Cuba’s contributions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic
‘They have discovered smart weapons. We have discovered something more important: people think and feel.’ [Read More…]
Archive for February, 2021
Most Important Changes the World Cannot Postpone Any more
A significant number of people in world are working hard for making improvements in several aspects of life at several levels. They all help to create a better world. They help to reduce the distress of people and other forms of life, they help to create the conditions for more justice and equality, they protect environment in various ways[Read More…]
U.S. airstrikes in Syria: Senator condemns attacking a sovereign nation
The U.S. forces deadly airstrikes in Syria sparked complaints from some of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Democratic allies that he overreached, while key Republicans applauded the move. The reactions came after the Feb. 25 airstrikes targeted facilities belonging to an Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, reportedly killing one fighter. The strike could be a test of whether Congress, which fought to[Read More…]
Coup Leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi Betrayed Democracy in Burma
What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler. However, despite the endless talk about democratization, Burma was, in the years[Read More…]
Kashmiri ‘Pheran’ in demand
I have never overcome the nightmare of those scenes of the early 1990s when the Indian soldiers had laid pre-dawn siege to our neighbourhood one day. The soldiers had their fingers on triggers ready to shoot anybody not following their orders. Our house, which was in the lap of a green pasture, was surrounded by countless soldiers. More military convoys[Read More…]
Afrin Kale: How an engineer found her calling in farming
Afrin Kale is a farmer with a degree in civil engineering. A resident of Pune city, her five-acre farm is in Pimpalgaon Ghode village of Ambegaon Tehsil of Pune district, about 80 km from the city. She travels once or twice each week to the farm, and she has hired Ravi and Roshni, a young couple, to live in the[Read More…]
World Food System Linked to High Levels of Hunger , Obesity and Health Problems
Serious distortions of world food system are reflected in rather curious statistics that as many as a billion people suffer from hunger but almost double this number also suffer from obesity. However it should be clarified that obesity is not generally the result of overeating as much as this is the result of unhealthy foods churned out and promoted on[Read More…]
Biden’s Reckless Syria Bombing Is Not the Diplomacy He Promised
Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The February 25 U.S. bombing of Syria immediately puts the policies of the newly-formed Biden administration into sharp relief. Why is this administration bombing the sovereign nation of Syria? Why is it bombing “Iranian-backed militias” who pose absolutely no threat to the United States and are actually involved in fighting ISIS?[Read More…]
Culpability and Recalibration: MBS and the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi
It was a brutal way to go, and it had the paw prints of the highest authorities. On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian insider turned outsider, was murdered by a squad of 15 men from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was dismembered and quite literally cancelled in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. This state sanctioned killing[Read More…]
Suckers for Fat Cat Sports!!
This writer does love sports, especially football and baseball. I was raised as a baby boomer with literally a football, a bat and glove in my hands 24/7. The only time us kids tossed aside those items and scooted upstairs was when our Moms yelled out ‘ It’s Howdy Doody Time!’ Other than that, most of us were back on[Read More…]
Why Repression of Climate Activists is Bad News for the Endangered Planet of Earth
It is very sad that many reports of repression of climate activists are being received from several parts of world at such an early stage of climate activism. Even a very quick net search would reveal several recent instances from Brazil, Chile, Kenya, India , Russia and other countries. These are reports where climate activism is directly mentioned. But if[Read More…]
The Zen Of Ladakh Disengagement
The reduction of military tensions in Pangong Tso has become a matter of heartburn for sections of the media and the fraternity of India’s ‘China hands’ — and possibly, hawkish elements within the establishment — who scoff at the very notion of peaceful resolution of territorial differences with China now or ever. What we see is a calibrated attempt to[Read More…]
Islam And Human Rights
Discussion of Islam in Western languages, and latterly much of it in the languages of the Islamic world as well, is bedeviled by polemic and reductionism. Islam itself always seems to be in the dock. One school of thought wishes to prove that Islam as such is responsible for all the abuses and cruelties to be found in the Islamic[Read More…]
Nodeep Kaur Gets Bail, Release Shiv Kumar
PUCL is extremely pleased that the Punjab and Haryana High Court, restored the civil liberties of dalit labour activist Nodeep Kaur of Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, by granting her bail on 26th February 2021. PUCL demands that co-activist, Shiv Kumar who is grievously injured and visually challenged also be released right away and till his release, he should be[Read More…]
A little acknowledged clause may be main obstacle to revival of Iran nuclear accord
A little acknowledged provision of the 2015 international agreement that curbed Iran’s nuclear program explains jockeying by the United States and the Islamic republic over the modalities of a US return to the deal from which President Donald J. Trump withdrew. The provision’s magic date is 2023, when the Biden administration if it returns to the agreement, would have to[Read More…]
Genesis of Capitalism
Marxists advocate bourgeois revolution to break the fetters of feudalism. Capitalist markets are only the most advanced form of exchange. Industrialization was the inevitable outcome of human instincts. In the Marxist version, petty commodity production freed of feudalism grows into capitalism. 1 Many people came to believe, especially after the collapse of communism, that capitalism was the natural condition of[Read More…]
Open Letter To Prime Minister Modi On The Sale Of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
To Shri Narendra D Modi Prime Minister of India Dear Shri Modiji, I write this letter to express my anguish as a concerned citizen of north Andhra Pradesh at the decision taken by the Central Government to privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL)’s steel plant at Visakhapatnam by divesting 100% of its equity to private agencies. From a statement made[Read More…]
U.S. bombs Syria at Biden’s order, hits ‘Iranian-backed militia facilities’
The U.S. launched airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a Feb. 15 rocket attack in northern Iraq that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops. The airstrike was the first military action undertaken by the[Read More…]
War Mongering for Artificial Intelligence
