 2019, an FIR was filed against ten Miyah poets and other activists from Assam under five different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Telecommunications Act for a poem titled Write it Down, I am a Miyah written by senior Miyah poet, Hafiz Ahmed. The FIR accused the poets and activists, amongst other things, of[Read More…]
Israel’s extreme heatwave reached a record-breaking peak of 49.9 degrees Celsius in Sodom, near the Dead Sea in mid-July. The heatwave sparked several wildfires throughout the country. More than a hundred cases of heat related symptoms were reported. The mid-July temperature was the highest ever recorded since Israel was founded in 1948, and the second highest since national weather records[Read More…]
The deadly heat wave gripping much of the U.S. has resulted at least 6 deaths, hit tens of millions of people, left tens of thousands of people in New York and Michigan without power, and caused the cancellation of many public events. As more than two-thirds of the U.S. feeling temperatures push into the triple digits the U.S. National Oceanic[Read More…]
Anniversaries are occasions to distort records. The intoxicated recounting of the past faces a record in need of correction. Couples long married hide their differences before guests. Creases are covered; the make-up is applied generously. Defects become virtues, if, indeed they were ever there to begin with. In historical commemoration, the same is true. The moon landing anniversary his weekend[Read More…]
Delhi is the ancient city of India. The city’s history bears testimony to settlements and also to ruins. This order of settling and deserting of the city has been going on since the Mahabharata period. In the medieval period, this city enjoyed eminence as a centre of power and this eminence endured for a long time. It is hardly surprising[Read More…]
Eminent theatre director from Karnataka S Raghunandana on July 17 declined the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for 2018, a day after it was announced, in protest against incidents of “mob lynching in the name of God and religion” and the frequent attempts to stifle dissenting views of public intellectuals and activists. Full Text of S Raghunandana’s statement The Sangeet Natak[Read More…]
The danger of a catastrophic military conflict in the Middle East involving the major powers grew Friday, as Iran seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. This came a day after US President Trump claimed that an American warship had downed an Iranian drone and prompted the US Air Force to announce that it was sending an[Read More…]
(Karnataka Assembly meets agai on July 22, Monday, to continue discussion on Confidence Motion moved by the Chief Minister. This was written before the discussion commenced. ) For those in power it is easy to bribe and being bribed without any fear of legal action. Rulers need not worry about rule of law. Defection-engineers in Karnataka no more ask MLAs[Read More…]
Fukuyama’s book is a profound book and as a profound book it is profoundly misleading. A mixture of Platonic and Hegelian psychology/historical teleology as well as offering a good explanation for the historical origins of bourgeois man in Hobbes and Locke, it misleads not necessarily in the assertion that we cannot imagine a better world than one where liberal-capitalist democracy[Read More…]
In an apparent retaliation of the capture of an Iranian oil tanker by Gibraltar, a British colony, Iran Friday (July 19) captured a British oil tanker. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Friday that the vessel named “Stena Impero” had been impounded “at the request of Hormozgan Ports and Maritime Organization when passing through the Strait of[Read More…]
“A Fine Tapestry” by Mythili Lakshman is a very readable novel about a large and traditional Hindu Tamil family and is set in a South Indian village in post-Independence India in circa 1960. The fine tapestry of this novel centres about 2 married sisters, one of whom is suffering a terminal illness. The novel is similar to the works of[Read More…]
It’s one for the history books, as they say. On July 16, 2019, Donald Trump was formally rebuked by the House (in a 240 to 187 vote) for his ‘racist’ tweets on four Congresswomen. The last time the House rebuked a president was William Howard Taft over a 100 years ago. So what did Trump do? He told the four[Read More…]
President Trump ran his presidential campaign under the slogan of “America first”. In his inaugural speech he stated that his “America first” approach ushers a new decree; a new vision of governing the US, and a new foundation for every single decision he will make to benefit only Americans. He reiterated this slogan in many of his speeches including his[Read More…]
Mad cow disease is a fatal epidemic neurological syndrome created by the agricultural industry, farmers and food processors explains Rosemary Mason in her new fully referenced report on pesticides and mad cow disease (it can be read here). In 1987, an epidemic of a fatal neurological disease in cows suddenly appeared in Britain. Cows became uncoordinated, staggered around, collapsed and[Read More…]
Citizenship in Assam is a long contested issue shaped by forces of migration, partition and movements based on communalism, xenophobia and hatred for the “other”. This conflict will not end with the NRC but will take different forms as long as the hysteria and paranoia against the Muslims persist. Different instruments will be reinvented to dehumanise and decitizenise the Muslims[Read More…]
As the city becomes more responsive to the interests of developers and transnational finance, a ‘dual city’ of contradictory spaces, that is split along two socio-economic fronts, emerges (Castells 1989, pp.277-78). Mumbai is emblematic of this situation. There are the urban glamour zones of business districts, airports and shopping centres, and then there are the urban war zones where over[Read More…]
This rejoinder is in response to the article: A Common Hindu Identity has always appealed to OBC and Dalit Castes by Abhinav Prakash Singh, Assistant Professor, SRCC, university of Delhi published in Hindustan Times on[Read More…]
An Open letter to the Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi Subject: People’s poet Varavara Rao seeks prison facilities in view of his failing health. Respected Sir, The well-known people’s poet Varavara Rao is lodged at Yerawada Central Prison, Pune in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. He was arrested on August 28, 2018 along with[Read More…]
2019 elections have hit the left parties harder than even the Congress. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about the Congress Mukth Bharat, historically the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janatha Party wanted a Communist Mukth Bharat for definite. That is their stated long standing ideological position. They seem to be achieving this with a comprehensive understanding. The communists,[Read More…]
The article is based on a brief observational study done by my team and me on the Pirana landfill site in Ahmedabad. The article is meant as a satirical take on the social and environmental repercussions of landfill sites, and our attempts to not acknowledge the same. It is intended not to preach, but provoke individuals to take cognizance of[Read More…]
Rural Development Minister makes a mockery of MGNREGA on the floor of the house and reveals anti-worker and anti-poor bias While it is heartening that a discussion on rural development lasted for nine hours in Parliament with important issues on MGNREGA being raised, we are deeply disappointed at the statement of the Rural Development Minister that not only displays a[Read More…]
Scientists, to some people, are bad. The cause: Scientists present horrifying facts about climate. To many others, scientists are good persons, doing incredible work, helping humanity. With latest findings on climate crisis, scientists are making the world aware: Get rid of the system creating the crisis. Climate crisis is hurting all in the global South and North. Parts in[Read More…]
Hundreds of thousands have marched in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory since 1898, for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday. They are calling for the resignation of Ricardo Rosselló, governor of the financial crisis shattered and billions of dollars debt burdened island territory. Protestors cleared of the streets Thursday morning after clashing with police all night. Police sprayed tear gas[Read More…]
“It is true that Marx did not believe in drawing up recipes for the cookshops of the future, but he did describe the basis of the society he thought was going to replace[Read More…]
In another instance of mob violence, three men were beaten to death this morning by locals in the Saran district of Bihar over suspicion of cattle theft. Locals in Baniyapur village in Saran caught of hold of the three men and accused them of trying to steal cattle. The three men, who were from the neighbouring village, were thrashed badly[Read More…]
“Losing a son is never easy in our society and not just because of the trauma that comes with losing one’s child. Our relatives and friends would avoid seeing our face in the morning as we are parents of two daughters and have no son.” Chandarikaben, mother of Mehul Rathode As I sat there on my chair on a fine[Read More…]
[The following is an excerpt from the first chapter of Helena Norberg-Hodge’s new book Local is Our Future: Steps to an Economics of Happiness, published by Local Futures in July 2019.] For our species to have a future, it must be local. The good news is that the path to such a future is already being forged. Away from the screens[Read More…]
It took Algeria barely two weeks to charge Algerian soccer fan Samir Sardouk and sentence him to a year in jail for harming the national interests of his country. Mr. Sardouk was convicted for shouting “There is no God but Allah, and they will come down” during the African Cup of Nation’s opening match in the Egyptian capital of Cairo[Read More…]
It could be called a gulag mentality, though it finds form in different ways. In the defunct Soviet Union, it was definitive of life: millions incarcerated, garrisons of forced labour, instruments of the proletarian paradise fouled. Gulag literature suggested another society, estranged and removed from civilian life, channelled into an absent universe. Titles suggested as much: Gustaw Herling’s work was[Read More…]
The government was expected to present a big-bang Budget since it has a massive majority in Parliament. It was hoped that the Budget would help take the economy out of its current troubles. Soon after returning to power the government and the PM have repeatedly talked of the Indian GDP reaching $ 5 trillion in the next five years.[Read More…]
A black father is gone A black husband is gone A black friend is gone A black human is gone He couldn’t breathe He said as much They cared enough To kill him Unsafe Even in your own skin Dead Leaving your kin Remorse is absent Like after stepping on an ant Go, go home Be with your loved ones[Read More…]
For decades in India, the Adivasi identity has been appropriated and exploited for political and economic gains.The diverse culture of tribal people in the country has been commodified, packaged and labelled with an umbrella-term, which does little to help their cause. At the same time, the mainstream media and literary discourse has largely ignored Adivasi literature. But that is beginning[Read More…]
It used to be comical, but suddenly it is not, anymore. In the past, blind hatred towards China could had been attributed to ignorance, or at least to indoctrination by the Western propaganda and mass media outlets. But now? China’s tremendous leap forward, its excellent, humane social policies and determined people-oriented scientific research, as well as its march towards[Read More…]
patriotism (noun): love for or devotion to one’s country — Merriam-Webster — Let’s go a little further with this and break it down. ism (noun): 1: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory 2: an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief — Merriam-Webster — This opens things up — as a practice, who uses it, why and how is it[Read More…]
Saudi attitudes towards the plight of thousands of illegal Rohingya in the kingdom fleeing persecution in Myanmar and squalid Bangladeshi refugee camps help explain Saudi support for China’s brutal clampdown on Turkic Muslims in its troubled, north-western province of Xinjiang. For more than half a year, Saudi Arabia has been deporting large numbers of Rohingya who arrived in the kingdom[Read More…]
What if tomorrow nobody but the Unites States would use the US-dollar? Every country, or society would use their own currency for internal and international trade, their own economy-based, non-fiat currency. It could be traditional currencies or new government controlled crypto-currencies, but a country’s own sovereign money. No longer the US-dollar. No longer the dollar’s foster child, the Euro. No[Read More…]
As I turn 75, there’s no simpler way to put it than this: I’m an old man on a new planet — and, in case it isn’t instantly obvious, that’s not good news on either score. I still have a memory of being a camp counselor in upstate New York more than half a century ago. I was perhaps 20[Read More…]
The Democrats-led US House of Representatives Tuesday (July 16) formally condemned President Donald Trump’s Twitter posts as racist. The House vote was split largely along party lines despite pressure for Republicans to denounce the president’s attacks on four Democratic Congresswomen that they should “go back” to where they came from. The vote, 240-187, fell nearly entirely along party lines with only four Republicans voting[Read More…]
Last year on 31st October 2018when the India was celebrating the inauguration of Statue of Unity 75,000 strong crowd was protesting the event by deciding to fast for the whole day. This crowd comprised of residents from Kevadiya, Garudeshwar and other surrounding villages.They protesting against the Gujarat and the central government for violating their tribal rights. Despite holding protests in[Read More…]
An Economic Survey is a document that surveys the economy in the financial year just past. So, it lists the issues confronting the economy and gives prescriptions for how to tackle these problems. Usually the solutions to the problems are presented in the Budget since resolution of problems requires allocation of resources which can only be done in a Budget.[Read More…]
Hier Wohnte Bernhard Marx JB 1897 Deportiert 20.07.1942 Minsk Ermordet 24.07.1942 ‘Here lived Bernhard Marx Year of Birth 1897 Deported 20.07.1942 Minsk Assassinated 24.07.1942’ It was while walking past a desolate street in Bonn that we stumbled upon some brass plates on which the names of the members of a family were engraved. The name Bernhard, supposedly the head of[Read More…]
Can Kashmir’s conflict be solved through serious political engagements? This central question prevailed throughout the discussion that followed the release of Gowhar Geelani’s book Kashmir, Rage and Reason, here at the India International Centre in New Delhi on July 17. “The idea of the book emerged in 2008 when many-many civilians were killed, then 2010 (army crackdown) happened. My[Read More…]
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), said a WHO news release. The declaration was made in Geneva on July 17, 2019. This is the fifth such declaration in history. The “Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic[Read More…]
Twitter has become policy. It is platform, direction and determination. It has served one particular person well, a hazy mechanism to fog up the lenses of law makers. When President Donald Trump needs an air-wave filling distraction, a bilious splurge of interest in the blogosphere, he is always happy to lob a grenade of 280 characters or so. His targets[Read More…]
History never truly retires. Every event of the past, however inconsequential, reverberates throughout and, to an extent, shapes our present, and our future as well The haunting image of the bodies of Salvadoran father, Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his daughter, Valeria, who were washed ashore at a riverbank on the Mexico-US border cannot be understood separately from El Salvador’s[Read More…]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday (July 17) rejected India’s request to ‘acquit, release and return’ of its national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced by Pakistan on charges of espionage, however, asked Pakistan to provide him consular access. President of the ICJ Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf from Somalia read out the operational part of the decision in a[Read More…]
(One of the reasons for unstable connectivity of the valley in the absence of the traditional Jhelum Valley Road is the missing tunnels on most of the other links going through the surrounding mountains!) The National Highway NH-1A, the only life line to Kashmir valley has given this year the worst headache during its entire existence. Earlier too it had[Read More…]
Is then no nook of English ground free from rash assault , asked the famous English poet William Wordsworth more than 170 years ago. He was responding to the threat posed by the so-called development to Nature in his beloved lake district. Since then the threat to the environment has increased manifold in different parts of the world. One would[Read More…]
Widespread “increases in extreme heat” due to climate crisis could bring unprecedented risks to the U.S. in coming decades, warned a new study. By 2050, hundreds of U.S. cities could experience an entire month each year with U.S. “heat index” temperatures above 100F (38C) if nothing is done to check emissions and the consequent climate crisis, said the study report[Read More…]
‘I have been up there a fair amount of times and I have never seen liquid water up there,’ says mountaineer. Adam Forrest @adamtomforrest mountaineer, has captured the formation of an “alarming” lake high in the French Alps after glacial snow melted in the intense heatwave that gripped central Europe in late June. Bryan Mestre discovered the large pool of water at[Read More…]
In recent weeks, a new study by researchers at ETH Zurich has hit the headlines worldwide (Bastin et al. 2019). It is about trees. The researchers asked themselves the question: how much carbon could we store if we planted trees everywhere in the world where the land is not already used for agriculture or cities? Since the leaves of trees[Read More…]
When, in his farewell address in 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the “unwarranted influence” wielded by the “military-industrial complex,” he could never have dreamed of an arms-making corporation of the size and political clout of Lockheed Martin. In a good year, it now receives up to $50 billion in government contracts, a sum larger than the operating budget of the[Read More…]
History’s scope for the absurd and tragic is infinite. Like Sisyphus engaged in permanent labours pushing a boulder up a slope, the effort of making sense of such scope is likewise, absurdly infinite. To see images of an exhausted and world-weary Julian Assange attempting to dodge the all-eye surveillance operation that he would complain about is to wade in the[Read More…]
Action For Sustainable Development (Action4SD), a global civil society platform working on the Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change, has issued an appeal in New York to #StandTogetherNow to for a Just, Peaceful and Sustainable World. This is released when the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on the Agenda 2030 is going on in New York. Sign here:https://action4sd.org/sign-the-statement/ In 2015[Read More…]
A giant has gone. I had met him several occasions and found him extremely dedicated to Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s mission. His command over language and subject was complete. He was forthright to the extent of calling a spade a spade. Raja Dhale, one of the founding fathers of Dalit Panthers movement passed away in the morning today at his Mumbai[Read More…]
As South India is facing drought like situation, heavy rains continue across the north- eastern parts of India worsening the flood situation, which has left millions of people displaced in Bihar, Assam and a few other north-eastern districts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared a red color warning for action for Assam on Tuesday, as widespread and heavy rainfall[Read More…]
America’s Collapsing Because it’s the World’s First Poor Rich Country There are days I feel like I read dystopian statistics for a living. And then there are day when the dystopian statistics take even my jaded breath away. Here’s one: 43% of American households can’t afford a budget that includes housing, food, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and a cellphone. Translation: nearly half of[Read More…]
Jerusalem: Israeli police forced out the Siyam family from their home in the heart of occupied East Jerusalem last week, the final chapter in their 25-year legal battle against a powerful settler organisation. The family’s defeat represented much more than just another eviction. It was intended to land a crushing blow against the hopes of some 20,000 Palestinians living in[Read More…]
Turkey commemorated Monday the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, allegedly orchestrated by the US-based self-exiled Turkish Imam Fethullah Gülen President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid flowers on the July 15 Martyrs Monument in the Presidential Complex early in the morning. Erdogan, along with relatives of martyrs and veterans, went to the Bestepe Millet mosque for prayer services for the martyrs.[Read More…]
Interview – Noam Chomsky / C.J. Polychroniou It is no easy task to make sense of U.S. foreign policy in the current era. Trump is wildly unpredictable and lacks any semblance of a coherent view of world affairs, appearing to believe that all it takes is “the art of the deal” to turn “enemies” into friends. Meanwhile, since Trump’s rise[Read More…]
To, Prof Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai To, Prof. U. Vindhya, Deputy Director (Acting), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad To, M.P. Balamurugan Acting Registrar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad Dear Prof. Shalini Bharat, Ms U. Vindhya and Mr. M.P. Balamurugan, We are deeply disturbed and dismayed at the unprecedented decision of[Read More…]
Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers The warnings of climate chaos are coming so fast they are difficult to keep up with. Storms, heatwaves and climate-related weather disasters are increasing at a rapid pace. The leadership of the two corporate-dominated political parties are trying to keep the climate issue out of the 2020 campaign, but the movement is becoming[Read More…]