The ghost of Edward Teller must have been doing the rounds between members of the National Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The father of the hydrogen bomb was never one too bothered by the ethical niggles that came with inventing murderous technology. It was not, for instance, “the scientist’s job to determine whether a hydrogen bomb should be constructed, whether it[Read More…]
Four Intersecting Pandemics Threaten Continuation of Life
AN OVER-HEATED PLANET, UNCONTROLLED HUMAN POPULATION & COVID-19 A triad of intersecting world-wide pandemics simultaneously threatening humanity today are the end results of its own insatiable greedy human desire for endless, unchecked growth. Ugly, profit-based, commercial development, unimaginative high-rise towers or mega-social housing projects continue to destroy everything in their wake in an impossible attempt to try to accommodate the[Read More…]
An Agenda for Food and Farming Based on Dominance and High Profits for a Few Has Powerful Promoters
In India there has been much discussion in recent times of the dangers of increasing corporatization of farming and food sectors. This is welcome, as there needs to be increasing public awareness of this harmful and high risk trend. In the course of this discussion the name of two billionaires has been increasingly taken to such an extent that has[Read More…]
Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy
The COVID-19 outbreak has triggered a world economic disruption of significant magnitude with an escalating pace, resulting in steep recessions in many countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global economic impact at an astonishing rate, leading to rapid economic downturns in many countries. Despite exceptional policy support, the baseline forecast envisages a 5.2 percent decline in global Gross[Read More…]
War and Peace Through Faith
They say do not contribute silver bricks for Ram temple, because it is difficult to stock silver bricks there. Funny! Union Ministers are pleading to people to contribute to the Ram Temple. This guy called Ram did not walk over silver for 14 years in the forests as per the myth. However, people are contributing silver bricks. People who broke[Read More…]
2 years of India’s #MeToo movement and its outcomes: Realities of Power or Patriarchy
The court’s verdict in favour of Priya Ramani who was acquitted of defamation in #MeToo case must be acknowledged as a strong salutatory effect rather than a victory for India’s #MeToo movement as victim had to stand up in court as an accused. The outcomes of the India’s #MeToo movement after more than two years of its passage appear to[Read More…]
Don’t Blame the Victim
People in the Massachusetts government and in our charities strive hard to ensure shelter for all in my state. Yet many poverty-stricken folks having no charge or low charge housing and food bank food don’t want to be dependent on financial or food assistance. They definitely don’t want a handout, and find receiving it demeaning, belittling and humiliating. Instead they want[Read More…]
Why Collapse Occurs; Why It May Not Be Far Away
Collapse is a frightening subject. The question of why collapse occurs is something I have pieced together over many years of study from a number of different sources, which I will attempt to explain in this post. Collapse doesn’t happen instantaneously; it happens many years after an economy first begins outgrowing its resource base. In fact, the resource base likely declines at[Read More…]
With Help and Understanding, Farmers Can Save Themselves and Also Save the World
From many parts of world there have been disturbing reports of not only increasing distress of farmers but also small and medium farmers being pushed towards loss of land and livelihood. At the same time that their numbers are increasing, the livelihood problems of rural landless people are increasing in many contexts, worsening further in Covid times. A huge question[Read More…]
Heating the Planet Through a New Cold War
Slowing the pace of climate change and getting “tough” on China, especially over its human-rights abuses and unfair trade practices, are among the top priorities President Biden has announced for his new administration. Evidently, he believes that he can tame a rising China with harsh pressure tactics, while still gaining its cooperation in areas of concern to Washington. As he wrote in Foreign Affairs during the[Read More…]
Disha Ravi Is Nation’s Heroine
The nation must be thankful to Prime Minister Narender Modi and Amit Shah, more so to the RSS/BJP for giving this nation young leaders of future. Disha Ravi is definitely the hope and future of India. Leaders emerge only when the nation is in a crisis. Particularly very young leaders emerge when it is charged with emotion for freedom or[Read More…]
Stop the Witch Hunt! Drop all false & motivated Cases
The PUCL welcomes the order of the Delhi Sessions Court on 23.2.21, granting bail to Disha Ravi, a 21 year old resident of Bengaluru who was unjustly incarcerated for offences under Sections 124A, 153A and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. Ms. Ravi suffered a series of egregious violations including abduction by the Delhi police from her home[Read More…]
Stop The Sale of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
‘Public Sector on Sale’:Corporate Profits over National Interest and People’s Livelihoods !! NAPM supports the massive protests in Andhra, seeking withdrawal of Union Govt decision to privatize the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant 25th Feb, 2021: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) stands in solidarity with the employees and workers of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), commonly known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP)[Read More…]
Stop Kulda Mines Expansion
To, The Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt. of India, New Delhi The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi The Chief Minister of Odisha, CMO, Bhubaneswar Subject: Halt the Expansion of the Kulda Mines, Odisha; Safeguard the Land and Livelihoods of Adivasis and Ensure Compliance with Environmental Norms. Sirs,[Read More…]
Golwalkar and the Present Ruling Dispensation
During the struggle for India’s independence while the majority of Hindus, Muslims and people of all religions followed the path of Mahatma Gandhi, secular democratic nationalism, there were few whose origins were in the ideology of the declining sections of ‘Landlord-clergy’ alliance. They not only opposed the freedom movement but also played a supporting role to British policy of ‘Divide[Read More…]
Sanction the Axis of Mercenary and Terrorist Evil: Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia
Azerbaijan deployed thousands of mercenaries in last year’s 44-day war that it and Turkey waged against Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia. Azerbaijan thereby flagrantly violated the UN’s International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (UNMERC) which it signed in 1997. Forty-six countries have signed UNMERC including Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Poland. These mercenaries are not[Read More…]
India’s forever wars and forever warriors
India also has a powerful pro-American lobby clamouring for “forever wars”. Sinophobia feeds into it seamlessly. This lobby will only gain ascendancy, as India develops a defence industry and the corporate interests and their eventual nexus with the defence establishment come into full play, inevitably, in the domain of foreign and security policies. *** The Washington-based Quincy Institute, arguably the[Read More…]