On 5 December 2018 social and print media published news of a press conference at the United Nation’s COP24 climate change conference held in Katowice, Poland. The news and a short video rapidly became viral on social media with large viewership and shares. The centre of attraction was a brave and articulate young girl, Greta Thunberg aged just 15, a young climate activist from Sweden. Sitting by the[Read More…]
“Some of the sanitation workers I met, face such high instances of mental trauma that they cannot wear anything yellow, cannot eat anything yellow.” -MaulikrajShrimani, WhistleblowerTheatre Group “I do not know anyone from my community who does anything apart from sanitation work. The only person I know to do something else is Mr.Purushottam Vaghela, who is working in an NGO[Read More…]
The Adani conglomerate should be best described as a bloated gangster, promising the earth even as it mines it. Like other corporate thugs of such disposition, it will do things within, and if necessary outside, the regulatory framework it encounters. Where necessary, it will libel detractors and bribe critics, speak of a fictional number of as yet non-existent jobs, and[Read More…]
Usually, America’s Republican billionaires are obsessed against Iran, and America’s Democratic billionaires are obsessed against Russia, but nonetheless on June 30th, the Boston Globe’s columnist Stephen Kinzer exaggerated when he headlined, “In an astonishing turn, George Soros and Charles Koch team up to end US ‘forever war’ policy” and he reported that, “the leftist financier George Soros and the right-wing[Read More…]
As we get closer to India’s 73rd Independence Day on 15th August this year, I realized that we have not yet achieved ‘Sampoorna Swaraj’ or complete and absolute independence. Independence for each and every citizen of the country is still a novel concept for many. Freedom to – live, laugh, speak, work and entertain is not yet a gift[Read More…]
Most of the women in conservative environment spend all their time in service of men; especially to their husbands ― Making them breads, meal, chae, coffee in return they get abuse, subjugation, beating, rape (my husband), & insults. They will rarely give them daily or monthly remuneration as prescribed by God and when do so, that too with insulting remarks[Read More…]
An authentic leader is a group leader and fulfils the expectations of the group. Typical authentic leaders are true to their selves, personal values and display consistency between their words and deeds generating trust and performance from their followers[1]. However, they can’t be so neutral and open, as the values, words and convictions may do correspond to the democratic ethos[Read More…]
If one is to believe their rhetoric, Conservative Indian-Americans– who overwhelmingly support the BJP — hate Congress for its dynastic politics. While it makes for a good sound bite, especially for the uninitiated, there is no evidence that in fact this group has anything but respect for dynasties- whether in India or in the United States. Their invocation of the[Read More…]
President Donald Trump’s racist tweets against four congresswomen saying go back to their “totally broken and crime infested” countries of origin, were widely condemned Sunday (July 14). “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even[Read More…]
Is this something that had its origin in Nehruvian centralised unitary India as well? Narendra Modi led his Hindu supremacist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to a second term victory in the 2019 Indian federal election. It was not a presidential election but almost looked like one – the election centred around one man and one man only;it was Narendra Modi.[Read More…]
Since Independence in 1947, India has witnessed progress on various fronts. However, the progress on Equality of Human rights, especially when it comes to non-permanent workers or Unorganised sector workers has been plodding, despite various attempts by lawmakers. The issue is deep-rooted and is at an inflexion point where despite many incidents across the country, some of them resulting in[Read More…]
Anyone willing to consult the international law book on the subject of free speech will find it heavy with protections for free speech. The UN Declaration of Human Rights features, in its preamble, the ideal that “human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want”, nothing less than “the highest aspiration of the common[Read More…]
The Personal Is Still Political – And It’s Planetary, Too I have never said this publicly before, but in December 1974 I had an abortion. I was 22 years old, living in a cold, dark house in Portland, Oregon, spending my days huddled in front of a wood stove trying to finish my undergraduate senior thesis. I did not want[Read More…]
In any civilised society no one will resort to violence, or the threat of violence, to stifle the voices that one does not want to hear. Unfortunately, this is what happened in Malaysia a few days ago when some bigots managed to force the cancellation of a public seminar on ‘The Amman Message’ organised by certain civil society groups scheduled[Read More…]
A recent interview in which Baloch National Movement chairman Khalil Baloch legitimized recent militant attacks on Iranian, Chinese and Pakistani targets is remarkable less for what he said and more for the fact that his remarks were published by a Saudi newspaper. Speaking to Riyadh Daily, the English language sister of one of Saudi Arabia’s foremost newspapers, Al Riyadh, Mr.[Read More…]
“Most dangerous person in the world is the person who believes he has discovered the meaning of life” (Isaiah Berlin) Corporatisation is not development and market control does not mean freedom of choice. The current observation of right-wing populist[1] understanding about the various sociopolitical notions directly shows the prevalence of right-wing mindset at the general level. Some of the debates[Read More…]
The recent peace deal being implemented in Sudan was brokered by African leaders without any interference or even input by non African players ie the UN or western countries. As a matter of fact the deal was made in Asmara, Eritrea where the head of the Sudanese military that had overthrown the long time despot Omar Al Bashir sat down[Read More…]
A NOTE FROM THE NO FIRE ZONE [Book by Kass Ghayouri] Dr. Varatharajan who was on duty inside the ‘NO FIRE ZONE” during the genocidal war laments: “That night I cried, Tamil civilians died, Dead bodies I eyed, I did not have pride, There was no war guide, Tamils forced to hide, The Sri Lankan army lied, Took[Read More…]
In May 2019, the party of the Hindu Right, Bharatiya Janata Party, under Narendra Modi, won a spectacular electoral victory. The victory seemed to defy common sense – why did conversations of life and livelihood not dominate the election? Why did the thuggery of the Hindutva vigilantes seem inconsequential to vast numbers of ordinary, decent people? Why is an aggressive,[Read More…]
BJP, a right-wing political party, came to power again in 2019, on the promises of “Sab ka Sath, Sab ka Vishwas”.But on the other side, it also raised the rhetoric of patriotism and hyper-nationalism over Pulwama blast in Kashmir and Balakot airstrike, which later proved to be mere eyewash to hide its failures in the first tenure. From calling immigrants in Bengal termites deemed[Read More…]
A Facebook post by Sreedharan that “my Umma (mother) has honored the summons of Allah, please pray for her soul…if there is heaven, my Umma will surely find a place there,” has caught many eyeballs. It appeared it was a cry of a Hindu child for her Muslim mother. There was definitely curiosity raised through the FB post. In deeper[Read More…]
A group of madrasa students were assaulted and allegedly forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram” purportedly by right-wing goons in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, resulting in the injury of at least four students on Friday, reported The Hindu. The boys, all of them minors, were allegedly beaten up with cricket stumps and bats, and also attacked with stones. “Almost all of[Read More…]
In the latest incident of mob violence a police constable was beaten to death in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district on Saturday. Head constable Abdul Gani, 48, a resident of Kunwariya, was probing a land dispute and had gone to the site when a mob attacked him after an argument over encroachment. The policeman was seriously injured in the attack. He was[Read More…]
Key decision-makers and senior representatives of several constituencies are convening to review progress on the effective development co-operation (EDC) agenda and to discuss how to accelerate country-level progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Representatives of the global platform CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) have gathered in New York for the Senior-Level Meeting (SLM) of the Global Partnership for[Read More…]
Turkey on Friday (July 12) received first shipment of Russian S-400 missile defense system hardware from Russia, Turkish Defense Ministry announced. “The first batch of equipment of S-400 missile defense system, which is procured to meet Turkey’s air and missile defense needs, has started to arrive at Murted Air Base in Ankara,” the ministry said in a statement. The second Russian[Read More…]
Almost every day we read about the latest outbursts in Europe, targeting pro-immigration policies. There are protests, even riots. Right-wing governments get voted in, allegedly, because the Europeans “have had enough of relaxed immigration regulations”. That is what we are told. That’s what we are supposed to understand, and even sympathize with. Anti-immigration sentiments are even pitched to the[Read More…]
On 10th July 2019, India woke up to see the tragic image of a 70-year old man named Kasi falling at the feet of some Tamil Nadu district government officials, begging them to rescue him from a work site where he was kept as a ‘slave’. This image soon became viral in the social media and disturbed the conscience of[Read More…]
Rarely do ambassadors resign after an intense self-assessment of worth. Diplomatic immunity does not merely extend to protecting the official from the reach of local laws; it encourages a degree of freedom in engaging as a country’s representative. Sir Kim Darroch, as UK ambassador to the United States, felt that any freedom afforded him in that capacity had ended. “The[Read More…]
The bullying in Washington is the current trend. On Monday, the British ambassador resigned his post after Trump refused to deal with him. Well-liked in Washington and the halls of Congress, his downfall was an honest assessment of the Trump administration as ‘inept’ and ‘dysfunctional’. The letters were leaked in the U.K. Suppose the president tweets comments contrary to current[Read More…]
“The most destructive object on the planet… is the human jawbone.” (Food or War, Cambridge University Press,2019) pg 177 Whether by sight, taste, touch, feel, or smell, it’s only too obvious that “food” affects every aspect of life and is key to crucial life-supporting ecosystems. Day-in, day-out,every living thing needs food. Perchance, ecosystems cease to function, the human jawbone[Read More…]
Some moments are important than epochs in the histories of nations. So holds true about 13 July 1931 in the history of Kashmir. On this day v people of Kashmir scripted their history with their blood. It was not the first day when people laid their lives for just cause- history of Kashmir after 1819 is replete with incidents when[Read More…]
The banning of New York-based advocacy group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) by the Indian state has once again revealed the discriminatory and anti-minority mindset of the government of the world’s so called largest democracy. On July 10, the Indian Home Ministry declared SFJ as an unlawful organization and banned it for five years. SFJ is being accused of spreading terrorism[Read More…]
(DV Rao’s Death (July 12, 1984) Anniversary is observed in July every year. His views on the Problem of Nationalities in India are relevant and useful for students of politics , more so of democrats and revolutionaries. Hence this write-up. Part-1 was published on July 11, 2019. This is Part-2 of the two-part article.) ‘Indian nation’ and nationalism have been[Read More…]
‘Miyah poetry’ began in 2016 as a series of poems opposing the use of the word ‘Miyah’ as a slang word for Assamese Muslims of Bengal-origin. Today ‘Miyah poetry’ is an umbrella term for poems by many, mostly young poets, from within and even outside the Bengal-origin Assamese Muslim community. These poems include stories of humiliation and discrimination, love poems,[Read More…]
As the sun sets in the West, North and South India, FIRs have been issued against 10 poets of North East who basically belong to the Bengali – Muslim community. FIR has been lodged against them for writing a specific type of poetry named “Miya” poetry which has recently seen the light of the dawn in the North East. Miya[Read More…]
US and UK military sources claim that Iranian boats intercepted a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, before a British warship, the HMS Montrose, chased them off. None of the reports about this incident can be taken at face value. Iran has flatly denied that it took place, and US officials making allegations have not posted videos they[Read More…]
Intense fighting and hideous attacks battered Afghans throughout their country last week as negotiators in Qatar weighed the benefits and costs of a peace agreement that might stop the bloodshed. In Kabul at least 40 people, including one child, were killed in a complex Taliban attack. Dozens of children whose school was partially collapsed by a massive car bomb were[Read More…]
The European Alps is not free from the curse – glacial melt. Scientists have found that the European Alps could lose its glaciers up to 90 percent by 2100 if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue unchecked. (Zekollari, H., Huss, M., and Farinotti, D.: Modelling the future evolution of glaciers in the European Alps under the EURO-CORDEX RCM ensemble, The Cryosphere, 13,[Read More…]
Cue the shots, take the snaps: US President Donald Trump was back entertaining his fetish with firm handshakes proclaiming the making of history in the last round of discussions with Kim Jong-un. The press were, despite periodic attacks of bafflement, ever obliging. The meeting of Trump with the leader of the DPRK was deemed historic, because everything the president does[Read More…]
U.S. veterans are war-weary, finds a recent poll. A parallel survey of U.S. adults finds that the public shares the same sentiments found in the poll on vets. The poll by Pew Research Center finds: Nearly two-thirds of the veterans believe the war in Iraq “was not worth fighting.” The same poll finds: More than half of the vets think[Read More…]
Haiti appears hell to the slum women. An AFP report headlined “Raped, widowed, homeless: Haiti’s slum women abandoned to gangs” begins with the following description: “As the first bursts of gunfire rang out, the women from La Saline slum grabbed their kids and fled for cover. “Shootings are common here, but this time, there was no outrunning the full-on battle[Read More…]
Co-Written by Punsara Amarasinghe & Eshan Jayawardene The predictions made by larger number of academics based in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta about Indian General elections vouching that NarendraModi would not get his second term as prime minister were shattered in reality as Modi could uphold his strong position better than the previous time resulting a steeping success of his Bharatiya[Read More…]
Suddenly the media and social media are abuzz with concern for water crisis, water wastage, preservation, groundwater replenishment and so on so forth. It is good. The social media, which are our big brothers, always watch over what people are doing, each and every person, can easily detect the date and time of the beginning of the sudden spur that[Read More…]
The oath-taking ceremony by the members of newly constituted 17th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) on 18 June 2019 turned into a virtual slogan-shouting contest between treasury and opposition benches. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party with overwhelming strength (303 MPs) hackled and taunted an MP of Muslim party, AIMIM from Hyderabad in[Read More…]
The ICC provides no legal counterbalance to the arrogance of an empire’s power. It is the empire’s court. In June, a group of international lawyers sued the European Union for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The lawyers claim that when the EU switched to a policy of deterring refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2014, in particular[Read More…]
Iran announced the second step in reducing her commitment under the 2015 so-called Nuclear Deal, officially known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by exceeding the limit set by agreement of 3.67% uranium enrichment and 300 kg of enriched uranium accumulation. When asked by the media about his reaction, Trump says, “they know what they are doing” and[Read More…]
July 11 marks the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity on European soil since the World War Two. In July, 1995, Serb forces systematically killed more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in the UN-protected enclave in Srebrenica, Bosnia. Al Jazeera provides a graphic account of the Srebrenica genocide. On July 11, 1995 at 16:15 General Ratko[Read More…]
Tunisian film world is witnessing a surge in production with a variety of themes, which were not usually allowed for quite a long, triggering what is called ‘a post-revolution cinema revival.’ According to producer Habib Attia, “Since 2011, one of the most tangible benefits we’ve seen is the ability to talk about all topics, especially themes of society, our daily[Read More…]
Jallianwala Bagh massacre was committed on 13 April, 1919 when people had gathered to celebrate Baisakhi at Amritsar, Panjab. This article pays homage to the innocent and peaceful men, women and children who unsuspectedly fell victims to senseless firings of the colonial authorities. They were martyrs of Indian freedom struggle. That the colonial rulers had awarded as compensation a sum[Read More…]
The Janhastakshep takes note of and condemns in unequivocal terms the vindictive CBI raids on her and her husband Anand Gover’s house and the office of the NGO, Lawers’ Collective with the sense of vengeance for raising voices against the ill deeds of the government. The action is the latest sequence of attacks continuing for the last five years, agaimst[Read More…]
It’s always the oil. While President Trump was hobnobbing with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Japan, brushing off a recent U.N. report about the prince’s role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Asia and the Middle East, pleading with foreign leaders to support “Sentinel.” The aim of that administration plan:[Read More…]
(DV Rao’s Death (July 12, 1984) Anniversary is observed in July every year. His views on the Problem of Nationalities in India are relevant and useful for students of politics , more so of democrats and revolutionaries. Hence this write-up.) ‘Indian nation’ and nationalism have been under intense discusssion in recent past, including in the latest elections. Those who are[Read More…]
US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to ratchet up once again the punishing US “maximum pressure” sanctions against Iran. In an ignorant and lying tweet, the US president stated: “Iran has long been secretly ‘enriching’, in total violation of the terrible 150 Billion Dollar deal made by John Kerry and the Obama Administration … Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!”[Read More…]
Carbon dioxide emissions may trigger a reflex in the carbon cycle, with devastating consequences, finds a new study. The NASA and the National Science Foundation supported study – “Characteristic disruptions of an excitable carbon cycle” – by an MIT scientist said: “The great environmental disruptions of the geologic past remain enigmatic. Each one results in a temporary change in the[Read More…]
Making minor changes to how food is produced, supplied and consumed around the world could free up around a fifth of agricultural land, finds a new research. The study – “Transforming agricultural land use through marginal gains in the food system” (Global Environmental Change, 2019; 57: 101932 DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101932) – by Peter Alexander, Anjali Reddy, Calum Brown, Roslyn C. Henry[Read More…]
On the invitation of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Pakistan on 27th June for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries. The premier of Pakistan and President Ghani held a one-on-one meeting, in which an overall regional situation and matters pertaining to bilateral cooperation in various sectors, were discussed.[Read More…]
Mugilan, a TamilNadu based environmental and civil rights activist disappeared on Feburary 15, 2019, after releasing explosive video evidence that implicated the Vedanta’s Sterlite Corporation in the killing of 13 people including a minor girl,Snowlin. That night, when he was supposed to board a train from Chennai Egmore railway station to Madurai, he went missing. A case was filed in[Read More…]
Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Public awareness of the brutal repression against immigrants seeking entry to the United States, the reasons for their migration, and terrorism against immigrants living in the US are reaching levels that make them hard to ignore. The current immigration crisis is self-created and bi-partisan. Although the Trump administration’s rhetoric is extreme, it reflects[Read More…]
The United States believes that it is so invincible, exceptional and so frightening that no one would ever dare to protest, let alone defend its people against constant humiliation, economic embargos and military threats. It used to be like this for quite some time. In the past, the West used to bully the world before and after each well-planned assault.Also,[Read More…]
BÜCHEL, Germany — Eleven international peace activists entered the Büchel Air Base southwest of Frankfurt early this morning to deliver what they called a “Treaty Enforcement Order” declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the base is a “criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes.” Upon entering the base’s main gate with a printed “cease and desist order,” they[Read More…]