Debunking Biden’s foreign policy“reset”
DURING his first week in office, US President Joe Biden signed at least 44 executive actions, orders, proclamations and memorandums. He rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris climate agreement, and repealed the Trump administration’s ban on travellers from Muslim-majority and African countries, including Libya, Somalia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. Biden extended relief on federal student loan[Read More…]
Remembering Chandra Shekhar Azad in the Context of Our Victimized Young Activists Today
Written by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh Chandra Shekhar Azad has been one of the most enduring and inspiring symbols of courage and resistance in India. He symbolizes for millions of people in the country indomitable spirit of great courage in standing up for justice and freedom. As we remember him on his martyrdom day on February 27 we will[Read More…]
Beyond Dharma
Title: Beyond Dharma – Dissent in the Ancient Sciences of Sex and Politics Author: Wendy Doniger Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books, 2020 When one of the world’s most acclaimed and charming scholars of Hinduism presents a trailblazing interpretation of ancient Indian texts and their historic influence on subversive resistance, the book ought to be of more than ordinary interest. Eminent Indologist Wendy[Read More…]
Why Naxalites Should Also Opt for Peaceful Path to Create A Better World and Country
The need for working with wider unity for creating a world based on justice and equality is increasing further in these troubled times. One reason is that the forces of inequality led by the biggest billionaires and multinational companies have become very strong. Secondly, the environmental crisis has taken life-threatening forms and to check this crisis a path of sustainable[Read More…]
Imagining Palestine: On Barghouti, Darwish, Kanafani and the Language of Exile
For Palestinians, exile is not simply the physical act of being removed from their homes and their inability to return. It is not a casual topic pertaining to politics and international law, either. Nor is it an ethereal notion, a sentiment, a poetic verse. It is all of this, combined. The death in Amman of Palestinian poet, Mourid Barghouti, an[Read More…]
Stop Supporting Brutal Moïse Regime in Haiti
Nearly 800 Organizations and Individuals in the United States Demand the Biden Administration End Its Support for the Brutal Moïse Regime in Haiti. United States – Today, February 24, 72 organizations and 700 individuals published an open letter calling for the Biden administration to end its illegal and destructive intervention in Haiti. While Joe Biden and the Democrats condemned the[Read More…]
Don’t be addict selling family silver: Goa Foundation on draft mining law amendment
A draft proposing amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, was released on February 9, 2021 on the website of the Ministry of Mines seeking public comments until February 24. Just as the three new farm laws that are being vigorously opposed by farmers camping on the border of the national capital for nearly three months,[Read More…]
Are we failing children in the HIV response?
The promise was that by 2020, no child will be born with HIV or newly infected with HIV during breastfeeding across the world. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to health systems, the progress towards the HIV-related 2020 goalpost, despite some commendable gains, was not very encouraging. Despite global efforts to prevent HIV transmission, 150,000 children were[Read More…]
Wisdom of Bharat Dogra in Three Books
I have been teaching in MA Development program of Azim Premji University since 2010. I am also involved with conducting short trainings for people working in the development sector from the village to the state level for last 20 years. It is mainly in that context that I am commenting on Bharat Dogra’s three books published in 2019 : Book[Read More…]
India’s Rihanna and Ganesha Syndrome
You can call it the ‘Rihanna and Ganesha Syndrome’ – the inability of some folks to focus upon the truly divine and get easily distracted by imaginary demonesses. In India this translates into the country’s ruling elite frothing at the mouth about completely trivial issues, while ignoring life and death questions that threaten the very existence of the Indian Republic.[Read More…]
Farmers, Workers Unity In Barnala Rally
Conference in Barnala in Punjab on February 21st exhibits revolutionary intensity at it s pinnacle in confronting the tide of neo-fascism with record participation History was literally made at Barnala grain market in Punjab on February 21st in a conference staged jointly by the Bharatiya Kisan Union(Ugrahan)) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, protesting the Agricultural bills or black laws.[Read More…]
Refriended in Defeat: Australia Strikes a Deal with Facebook
The Australian Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, was unconvincing in his efforts to summon up courage. The Australian government had been left reeling in the wake of Facebook’s decision to scrap and block Australians from sharing and posting news items on hosted pages. The company’s target of opprobrium: the News Media Bargaining Code. The Code’s ostensible purpose is to address the inequalities[Read More…]
Myanmar: Exploiting lessons learnt in the Middle East
Demonstrating for the third week their determination to force the country’s military to return to its barracks, protesters in Myanmar appear to be learning lessons from a decade of protest in the Middle East and North Africa. By the same token, Myanmar’s protesters, in stark contrast to public silence about the military’s brutal repression of the Rohingya minority in recent[Read More…]
Understanding the concept of Quality of Life
Written by Dr Swati Sapna and Upasna Gaba WHO defines Quality of Life as “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.”(1) Quality of life (QOL) is a broad multidimensional concept that typically involves both positive and[Read More…]
Emerging Unity of Farmers and Workers A Sign of Hope in India’s Difficult Times
Written by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh It is very good that the farmers’ movement has given a call for observing February 27 as Day of Unity of Farmers and Workers. On this day the nation is observing Sant Ravidas Jayanti. Along with other saints of the Bhakti and Sufi movements Sant Ravidas stood for devotion and spirituality which contributes[Read More…]
How the World was Transformed
19th century civilization was based on balance of power, gold standard, self- regulating markets and liberal state. Self-adjusting market is a Utopia and could not exist for any length of time without annihilating the human and natural substance of society. Civilization springs from interaction of a great number of independent factors, not reducible to simplistic[Read More…]
Remembering British Citizens Who Helped Indian Struggle Against Colonial Rule
Colonial rule is generally a relentless long story of exploitation and injustice, and this is certain true of the nearly two centuries of British rule in India. Despite this reality, however, it is fascinating to know that there were several British citizens who went out of their way to help the struggles of India against colonial rule. Some of them[Read More…]
What Planet Is NATO Living On?
Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The February meeting of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Defense Ministers, the first since President Biden took power, revealed an antiquated, 75-year-old alliance that, despite its military failures in Afghanistan and Libya, is now turning its military madness toward two more formidable, nuclear-armed enemies: Russia and China. This theme was emphasized[Read More…]
USA: A Covid-19 Hell on Earth
Economic crises shine a spotlight on a society’s inequities and hierarchies, as well as its commitment to support those who are most vulnerable in such grievous moments. The calamity created by Covid-19 is no exception. The economic fallout from that pandemic has tested the nation’s social safety net as never before. Between February and May 2020, the number of unemployed[Read More…]
The Pandemic: Half a million lives lost in U.S., more than the two World Wars and Vietnam War combined
Over half a million people have died of coronavirus in the U.S. Grasping the enormity — half a million people gone — is difficult to visualize. More people have died in the U.S. due to COVID-19 than any other country in the world. With 4% of the world’s population, the U.S. has 20% of all COVID deaths and one of[Read More…]
The Burning Flame of Patriotism-Sardar Ajit Singh-Remembering on 140th Birth Anniversary
Sardar Ajit Singh, uncle of more famous Indian hero Bhagat Singh was born on 23rd February 1881 at Khatkar Kalan village in then Jalandhar district of pre-partition Punjab, the month and year in which The Tribune also came into existence in Lahore. The ancestors of Ajit Singh had come over to village Garh Kalan, as it was named earlier, from[Read More…]
‘Syncretism has always been a fundamental part of our DNA’
An online conversation with Avik Chanda, the best-selling author of Dara Shukoh: The Man Who Would Be King While we grapple in the throes of not just the pandemic but worldwide disruptions of democratic traditions, protests gone awry and a questioning of divisions that deepen rifts among humans, perhaps it is time to explore more syncretic lore in history and to[Read More…]
Our Deeply Troubled World Just Cannot Afford Any More Wars
The deepening crisis of world is manifested most seriously crisis in a survival crisis, or in a situation where the basic life-nurturing conditions of our planet are threatened. In this unprecedented situation humanity has to take unprecedented decisions to ensure the safety and security of world, above all of the younger generation, our own children, who are growing up in[Read More…]
Will the two Union Ministers condemn Patanjali after WHO rejected its claim on Coronil being approved for Covid 19?
When a facebook notification came on my computer related to inaugural of Patanjali’s Coronil in the presence of two central Ministers, I was surprised because last year, when Ramdev claimed that his company has been able to find a medication for ‘ Covid 19’ after much ‘research’ and ‘testing’ on the patients but later Ministry of Ayush in the month[Read More…]
How the Modern World Started–On A foundation of Violence and Dominance, but in the Name of Civilization
The beginnings of the modern world are generally traced to the sixteenth century. Most descriptions of the period of human history since then have described this period as a period of the greatest human progress and the special role of the countries which started playing a more leading role in world affairs in the 16th and 17th centuries is[Read More…]
Finding Israel On a Night Flight to Phoenix, 1988
This writer has been a student of the Holocaust since childhood, with my Poem/Plaque ” Never Again” in the Wiesenthal Holocaust museum in Los Angeles. I recently found out, through Ancestry, that I am 8% Jewish, but that should not matter at all. Basically, one’s sensitivity is either there or not. Another case in point regarding Israel and its treatment[Read More…]
The Predicament of Sangh Parivar
Written by Sandeep Pandey, Anandi Pandey and Kushagra Kumar In the midst of farmers’ struggle the government has celebrated the Chauri Chaura incident and glorified the families of freedom fighters involved. As part of Mahtama Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement when there was violence involving setting the police station in Chauri Chaura, near Gorakhpur, on fire killing 22 policemen as a reaction[Read More…]
That Blackwater: Its founder accused of helping USA evade U.N. Libya sanctions
Media reports said: Erik Prince, the private security executive and supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, “at the very least” helped evade an arms embargo on Libya, according to excerpts from a UN report. Independent UN sanctions monitors accused Prince of proposing a private military operation – known as ‘Project Opus’ – to Libya’s eastern-based commander General Khalifa Haftar[Read More…]
Remembering Freedom Movement Revolutionaries, Observing Martyrs’ Month
Written by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh Every year India observes 23 March as the martyrdom day of Shahid Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, and on 27 February India observes the martyrdom day of Chandra Shekhar Azad. However we often forget on March 25 to observe the martyrdom day of Shahid Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi who was like a mentor for[Read More…]
The Role of Non- pharmacological interventions in COVID-19 Pandemic
Written by Bhagyashree Dutta and Dr Chandrima Chatterjee In December 2019, in Wuhan, China, a cluster of unusual severe pneumonia cases with unknown causes were reported. These were later identified as caused by a novel strain of coronavirus [1]. Severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2 (SARS_CoV-2) outbreaks, was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11th,[Read More…]
Celebrating Golwalkar And Undoing The Indian Republic
RSS-BJP Rulers Declare Golwalkar, a Die-hard Casteist, Male Chauvinist, Conspirator, Hindutva Bigot, Habitual Liar, Denigrator of secular-democratic Indian Polity & Follower of Nazism as New Father of the Nation! First time in the history of independent India, in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel has shocked the nation by glorifying MS Golwalkar, the[Read More…]
Human Rights and Germany’s New Supply Chain Law
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms In February 2021, Germany’s main business daily, The Handelsblatt, reported that Germany’s grand coalition, consisting for the social-democratic SPD and Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU –reached an agreement on the introduction of a new Supply Chain Law, which in German goes by the unpronounceable word Lieferkettengesetz. The new supply chain act is intended to[Read More…]
Uttarakhand’s historic decision for women’s empowerment
Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to have given women right over ancestral property. This is a landmark initiative taken by the state government and must be complimented for it. According to government’s own assessment, over thirty five lakh women are going to be benefitted from this. At the time, when women’s rights groups are asking for being[Read More…]
Helpful Role of Community Based Approach in Improving Mental Health in Remote Rural Areas
In recent times of Covid-19 the importance of giving adequate attention to mental health has been re-emphasized time and again. Here again, however, the new and welcome phase of giving more emphasis to mental health has not yet reached the more remote rural areas. However those with long experience of working on mental health in remote rural areas say[Read More…]
Toolkit is not a terror manual
The recent arrest of a young climate activist in India for her association with a guide to passive resistance movements has once again exposed the true colours of the world’s so called largest democracy. Twenty-one-year-old Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru under conspiracy charges. Her only fault is her link with a toolkit built by the Canada-based[Read More…]
Sincere Efforts Can Contribute Much to Making Benefits and Schemes More Accessible for Disability Affected Persons
Many benefits and schemes available for persons with various disabilities cannot reach them, particularly in more remote villages, as much effort is needed for linking persons with disabilities (PwDs) with the various schemes meant for providing relief and benefits to them . Due to past neglect the number of PwDs can be not only surprisingly high in several remote[Read More…]