Libyans in Tripoli are again under siege, anti-imperialists should be encouraged to use this window of topicality to have the public know the truth about the colonial powers’ annihilation of Africa’s most prosperous nation. Let us look back at a peaceful and prosperous Libya, just five weeks before the UN Security Council voted to bomb it. the UN Quality of[Read More…]
Former Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday (July 9) ‘Our conflict is with the entire Muslim world, with the entire Arab world.’ Speaking at a campaign trail meeting in Kiryat Ono, the Yisrael Beiteinu party head described the “conflict” as “three-dimensional” – “with the Arab countries, with the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.” “We do not have a separate conflict[Read More…]
Shah Bano and Babri Masjid cases are incongruent but the well accepted maxim is that the twains are ‘inseparable siblings’ but the fact is that it is high time the twains are separated. This popularly known Triple Talaq Bill, thus needs an urgent legal scrutiny apart from contextualising it with the political paradigms of the country. The bill right now[Read More…]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement Monday condemning the conditions for immigrants detained by the US government in concentration camps along the southern border with Mexico. Her statement cites the separation of children from their parents, the “undignified conditions” in the network of detention centers and other gross violations of human rights and international law[Read More…]
I would like to announce the publication of a book describing the lives of some of the people who have contributed importantly to the peace movement. The book can be freely downloaded from the following link: http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Lives-in-the-peace-movement-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf I hope that the lives of these women and men can inspire us as we work together to abolish the institution of war. [Read More…]
Along with other allies, the UK and France will send forces to Syria, and the U.S. will bear the cost, says a new report in Foreign Policy. The U.S. president Donald Trump promised to outsource fighting to allies and pay them to do it. According to the Foreign Policy report, the UK and France are willing to heed calls from[Read More…]
In this book, we, like Marx and Engels, have used the names “communism” and “socialism” to mean the same relation of production. Marx and Engels had used the two names alternately to signify the post-revolutionary democratic world system of “cooperative”, “communal”, or universal ownership. Why they preferred communist identity at the beginning of their studies and organization whilst socialist at[Read More…]
Co-Written by Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal A mass demonstration was held at JantarMantar, New Delhi today i.e. 10 July, 2019 from 10 a.m. onwards against the mob lynching and right wing atrocities. Several hundred Muslims participated in this protest action. Speakers stressed the adoption of legal, peaceful, democratic methods against the onslaught on the community. Victims and their[Read More…]
On May 15, Dadi Kadraka, an activist with the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (the Niyamgiri Protection Council or NSS) which has put up a relentless fight against the corporate destruction of the Dongria Kondhs’ revered god Niyamraja, was arrested from the Muniguda market in Rayagada. Human rights groups and local activists have condemned Kadraka’s arrest, saying the charges he was booked[Read More…]
Economic experts have determined that Trump American sanctions on the impoverished state of Venezuela have so far been associated with 5 million refugees and 80,000 excess deaths from deprivation in the last 2 years (alternative estimates are of 45,000 -173,000 such deaths). The Organization of American States predicts 8 million Venezuelan refugees by the end of 2020. Decent Humanity must[Read More…]
This long analysis of the US aggression on Venezuela is about to end. Not because the US administration changed its mind, but because, as expected, this latest season (January-May 2009) faded away after the humiliation the US suffered on April 30th. The only aspect left to analyze is, precisely, how it faded away, and how is Venezuela now, after half a year[Read More…]
Australian society relishes secrecy and surveillance. Forget the laid-back, relaxed demeanour that remains the great fiction of a confected identity; like all such creations, the trace should not be mistaken as the tendency. The political culture of Australia remains shaped by penal paranoia and an indifference to transparency. The citizen is not to be trusted; rather, the subject is to[Read More…]
Yes, as we speak horrid things are happening Right under our very gaze Yes, as we speak brutality is sport And the children suffer as they have before Is the noise of violence that which defines us? Or is it the silence that lets the noise grow? Is there really a tale of Love in this mess? Or is the[Read More…]
<< Asia’s giant- India- holds a net advantage over China in terms of political climate. In fact, India is the world’s most populated democracy where even the groups that occupy the lowest caste have the right to vote and secure representation in the battle for social mobility and real equality>>. Don’t you think this is a naïve representation of a[Read More…]
NREGA Sangharsh Morcha and PAEG’s Response to Budget and Economic Survey 2019 Even as many parts of the county suffer from drought, the new government at the centre has allocated a mere Rs 60,000 crores for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) for the ongoing financial year. This is Rs 1,084 crore less than the revised budget estimate for[Read More…]
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Monday confirmed that Iran has breached the limit imposed by the 2015 nuclear agreement on the level at which it is allowed to enrich uranium. Iran had announced its breach of the limit on Sunday, a deliberate step aimed at pressuring the remaining signatories to the nuclear accord—particularly Germany, France and the UK—to take[Read More…]
A sudden heavy rainfall flooded Washington D.C., the capital city of the most powerful country in the world. Scenarios in parts of the capital city were no different from the similar flooded capital cities of the countries considered poor, backward and mismanaged. Widespread flash flooding hit throughout the D.C. metro area, including in downtown Washington D.C. The rainfall-fed flood submerged[Read More…]
Migrant detention is now a top debate in the United States. The U.S. President, the press and politicians are in the debate. The New York Times hit back at Trump after he accused the NYT of fabricating a story about nightmarish conditions inside a migrant detention center at Clint, Texas. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the NYT had written “phony and exaggerated accounts,”[Read More…]
Put up with me for just a moment while I wax literary. It turns out that, if French novelist Marcel Proust lived today, he might have had to retitle his Remembrance of Things Past as Remembrance of Things Present, or even more sadly, Things Future. As an ex-military man who lived through part of the Cold War in uniform, let me make my point,[Read More…]
The United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF) commences from 9th July and will continue till 18th July in the UN headquarters in New York, which will, among other discussions, review the working of the much touted Agenda 2030, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and suggest course corrections so that we achieve 17 ambitious goals by 2030.[Read More…]
I have previously written many articles describing one or more aspects of the dysfunctional nature of the typical human mind, together with an explanation of how this came about and what we can do about it. See, for example, many of the articles republished in ‘Key Articles’and the source documents ‘Why Violence?’ and ‘Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and[Read More…]
United States (US) demands that Iran promise to halt pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile developments distract from the real intent of the US actions. Knowing that the Islamic Republic is not pursuing nuclear weapons and will react aggressively to sanctions, the US ploy deters other nations from establishing more friendly relations with Iran and from changing their perspectives[Read More…]
This article was written 10 years ago. Nothing has changed! It appears President Trump is fond of time travel. In his July 4th speech he talked about taking over airports in America in 1775. There was no air travel in 1775. Facts don’t matter. Except this time, travelling back in time in our Iran dealings has very dangerous and unforeseen[Read More…]
Those who are still hoping that the new American agenda on Palestine and Israel is temporary, or reversible, should abandon this false hope. Washington’s complete adoption of Israel’s messianic, extremist policies regarding Occupied Palestine has been a long time in the making. And it is here to stay. Despite the unmistakable clarity in the American political discourse regarding Palestine, the[Read More…]
When reading the Bachelet Report on Human Rights, following HR High Commissioner’s 3 day visit to Venezuela, published on Venezuela’s National Holiday, 5 July, that it makes hardly any reference to the deadly sanctions and blockades imposed by the United States. How is that possible? The High Commissioner for Human Right does not mention the crimes of all crimes committed[Read More…]
An official Turkish visit to the troubled north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang to assess reports of a brutal crackdown on the region’s Turkic Muslims could shape Turkey’s challenge to conservative Gulf states’ leadership of the Islamic world and complicate Muslim silence about the most frontal assault on their faith in recent history. The visit to assess the situation in[Read More…]
Review of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley Language creates, destroys, and maintains but not always in the fashion in which it was intended. When even well-intentioned people repeat a word or phrase too often, or use it in trivial or decontextualized ways, they create ironic and often portentous conditions. As with the stories of the[Read More…]
Co-Written by Basant Rawat, Kausharali Saiyed & Sandeep Pandey Indian Muslims are a deprived community with very low participation in the functioning of the world’s largest parliamentary democracy. This despite the fact that followers of Islam in India are the single largest minority- they’re about 17.22 crores, i.e., 14.2 % of total population of the country, according to the 2011[Read More…]
The general elections results came on May 23, signaling a robust 300 plus majority to BJP under Narender Modi. As a run-up to the polls, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, now Defense Minister, made a visit to the residence of Ammar Rizvi in Lucknow on April 5, a cog who has had a long career on the Shia political radar[Read More…]
As most of the country reels from the shock of the water shortage, those who belong to the marginalized classes of the society have water taken away right in front of their eyes, from the very places where they live in need and desperation of finding water to drink. In Mokhada, close to 150 km from Mumbai, the commercial capital[Read More…]