How intelligent is artificial intelligence: Exploring the exclusion of minority
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being touted as our future. AI technology has not only invaded our private lives in the form of smart technologies, virtual assistants, and robotic/ humanoid companions; but is also finding ever increasing representation in public sphere and government policies. From health technology to agriculture to the norms being developed on women safety (such as[Read More…]
Organ donation: Knowledge and opportunities for action
Written by Dr. Anamika Roy, Dr. Chandrima Chatterjee and Bhagyashree Dutta Organ donation is the procedure of surgically removing an organ or tissue from one individual (the donor) and placing it into another individual (the recipient).[1] Transplantation is required when the recipient’s organ has failed or has been damaged by disease or injury. Organ transplantation is a major medical advancement.[Read More…]
The Importance of Shudra Politics in India
Written by Sharad Yadav and Omprakash Mahato During the Emergency (1975–77), all socialist leaders came together on one platform and formed the Janata Party government in 1977. In its manifesto, the Janata Party promised to undertake measures for social and educational upliftment of people belonging to backward castes and communities. The social upliftment of backward castes once again became the[Read More…]
Left Right Left
You wave. The street splits into two The wrong turn is you An obsessed nostril sniffs out intentions Kisses are always political I want to stop and breathe out the years without you. The wind fleeing on a bird wing leaves me a feather The left is a body with an unwashed feel to it; It reeks of desire, of[Read More…]
Role of Religion in Modern Society
Humanity carries an historical baggage. Religion is arguably the most important component of the burden. Defined as a set of beliefs in the super natural causation of natural phenomenon, it most likely arose when humans acquired the faculty of coherent thought and communication skills. Prior to that, at the point of divergence from their closest cousins the chimpanzees, and like[Read More…]
Ensure the Constitutional Right to Dignified Housing for Migrant Labourers of Ahmedabad
NAPM Stands with the Migrant Labourers of Ahmedabad Demanding Basic Living Facilities The past year has exposed the dire situation of migrant workers across India, who continue to work in precarious conditions. On 15th February, 2021, almost 1000 migrant labourers, members of the labour union Majur Adhikar Manch, gathered in Ahmedabad in front of the District Collector’s office, to submit a[Read More…]
Assam: Violation of human rights of detainees under The Foreigners Act
To Secretary National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Sir, I refer to my letters dated 4-1-2021 & 16-1-2021 on violation of human rights of the detainees under the the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals For Assam) Order, 2006 and the other related laws in force in Assam. I have enclosed here copies of the two letters for your ready reference.[Read More…]
Young Climate Activists Must Be Rewarded and Encouraged, Not Victimized and Imprisoned
It is very, very sad that young climate activists are being victimized at an incipient stage of the movement in India. This is one of the relatively new movements and there are understandably some uncertainties regarding the exact course of action and the stand to be taken on certain issues, but one thing which is absolutely certain is that this[Read More…]
China vs America
Human survival on this planet has now become a battle between two systems of thought and governance; one the American based on vestiges of Western Neo-Liberalism and the other the Chinese under President Xi Jinping based on a restating of Marxist Socialism. The implications for the future of human civilization are profound. In competition with the American are 1.388 billion[Read More…]
America is back, Biden tells allies, but Macron and Merkel push back
The U.S. President Joe Biden has declared that America is back. He was addressing a session of the Munich Security Conference from the White House Friday. Biden said: And I’m a man of my word — America is back. I speak to you today as president of the United States at the very start of my administration, and I’m sending[Read More…]
‘Have a seat but shut up please’: Whither equality?
‘Dumb dolls’ may soon be adorning board meetings of Japan’s ruling party. As per a news report, in response to criticisms that its board is dominated by men, Japan’s ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has condescended to allow 5 female lawmakers to join its board meetings provided they keep their mouths shut and do not talk during the meetings.[Read More…]
Madagascar: A Nation of Hunger
Madagascar is in great pain. Theodore Mbainaissem, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) sub-office in Ambovombe, southern Madagascar, says: “Seeing the physical condition of people extremely affected by hunger who can no longer stand…children who are completely emaciated, the elderly who are skin and bone…these images are unbearable… People are eating white clay with tamarind juice, cactus leaves, wild[Read More…]
Some Thoughts on International Mother Language Day
On the eve of February 21, International Mother Language Day, the afternoon was sunny, windless and frozen. The sun came up after a two-day winter snow storm. The snow was melting and I bundled up and decided to walk along the trails in my neighborhood to get a few minutes of sun. Above me the sunlight was pouring its yellow light[Read More…]
Cricket’s camaraderie with far-right politics is hurting the nation
Although Cricket has embraced modernity with open arms, the game still couldn’t evade its colonial history. Not many nations who hadn’t been former British colonies play this game. India, a dominant, over-resourced powerhouse of the game, has been a subject of the British Empire for over two centuries. As a result, cricket, just like police or bureaucracy or any other[Read More…]
The Farmers’ Movement Should Pioneer New Pathways of Mobilizing People for Longer Periods
Although the on-going farmers’ movement has faced much repression and victimization and the participants have endured many hardships – at one stage even essential water and sanitation services were disrupted—it has been exceptionally fortunate in one other respect. This is in terms of obtaining the deep affection , support and emotional connect of a very large number of people. The[Read More…]
Devastated by ice storm, Texans are now hunting food and safe water
Media reports from U.S. said: The slow-moving winter disaster pummeling Texas that began with snow, ice and widespread blackouts is now moving into a new phase: A dire lack of food and fresh water. Millions do not have safe water at home, and residents looking for groceries or bottled water said they arrived to stores with bare shelves and long[Read More…]
Changing Social Landscape of Tribes in Kerala: Challenges in Tribal Studies
Written by K.M. Seethi & Elizabeth Abraham The social landscape and livelihood options in the tribal habitats in Kerala have changed tremendously in the last several decades. This transformation has its impact on the tribal population and their life-world experiences. This is the theme of the ongoing workshop organised as part of the Engaging Human Ecology Series of the Inter[Read More…]
Upholding ‘secrecy’ in Lok Pal selection
The RTI Act and general ethics of administration demands the transparency about any selection or recruitment for public office. The Department of Personnel and Training rules and Office Memoranda also guide the CPIOs to place entire record of recruitments and promotions and transfers in the public domain on their own. Lok Palis an anti-corruption institution which is supposed to decide[Read More…]
Facebook Unfriends Australia: The Triumph of Epistemic Chaos
Creepy and ruthless Facebook has again impressed with its steely indifference to civic responsibility, as if a company established by a sociopath could ever be a model of human improvement. On February 18, Mark Zuckerberg’s antisocial company took aim at Australia by blocking those in that country from sharing local and international content. As the company notice to those trying[Read More…]
Ecocide!
Ecocide is the destruction of large areas of the natural environment as a consequence of human activity. That destruction of “large areas” has grown so conspicuously large, so threatening to all species, including human existence, that a group of international legal experts is working to submit a draft of a new law “Ecocide” to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) at[Read More…]
Americans Murdering People & Dear Children In the Middle East and Africa Hasn’t Mattered – Not Yet!
The issue of deadly racism in the USA has been brought to the attention of all Americans by the persistent efforts of impassioned activists, especially by carrying placards with photographs of African-American victims of deadly police actions. Article suggests how the greater toll of darker skinned people murdered by Americans overseas could become a burning issue of concern for American[Read More…]
Why Concepts of Earth Without Borders and One World Have A New and Wider Relevance Now
The beautiful phrase ‘Earth Without Borders’ has been used in more than one contexts from time to time. This is often used to convey the idea that those who work with a spirit of serving humanity should not be confined merely to serving their own country. This may be particularly true of a profession of doctors which ideally should[Read More…]
Our Badly Threatened World Needs Out-of-Box Governance Reform
It is a basic principle of effective governance that it should be in accordance with ability to achieve the most important aims and tasks. In terms of this very basic definition, the huge, colossal failures of existing governance systems in our deeply troubled world facing unprecedented threats have been exposed in more and more glaring and disturbing ways in[Read More…]
Stop Stifling Democracy! Enter Into Dialogue With Youth To Secure India’s Future
A group of prominent people, including artists, environmental and social activists, parents, teachers, professionals, adivasis, dalits and farmers, today spoke out against the illegal and disproportionate response of the government in targeting young activists, including Disha Ravi, and the government’s intent to criminalise dissent. At a press conference organised today, Kavita Srivastava, Nagraj Adve, Ram Wangkheirakpam, Sandeep Pandey, TM Krishna,[Read More…]
An Unnecessary Himalayan Disaster
There is a huge tectonic place below the land mass of India known as “Indian Plate.” The rotation of the earth is causing this plate to continually move northward just like any matter moves to the top in a centrifugal machine. The Indian Plate crashes into the Tibetan Plate as it moves to the north. The pressure between these two[Read More…]
‘A humanitarian crisis’: Cold and snow put millions in danger in Texas: 38 dead
Texas’s freeze entered a sixth day on Thursday. At least 31 people have died as of Wednesday afternoon as a result of the severe weather in Texas. But some media reports said, days of glacial weather have left at least 38 people dead in the U.S. The snow made many roads impassable, disrupted coronavirus vaccine distribution and blanketed nearly three-quarters[Read More…]
Israel’s Impunity: Is The Tide Changing?