Makuris Zan Mal Tcholum Manas Ada Mya Labum Zanis Zaan Su Yeli Dyuenthum Nishi Paanas Sorui Suie Ti Bi Na Kehn My inner self got laved and purified About HIM then patently I came to know And when I saw HIM nigh to me HE was everything everywhere and I nought From the very beginning Kashmir is known for[Read More…]
Article 15 is one of the few movies in commercial Bollywood cinema in recent times that talks about caste. However, it talks about caste using specific lingo and tropes that sit well with the world view of the urban, savarna, multiplex-frequenting, post-liberalization middle class. Far from triggering discomfort in their accumulated privileged world, the movie in its chilling Netflix thriller-esque style[Read More…]
The US state of Alaska, part of which lies inside the Arctic Circle, sweltered under a heatwave, with record temperatures recorded in several areas, including its largest city. The temperature rivaled temperatures in Miami Temperatures reached 90 Fahrenheit (F) (32.2C) in Anchorage on Thursday, shattering the city’s all-time record-high temperature by 5 degrees. The previous record of 85F was set[Read More…]
If the fourth of July mid-day parade in Washington D.C. was depressing, perhaps the heavy, hot and humid weather was to blame. It seemed to take the life out of the marching bands despite being supplied by reviving swigs of water. The evening was a different matter. A far from usual jingoistic display of military hardware and aircraft flyovers[Read More…]
The United States of Amnesia has occasionally found expression amongst those despairing at the state of historical consciousness in Freedom’s Land. Gore Vidal remains something of its high priest, his writings a pertinent scolding about what went wrong in the creation of a New Rome in the Americas. From Pilgrim’s Progress to the National Security State, the US became an[Read More…]
Today’s Political World at a Glance Global politics is overwhelmingly becoming robotic when question of safeguard of the mankind comes up. Global political leaders are fast becoming actors on stage – issuing abstract statements of outrage and phony sense of grief when thousands and millions of human lives are constantly bombarded by the weapons they manufacture and sell to crush[Read More…]
A political crisis in the former Soviet republic of Georgia challenges the fundament of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s civilizationalist effort to project Russia as a major power whose defense of the Russian Diaspora allows it to redefine the country’s borders. The challenge emerged as protesters demanded the resignation of interior minister Giorgi Gakharia for violently breaking up demonstrations against the[Read More…]
Dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Benito Mussolini are known for their greed for power and criminality. When all of them were alive they used all types of political & military power to suppress and eliminate their political opponents with the help of the secret police. They instilled social, economic and cultural distress among the innocent people[Read More…]
Believe it or not, the Telanganagovernment is hell-bent on destroying a historical palace in Hyderabad that was built back in 1870 by Nawab Fakhr Ul Mulk. The government wants to bring it down to build a new state legislature in its place that will be “vastu”compliant. A petition is being hosted on change.org, which has been signed by thousands of[Read More…]
India has been epitome of pluralism, tolerance, and diversity since ages. Religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity of India has left inerasable imprints all over the world. Varieties of social groups and ideological differences among the communities could not shake the unity of India. The India which was imagined by the Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Patel, Azad, Ashfaqullah, and Baghat Singh was[Read More…]
Britain’s seizure of an Iranian supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil is an act of piracy and a major escalation in tensions that threaten to spiral out of control. It was carried out at the behest of the United States as part of the campaign of military provocations and economic sabotage against Tehran. A detachment of nearly 30 British[Read More…]
After the destruction of the European as well as many Asian industrial infrastructures and economies due to WWII, the American industry and technology dominated the world. The US became the strongest global economy. Yet, with the rebuilding of European and especially of Asian economy with relatively cheaper labor force, competition against the American economy became tougher. To maintain its unique[Read More…]
Indore city deserves to be in the news for better reasons than the ugly bat wielding by the spoilt son of BJP general secretary Kailas Vijayavargiya last week. I was in Indore last week for a workshop on sustainable transport. The city is astonishingly clean and deserves the first ranking in cleanliness in the country. Mumbai, which is in such[Read More…]
During a visit to Amritsar some years ago, en route to the Golden Temple, I visited another neighboring Gurudwara – Gurudwara Saragarhi Sahib. The guide accompanying us narrated a bit of the history of the Gurudwara and its significance but the narrative meant nothing to me. Although I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about history, at least compared to most, all[Read More…]
Article 15 is an attempt to glorify the ‘harmonious’ varna vyavastha. There is a deafening silence when it comes to questioning the caste structure. Article 15, a movie directed by Anubhav Sinha, faced angry protesters after the release of its trailer. Hindutva supporters felt that their old age traditions and culture were being questioned and ridiculed. Article 15 earned appreciable[Read More…]
One of the most popular Sufi orders in Kashmir is the Rishi Order. It is the indigenous Sufi order that has originated in Kashmir itself. Many saints belong to this order and all of them are held in high esteem by the people. One among them is Baba Hardi Reshi (R.a) who is adoringly known as ‘Resh Moul’, which means[Read More…]
GENEVA (3 July 2019) – UN experts* today expressed their grave concern over the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens in Assam, India, and its potential to harm millions of people, most of whom belong to minorities. The experts also issued warnings on the rise of hate speech directed against these minorities in social media, and the potential[Read More…]
Typically, like most Canadians, I’m deeply concerned about a lot of pressing issues in Canada and the world at large: the course and direction of the upcoming federal election; what some meekly call climate change while others, because of the dire threat it poses to the very continuation of life in the future for all human and non-human species, more[Read More…]
Win the battle of democracy Do away with private property Abolish the wages system altogether End employment to end unemployment Achieve abundance for all and inscribe on the banners: From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs! An association, in which the free development of each is the condition of free development of all “Communism[Read More…]
In the Face of Mein Trumpf’s Militarist Orgy, the Burning Flags Light Up a Different Future July 4 was a tale of three futures. One was Donald Trump—not only braying about the so-called greatness of America, but fetishizing the military hardware and troops of its empire that daily kills people all over this planet and calling on people to[Read More…]
Today we will name The Day of Peace. And when tomorrow becomes today The Day of Social Justice. When the weekend rolls around first will be The Day of the Council of All Beings followed by The Day of Love our Neighbors along with The Love of Strangers. To start the new week Day of Earth First. Then[Read More…]
Rahul Gandhi has finally resigned. His resignation letter is a brutally frank one. In this letter he has confessed of being betrayed by his party mates and fighting a lonely battle. He has also pointed out the institutional takeover of the fascist Sangh Parivar. He also committed to work towards an inclusive India as a loyal party member. In close[Read More…]
Glacier melt in the Himalayas today is twice as fast as it was before 2000. With conditions remaining unchanged, the glaciers are likely to lose two-thirds of their total ice. Images, once secret, from Cold War-period US spy satellites helped find out the fact. Hexagon, a US spy program in the 1970s-’80s, launched 20 satellites to photograph secretly our world[Read More…]
By Dr Hakim Young and the Afghan Peace Volunteers Dear fellow human beings, Some of us have wondered, “Are people today too disconnected and frantic to calm down, in order to solve global challenges together? Are we so polarized and self-absorbed that we cannot stop judging one another or insisting on our partisan ways?” In Kabul, our thoughts and feelings[Read More…]
GENEVA (4 July 2019) ‑ UN human rights experts* have urged the Government of India to prevent the potential eviction of up to nine million people, most of whom are forest dwellers and members of scheduled tribes with an ancestral link to the land and forest. The threat of evictions follows a 13 February order by the Supreme Court of[Read More…]
The out-going Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, headed a three judges bench comprising J. Ashok Bhushan and J. Abdul Nazeer, on Sep 27, 2018, passed an order that ‘mosque was not an integral part of Islam’ while hearing the Ramjanambhumi/ Babri Masjid case, which is now in its last phase. No wonder this order brought a ‘sense of rejoice’[Read More…]
The restoration of forested land at a global scale could help capture atmospheric carbon significantly and mitigate climate change, finds a new study. The scientists showed for the first time where in the world new trees could grow and how much carbon they would store. The study report – “The Global Tree Restoration Potential” (Science, 2019; 365 (6448): 76) –[Read More…]
The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) said Tuesday (July 3) as many as 3,185 civilians have been extra-judicially killed by Egyptian security forces since July 3, 2013 when the US-client General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi overthrew the government of President Mohammad Morsi who was the first democratically elected President of Egypt. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has now assumed the title of[Read More…]
“We became Harijan (Mahatma Gandhi used to address Dalits as people of God, Harijan) or bahujan (many people) but we never became the people, “says the activist. And so the Dalits remain marginalized in our Bharat & never mainstream. The film Article 15 by director Anubhav Sinha is overflowing with such innumerable dialogues which are right on spot .And there are many scenes, which are symbolic[Read More…]
An illuminating dispatch by Far Eastern correspondent Godfree Roberts on the puzzling Hong Kong crisis, whose contradictions are cynically exploited by the Western media, all according to Washington’s plan. Have we seen this movie before? Yes, we have, in 2014, and in scores of other places victims of some “color revolution”, wherever America’s “soft power” is allowed to sink its[Read More…]