I think it is. The tide of international dissent against Israel’s impunity is becoming a torrent since the introduction by the IHRA, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance of what they have defined as ‘Antisemitism’. This new definition has been interpreted and used as a weapon to bash, intimidate and silence any voices of criticism against the government of Israel. Even the[Read More…]
A simple toolkit
Outrage, judgement, apathy, sadness, uncertainty, contemplation, solidarity, and reform, are words that are gaining in personal significance, to describe shared reactions to neatly categorised and conceptually organised political, economic, social, and environmental world events. But is this unidimensional structure all there is to the events, or is there something else that elicits in us this range of responses? For me,[Read More…]
Climate Catastrophe In Texas And The Texans Are Freezing To Death
Texans are freezing to death because of Republican greed. Decades ago, corporations paid off politicians to support the deregulation of the Texas energy market and limit federal oversight of the state’s energy grid. As a result of the latest climate catastrophe, so many Texans lost sewer and water service for days. Their water pipes burst. Many apartment complexes have become[Read More…]
Opening the CIA’s Can of Worms
“The CIA and the media are part of the same criminal conspiracy,” wrote Douglas Valentine in his important book, The CIA As Organized Crime. This is true. The corporate mainstream media are stenographers for the national security state’s ongoing psychological operations aimed at the American people, just as they have done the same for an international audience. We have long been[Read More…]
From Rich Diversity to Narrow Genetic Base in Agriculture
One of the most creative endeavors of farmers all over the world but even more so in tropical countries has been to protect , promote and nurture a diversity of crop varieties. They continued to do so for thousands of years and for well over a hundred generation. As a result of this , over a period of around five[Read More…]
Nationalist toolkit of BJP – Tools to achieving Hindu Rashtra
Politics: · Make country opposition free – only one party rule to be established – if necessary buy out MPs, MLAs to create one party dominance · Centralize power in hands of few in the ruling party – let the decisions concerning public issues be taken by a core and not necessarily through large public consultation · Treat federalism as[Read More…]
Why Protection of Traditional Wisdom in Agriculture is Extremely Important
It is well recognized that not all traditions are goods. Some widespread aspects of many traditional societies like discrimination and inequality at various levels ( such as caste, gender and class) need to be rejected completely. However there are several other aspects relating to the wisdom accumulating over centuries regarding farming and allied activities, forestry, water conservation, crafts and related[Read More…]
Stop Hounding Young Climate Activists
The 101-year-old All India Catholic Union [AICU] is deeply distressed and extremely worried at the hounding of young climate change and environment activists in the country. What makes it more critical is that this form of persecution comes from both State and non-state actors, and at a time when the nation is struggling to come out of the medical and[Read More…]
The American Century Ends Early
Like Gregor Samsa, the never-to-be-forgotten character in Franz Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis,” we awoke on January 7th to discover that we, too, were “a giant insect” with “a domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments” and numerous “pitifully thin” legs that “waved helplessly” before our eyes. If you prefer, though, you can just say it: we opened our eyes[Read More…]
The Coup in Myanmar and the Transformation of Rohingya Politics
The future of the Rohingya people seems uncertain. A predominantly Muslim minority group indigenous to a region on the western coast of Myanmar – historically referred to as Arakan and presently called Rakhine State – the Rohingya are not recognized by the Burmese state. On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military – known as the Tatmadaw – staged a coup against[Read More…]
75th Anniversary of Naval Mutiny today which achieved untold glory in annals of anti-colonial history
75 years ago on February 18th 1946, the Indian Navy launched a historic mutiny that will live in our hearts forever and win a permanent place in the annals of history. The British rulers were struck at their very chord or death knell. Hindus with their Muslim brethren rose up with the spirit of tigers to confront the colonial power.[Read More…]
Review Socio – Environmental Costs of NIMZ Zaheerabad
NAPM condemns the state violence and the attempt to stifle the voices of farmers expressing their concerns regarding NIMZ – Zaheerabad, Telangana.Review the process of massive land acquisition and flawed ‘public hearing’ for NIMZ – Zaheerabad: Address all concerns raised by farmers, affected people, scientists and activists NAPM is disturbed by the increasing number of instances of blatant police[Read More…]
Genuine Nationalism calls for Peace and Friendship with China and Giving up subservience to Imperialists
After reading Bharat Dogra’s article “ For De-Escalation on India-China Border, Government Needs Wider Support of the Opposition”- February 14, 2021 in counter currents, I would like to share my views on this issue. The 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India in 2020 has proven to be a challenging time for the bilateral relationship. Signs[Read More…]
Amazon’s conflict with Indian retailers
Amazon is in conflict with Indian retailers. A leading group of Indian retailers on Wednesday urged the government to ban the local operations of Amazon.com Inc, after Reuters reported the U.S. e-commerce giant has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform and used them to circumvent the country’s strict foreign investment regulations.[Read More…]
‘Leaving Aside’ International Law: Why Democrats are as Dangerous as Republicans to a Just Peace in Palestine
Motivated by their justifiable aversion to former US President Donald Trump, many analysts have rashly painted a rosy picture of how Democrats could quickly erase the bleak trajectory of the previous Republican administration. This naivety is particularly pronounced in the current spin on the Palestinian-Israeli discourse, which is promoting, again, the illusion that Democrats will succeed where their political rivals[Read More…]
US farmers, food justice advocates throw their weight behind India’s protesting farmers
Food justice advocates and many US farmers on Wednesday issued a statement expressing solidarity with the farmers on protest at the borders of India’s national capital for over two and a half months. The unjust farm laws will increase the stranglehold of agribusiness on the food system, the statement said, adding that the three new Central laws were passed in[Read More…]
Top Rice Scientist Dr. Richharia Who Sacrificed Much to Protect Interests of Farmers
In many big debates on agriculture in India the name of Dr. R.H.Richharia inevitably comes up, even though top establishment persons and powerful interests want to avoid this. One reason why this name of Dr. Richharia comes up time and again is that he was an extremely learned and distinguished scientist, certainly the top rice scientist from India. Many[Read More…]
More Comprehensive Understanding of Dam Safety Is Needed For Effective Action
At a time when the safety of dams and legislation relating to this are being widely discussed in India it is important to assert that dam safety issues should not be confined just to any collapse or failure of structures. While this aspect is no doubt the most important, other significant aspects of big floods being unleashed by sudden[Read More…]
What does the Nellie massacre tell us about Assamese society?
Assamese nationalism is a cultural project of the caste Assamese middle class. They have remained true to their conviction of the ‘anti-foreigner’ consciousness. The psychology of hate for the ‘outsider’ manufactured by this middle class became a norm in the public sphere in Assam. Any deviation from this norm turns one into an anti-cultural actor and destroyer of culture. Any[Read More…]
Is policing pandemics different than maintaining law and order?