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has ultimately resigned. He had resigned immediately after the massive defeat of his party during the general elections but the loyalists in the party dragged the issue too long hoping that he would be persuaded to take his resignation back but they failed. Rahul tweeted his lengthy letter to his party and to the general public.[Read More…]
Scores of African refugees were killed or wounded when the detention center in which they were being held in a western suburb of the Libyan capital of Tripoli took a direct hit in a bombing early Wednesday. Libyan officials reported that 44 of the refugees had been killed outright and another 130 wounded, but the death toll was expected to[Read More…]
In the latest of the interminable media “furores” about Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed unfitness to lead Britain’s Labour party – let alone become prime minister – it is easy to forget where we were shortly before he won the support of an overwhelming majority of Labour members to head the party. In the preceding two years, it was hard to avoid[Read More…]
Why did the European Food Safety Authority claim that glyphosate was not ecotoxic? This is the question environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason poses in her new 23-page report which can be accessed in full here. In places, the report reads like a compilation of peer-reviewed studies and official reports that have documented the adverse impacts of chemicals used in modern agriculture.[Read More…]
The United States on Tuesday (July 2) declared Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a global terrorist organization. The US State Department said it was classifying the BLA as a global terrorist group, making it a crime for anyone in the United States to assist the militants and freezing any US assets they may have. “The BLA is an armed separatist[Read More…]
Taking responsibility for the Congress party’s poor performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, 3 July, resigned from the post of the Congress President. He posted a four-page letter on Twitter, officially announcing his resignation as the Congress President. It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served[Read More…]
Americans, who flinch at the sight of their nation’s flag, never forget the rage in the voice of former President Obama’s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright during TV news bites of him shouting, his finger pointing to heaven, “God bless America? No, no! God damn America for her crimes against humanity” Many Americans think of July 4th as some sort of[Read More…]
The antipodes has had a fraught relationship with the nuclear option. At the distant ends of the earth, New Zealand took a stand against the death complex, assuming the forefront of restricting the deployment of nuclear assets in its proximity. This drove Australia bonkers with moral envy and strategic fury. The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control[Read More…]
A United Arab Emirates decision to withdraw the bulk of its forces from Yemen shines a spotlight on hard realities underlying Middle Eastern geopolitics. The pullback suggests that the UAE is preparing for the possibility of a US military confrontation with Iran in which the UAE and Saudi Arabia could emerge as prime battlegrounds. It also reflects long-standing subtle differences[Read More…]
A question oft raised by journalists, writers and social scientists world-wide asks, “Is Democracy in the United States, as well as every other country in the world, dying a slow, barely visible death?” Military coups, openly fascist takeovers through the normal election process of former quasi-democratic political systems and the more quiet, passive, inexorable, everyday erosions of the democratic process[Read More…]
The World Heritage Committee on 3rd July 2019 in Baju, Azerbaijan, followed the IUCN’s advice to list Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California as a World Heritage site in danger. The site’s population of vaquitas – the world’s smallest and most endangered species of porpoise – has been decimated due to the illegal trade of marine[Read More…]
They came in the season of white nights, when the sun never fully sets and so the night over Moscow is never truly black, but instead glows as if it were sheened in magnesium, or better yet, like a scaled salmon’s scale lessside. They came early, before the sun, before blue took its turn, before the people of Lazo Street[Read More…]
A 7-member team of GanatantrikAdhikar Suraksha Sangathan, Odisha visited many villages of Puri district and a slum in Puri town on 20th June and 26th June to know more about the situation of local villagers after 55 days of cyclone Fani.The Fani cyclone had hit Odisha coast on 3rd May 2019. The team also met officials of RWSS, Electricity Dept.[Read More…]
(The land which was once the legendry Satisar may soon turn into a desert if we do not reclaim and protect our water bodies!) Last year in these columns the tragic state of our water bodies was described in detail with the hope that some concrete action would be initiated to save these. Unfortunately, nothing substantial has been achieved. Only[Read More…]
July 4 is the day martyrs of armed struggle of Telangana are remembered. That was the day, in 1946, of martyrdom of Doddi Komarayya, a young man from a poor peasant and shepherd family of Kadivendi village of the then Nalgonda district. (Now it is in Warangal district of Telangana state, TS.) He was the first among 4000 communist and[Read More…]
How would you take a police story without the usual masculine derring-do or hifalutin dialogues that appeal to lowbrow tastes?Unda, the Mammotty-starrer Malayalam movie directed by Khalid Rahman, is not a police story per se. There is no mystery involved, nor is there an investigation that keeps you on tenterhooks. The plot is simple. A contingent of nine-member policemen from[Read More…]
Europe’s “Scramble for Africa” began in earnest in 1881, but never ended. The attempt at dominating the continent using old and new strategies continues to define the western relationship with this rich continent. This reality was further validated when I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on June 23. Although my objective was to address various Kenyan audiences at universities, public forums[Read More…]
The total cost of losses due to temperature rise will be $2.4 trillion a year, said the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Working on a warmer planet: The impact of heat stress on labour productivity and decent work report. This prediction has been made based on a global temperature rise of only 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Highlighting[Read More…]
Juan Guaido, the U.S.-backed self-proclaimed “interim president” has frustrated his supporters. His support is also getting lost. On the other hand, the Venezuelan government is gaining diplomatically. A Reuters analysis by Angus Berwick and Mircely Guanipa said: “Four days before Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido launched a military uprising in a bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro, he told supporters[Read More…]
Considerate se questo è un uomo Che lavora nel fango Che non conosce pace Consider if this be a man Who works in the mud Who knows no peace –Primo Levi Globalization is about many things. It‘s about flows. It‘s about identities. And, perhaps most importantly, it‘s about dreams. The chief proponents of Globalization are mainly positive when it[Read More…]
Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) expresses shock and concern at the arrest warrant issued against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Rakesh Roshan, Vinod Kumar and Babita Kashyap on 17 June 2019, one year after the FIR was filed against 20 writers, intellectuals and activists in Jharkhand on 26 July 2018 based on Facebook posts. All five are vulnerable[Read More…]
Much has been debated over waste disposal and waste management. But the root cause of ‘ creation’ of waste is not discussed often. To reduce waste, the problem of creating waste should be addressed. Guptas Example One of the main producer of waste is Rich who spend a lot on ceremonies. Recently, the Gupta family weddings of Gupta family created[Read More…]
Venezuela is famous for fake news about censored private media that are not censored at all. On the other hand, Twitter and Facebook do censor Venezuelans, Syrians and Iranians all the time, but that is just fine for Western sheep-like humans behaving like sheep-like humans. No worries. The Twiter that censored thousands of Syrian accounts, that censored of Venezuelan accounts[Read More…]
A draconian draft forest law of NDA is about to hit federal character of Indian Union. It will be an affront to the federation and threat to right to life of forest dwellers. Forest Act, 1927 is claimed to have aimed at protection of forests. In that name, the Forest officers have assumed higher powers over the forest dwellers and[Read More…]
PUDR condemns the arrest warrant issued against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Vinod Kumar, Rakesh Roshan Kiro and Babita Kashyap on 19 June 2019, in relation to FIR filed on 26 July 2018 for waging war against the state, sedition, conspiracy, and Sections 66 and 66A IT Act based simply on their Facebook posts. The Jharkhand government had filed this FIR[Read More…]
The love that you gave me Was more than what I could handle For I do not know How to return your love So, I placed your love in a fixed deposit And I do not dare to open the deposit In the bank of love where I did not belong. The hatred that you showered on me Could ignite[Read More…]
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Iran’s announcement Monday that it has breached the limit imposed by the 2015 nuclear agreement on the amount of enriched uranium the country is allowed to stockpile. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Tehran and six major world powers—the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany—limited[Read More…]
Headlined “U.S. Seeks Other Ways to Stop Iran Shy of War,” the article was tucked away on page A9 of a recent New York Times. Still, it caught my attention. Here’s the first paragraph: “American intelligence and military officers are working on additional clandestine plans to counter Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf, pushed by the White House to develop new options that[Read More…]
The next time you put your lips to a plastic bottle of “crystal-clear mountain spring water” think about Trump’s herculean efforts to dismantle federal agencies that protect health. More to the point, Trump’s innate distrust of science is already starting to impacthealth risks, e.g., according to Consumer Reports (“CR”)excessive levels of arsenic are found in some bottled water that should[Read More…]
It’s a question: Who won in the trade conflict – China or the US? The answer is as difficult as the question. Probably the outcome is still to be visible. News of the Xi-Trump 80-minute meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Osaka summit has already reached news-hungry-audience. According to news-reports, the two countries are going to restart trade talks.[Read More…]
Japanese whalers returned to port Monday with their first catch after resuming commercial whaling for the first time in 31 years. Whaling and consuming whale meat is a long-cherished goal of traditionalists. They see whaling as largely a lost cause amid slowing demand for the meat and changing views on conservation. A fleet of five boats brought back two minke[Read More…]
The Reuters photo above by P Ravikumar with the following caption “Women fetch water from a dried-up lake in Chennai, India” (© Reuters / P. Ravikumar) was an issue of discussion among people concerned with plight of millions of residents due to recent water scarcity in the city of Chennai. But the water-scarcity issue did not touch hearts of a[Read More…]
Sometimes, I would prefer to be bitterly frank. These days, I feel that people get what they deserve. You have a PM whose credentials in Babari Masjid demolition and Gujarat violence and many other issues are well established. You have a Home Minister whose credentials are also well established. So, why are they there on top of us? There are[Read More…]
Disturbing though are Dalai Lama’s recent public views[i] That Europe would be teeming with Muslims& Africans If refugees continue to be let in that Continent Without a return ticket in their pockets Pray why should you think that it would be wrong To allow persecuted Muslims & Africansasylum or refugee status Have you forgotten that as a Tibetan Monk[Read More…]
The controversial and self-proclaimed ‘godman’ Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan is currently serving a life-term in at the Sunaria jail in Rohtak after being convicted in two cases of rape and the murder of a journalist. Recently, he applied for parole asking for 42 days of parole to “look after his fields in Sirsa district”. The Administration and the BJP[Read More…]
In this squalid era of compromised data and hollowed privacy, it would be fitting that the company largely responsible for such mishaps would steer another technological innovation. Distractions are needed, and while Mark Zuckerberg cannot launch missiles, as yet, he can certainly launch platforms and what can be coarsely termed “deliverables”. Having become the object of derision and resentment from[Read More…]
On June 19th, Statistica headlined “Number of forcibly displaced people reaches new high”, and when one looks at the data, one finds an even bigger story which stands behind those numbers: This new report from the United Nations documents Statistica’s headline, and it proves that America’s regime-change operations have actually created around half of the world’s refugees. It proves that[Read More…]
Nazareth: Donald Trump’s supposed “deal of the century”, offering the Palestinians economic bribes in return for political submission, is the endgame of western peace-making, the real goal of which has been failure, not success. For decades, peace plans have made impossible demands of the Palestinians, forcing them to reject the terms on offer and thereby create a pretext for Israel[Read More…]
Two meetings ended last week: the G20 meeting, a forum for leaders and central bank chiefs, and the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn. At the G20, the work behind the scenes to try and ensure some measure of global growth was probably more important than the leaders’ palliatives. Donald Trump, as usual, did the headline grabbing. He appeared most[Read More…]
Traditional diplomacy is being given a makeover – at least where it is not being abolished altogether and being replaced by a replica of The Apprentice. US President Donald Trump’s seizure of the art has been violent and molesting. Had Roman emperors had access to Twitter and the twenty-four hour news cycle, they might have had such moments, bothering the[Read More…]
Because I realized (better late than never) that it is government’s responsibility to provide safe, convenient, affordable, accessible and humane ways of commuting for all its citizens. When governments fail on its duty then it hides behind the market forces, and co-opts itself in corporate agenda, enticing citizens to own, borrow, rent and use private vehicles to commute. Forcing people[Read More…]
Caste, gender and religious biases are a norm in Bollywood. Ofcourse, there was a time when cinema sophistry was due to the beauty of Urdu language as Yusuf Khan, Naushad, Sahir, Kaifi Azami, Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Gulam Mohammad, Mehboob, Kamal Amrohi, and so many others were part of it. Even the non Muslims used to speak Urdu and the script[Read More…]
Prima facie, this piece is a reflection on the book – “Making News, Breaking News – Her way” edited by Latika Padgaonkar and Shubha Singh which chronicles the narratives of women media persons who have won the prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Media persons. In reality though, this is a tribute to journalists, particularly women journalists who[Read More…]
Days after the brutal lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand, a 24-year-old youth was lynched to death in West Bengal. The victim identified as Sanaul Sheikh was accused of bike theft. A mob lynched him instead of having him arrested, in Malda district, 326 kms from Kolkotta. The video that went viral shows three sturdy men brutally assaulting Sanaul, who[Read More…]
Large portions of Europe were hit by intense heat waves over the past week. Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic all experienced their hottest-ever temperatures for the month of June. France recorded its hottest day ever on Friday, reaching a high of 45.9 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) at the town of Gallargues-le-Montueux near Montpellier, in the southern Gard region, making[Read More…]
The troubled valley of Kashmir, is a place, where seasons of peace, don’t last long. After death of more than hundred thousand people, it has been declared as a war zone, which has its boiling points, that have precipitated, out of its historic phases of insurgency. It is also a valley of mass protests, arising out of conditions, that are[Read More…]
“There are but three ways for people to escape their wretched lot. The first is via the liquor-store, the second is the path of the temple; but the third is by way of the social revolution.” – Bakunin In a land of 1.3 billion, an organisation of a dozen or so members which has never contested an election, based in[Read More…]
The variety of post-mortem reports coming out from the analysis of the Lok Sabha election results is quite confusing. Each contradicts the other. Some psephologists are silent, others are bragging about[Read More…]
I can never forget or fully recollect that morning when I was taken in a trolley to the Surgical Out patient section of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College famed for its exemplary service since[Read More…]
The cultural damage of homogenising language I am, among other things, a literary translator. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I translate from Spanish to English. From one language to another. Which is, already, only a half-truth. What I mean – what I don’t say – is that I translate from many Spanishes: from Peninsular[Read More…]
Make America Great Again? Don’t count on it. Donald Trump was partly voted into office by Americans who felt that the self-proclaimed greatest power on Earth was actually in decline — and they weren’t wrong. Trump is capable of tweeting many things, but none of those tweets will stop that process of decline, nor will a trade war with a[Read More…]
Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Khartoum Sunday demanding end of army rule in Sudan while security forces killed at least seven protesters. There are reports of 181 injuries also. The army rule is supported by Islamist groups favoring Sharia law. Sunday’s mass demonstrations – “Millions March” – were the first since security forces killed more than 100 people during[Read More…]
Certain that Western and liberal democratic leaders would limit themselves to verbal denials, Russian president Vladimir Putin knew he was kicking into an open goal when he declared on the eve of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Osaka that liberalism had “outlived its purpose.” He may even have anticipated that US president Donald J. Trump would go further[Read More…]
Despite widespread obesity Australians are obsessed with sport, and the world is familiar with Australia’s national anthem “Advance Australia Fair” being very frequently played at the Olympic Games and other sporting competitions. However the words are deeply racist and mendacious to the point that many Indigenous Australians are deeply offended, won’t stand for it (literally and metaphorically) and want it[Read More…]
The campaign for recognition of the 1984 Sikh massacre as Genocide in the Canadian parliament has been launched in Surrey on Saturday, June 29. Thousands of Sikhs were murdered all across India in the first week of November 1984 following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The activists of the slain leader’s ruling Congress party[Read More…]
WWII & Holocaust Could Never Have Happened Without American Corporations Investing & Joint Venturing with Hitler’s Poor Nazi Germany – Chapter 1 
A doubtful American Invention 
Why Ukraine Is Increasingly a Nuclear Headache for World Powers 
Why EU Strategic Autonomy Apart from the U.S. Is Currently Impossible 
Selective Outrage in Palestine: The Problem is Not Just Smotrich but Zionism 
Israeli Protests: Racist Western Mainstream Media Ignore The Palestinians 
The Boys of my Town at Ram Navami Day 
Will the court act against hate speeches ? 
The Convulsive Journey Of The Naga Peace Process: A Pursuit Towards Mutual Coexistence And Autonomy 
The Sound of the New War Drum Goes Tik-Tok 
To Hell and Back – America’s Remarkable Unwillingness to Support Its Veterans 
Time Ticking: US Ambassador to India Promised Human Rights Focus 
Perils of Complacency – Recent Indian experience of democracy 
In difficult times for education, smooth flow of pre-matric scholarships is important 
Targeting China, US Navy to purchase 100 new ships 
Fifty Years of the 1973 Yom Kippur War 
History archives in Bikaner and Mumbai 
In memory of 35th death anniversary of Jaimal Singh Padda 
Whither democracy after Rahul Gandhi’s unseating? 
An Ordinary German Pogrom 
The Sudden Death of Giant Panda Lele Highlights Systemic Failures at Memphis Zoo 
Fresh investigation needed on the 2008 Jaipur bomb blasts 
Adani Stock Scam An Opportunity To Curtail Hindurashtra Conspiracy 
Urgency of Stepping Up Backward Class Schemes as only 6% of Allocated Funds Spent in First Nine Months of Financial Year 
At least 40 immigrants dead in fire at US-Mexico border 
Contemporary Anti-Semitism – A Jewish View from Germany 
In memory of 40th Anniversary of Military Dictatorship in Argentina 
Poor work conditions, non-compliance with Constitutional provisions seriously impact adolescent girls in workforce 
Take action against K Surendran for insulting Women 
Calculated Exoneration: Command Responsibility and War Crimes in Afghanistan 
DOJ Called Upon to Investigate Environmental Activists Abuses 
The World’s Coffee Shops Have Emerged as Plant Milk’s Front Line 
Lara Sheehi’s ordeal, like Steven Salaita’s, is not quite over 
“Facing Clear Evidence of Peril” in a Country of Lies 
The case of Kashmir: A Gandhian Resolution 
Non-Availability of Badly Needed Funds for Dalit Students Increases Their Difficulties 
A bureaucrat-turned- minister in a mess 
Hundreds Of Thousands Of Workers’ 24-Hour Mega Transport Strike Halts Germany 
Oldest Interfaith Organization in America Calls for Children to Have More Rights Than Guns 
What’s the Best Way Out from the War in Ukraine? 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