Among the first responders in times of emergencies or crises is often expected to be the police. This was no different when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a grinding halt. The public health emergency arising due to the pandemic, as well as cascading humanitarian crises in several countries and communities, only made the job of the police even more[Read More…]
Stop Taking for Granted the Justification for the Existence of Israel
Soapbox (described on Facebook as Russia state-controlled media) is circulating a video of veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy lecturing against the Zionist occupation of the West Bank. In the first few frames Levy says: “Palestine must be demilitarized.” Sorry, why should Palestine be demilitarized? Don’t they [Palestinians] have their right to self-defense? Levy is here defending Palestinians’ right to armed[Read More…]
Narendra Modi as a political artiste
`The show goes on’ – is a popular saying. The shows conducted by our Prime Minister – whether in public space or within Parliament – are excellent illustrations of his versatility as an `artiste’ (the term used to describe talented professional singers, dancers and other performers). His recent tearful performance on the floors of Parliament , on the occasion of[Read More…]
Why politicians and doctors keep ignoring the medical research on Vitamin D and Covid
It is probably not a good idea to write while in the grip of anger. But I am struggling to suppress my emotions about a wasted year, during which politicians and many doctors have ignored a growing body of evidence suggesting that Vitamin D can play a critically important role in the prevention and treatment of Covid-19. It is time[Read More…]
Hamid Ansari’s Woes: Plight of Pluralism in India
India began as a plural democracy; respect for diversity was the core value. The provisions of safeguards for minorities were in built. These safeguards were formulated by the Constituent Assembly’s committee on Minorities headed by Sardar Patel. Seven decades down the lines where do we stand in matters of security and economic welfare of the religious minorities. Most of the[Read More…]
The WEF Agenda Behind Modi Farm Reform
In September 2021 the UN will hold a Food Systems Summit. The aim will be to reshape world agriculture and food production in the context of the Malthusian UN Agenda 2030 “sustainable agriculture” goals. The recent radical farm laws from the government of Narenda Modi in India are part of the same global agenda, and it’s all not good. In[Read More…]
From Saving Forests and Seeds to Communal Harmony and Equality, Kunwar Prasun’s Quest for A Better World Never Stopped
People know him mainly as an activist of the famous Chipko movement, but the reality of the life of Kunwar Prasun was that his yearnings for creating a better world were constantly taking him from one struggle and constructive engagement to another. A deeply committed Gandhian all his life, Prasun was guided only by his understanding of what is truth[Read More…]
The Lessons of Suffering in a Covid-19 World
In June 1990, future South African President Nelson Mandela addressed a joint session of Congress only months after being released from 27 years in a South African apartheid prison. He reminded the political leadership of the United States that “to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation[Read More…]
The Democrats Just Helped the Greens!
Being a conspiracy theorist, except for some of the Q-Anon sidetracking, this writer sees clearer than most. For many, the choices around events can be defined as ‘ Glass being half full’ or ‘ Glass being half empty’. Perhaps the reality may be that there is NO glass with fluid, just the illusion. Well, my ‘ Not so favorite’[Read More…]
American Empire – A Global History
Most recent works on the United States accept that it is an empire, perhaps not in the traditional landholding sense, but in the extent of its power and control of others. In “American Empire – Global History,” A. G. Hopkins accepts the idea of empire with several qualifications and with a precise focus on certain aspects of that empire. His[Read More…]
“Kill, Kill, Watch, Watch”
It was a brisk September evening in 1983. Strolling down the street, she carried her sleeping baby in a cloth pouch that was somewhat like a backpack positioned to be at her front. The child was warm against her body and the warmth felt good as a buffer against the chill in the night air. Meanwhile all around her was[Read More…]
Pensioners’ protest: Why are pension payments blocked in Jharkhand?
Anthi Devi of Chungru Panchayat in Barwadih, Latehar district, Jharkhand, cannot control the tremors in her body. She is evidently suffering from symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but she too is among those protesting in Jharkhand seeking their monthly pension. Her Rs1,000 pension per month stopped five years ago, and she does not know why. https://twitter.com/roadscholarz/status/1355141137284034565 Social security pension, despite the[Read More…]
Why Resolving the Farming Crisis in India is Both Very Urgent and Very Difficult
In the recent negotiations of the farmers movement with the government spread over several rounds, the non-acceptance of the farmers’ demand for the repeal of the three controversial farm laws was presented as the most important reason for not reaching an agreement, while the truth is that this should be an easy demand to accept by any sympathetic government. Acceptance[Read More…]
Is it politically relevant today to ask whether Nehru visited Bhagat Singh in Jail?
In a political rally Narendra Modi made statements which are not true, and which are made to raise the emotive pitch against his opponents. In a blatant lie, in a rally in Bidar, he asked “When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the country’s independence, did any Congress leader went to meet them?…”[Read More…]
Role of NGOs in Promoting Neo-Colonialism
There are literally thousands of NGOs, the better known being Oxfam, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International . NGOs are primarily a modern phenomenon, though The World Alliance of YMCAs was founded in 1855, and the International Committee for the Red Cross came into being in 1863. 1 According to one estimate, some 40,000 now qualify as international NGOs (with programs and affiliates[Read More…]
If The Former Chief Justice of India Doesn’t Trust Judiciary, Who Will?
Judiciary ramshackled, going to court is useless: Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi That was the title of a report in newindianexpress.com, published 14th February 2021. “Who goes to the court? You go to the court and regret,” Ranjan Gogoi said, adding that it is those who can afford to take chances, such as the big corporates, who approach the courts. Expressing concern over[Read More…]
Neglect of Green Laws and the Himanalyan Uttarakhand Disaster
Disaster struck Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on 7 February 2021 morning after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off. The sudden flood in Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda tributaries of the Ganga caused death of over 50 persons and nearly 150 workers missing till 15 February, 2021. Most were workers in different projects in the area, along with[Read More…]
True Cost
A week back while I sat in the car waiting for my father, outside the branch of a commercial bank, I noticed a young man walking on the pavement. He was drinking soda from a green, plastic bottle that he thoughtlessly chucked at the corner of the pavement after chugging the soda in a hurry. I watched the urgency in[Read More…]
Netaji Bose, Nehru and anti Colonial Struggle
Indian anti colonial struggle has been the major phenomenon which built modern India into a secular democracy. Many of the political streams were part of this movement which struggled in their own way to drive away the British. There were some, the ones’ who held on to nationalism in the name of religion, who were not part of this and[Read More…]
Efforts to Protect Endangered Rice Varieties at Field Level, Although Small, Are Very Welcome
According to recent reports the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to initiate efforts to save endangered indigenous traditional red rice varieties by growing it in government farms and then distributing seeds to farmers. These rice varieties are widely believed to have exceptional nutrition and even medicinal values and with growing realization of this are fetching a high price in[Read More…]
The “Return” of America: Biden’s Maiden Foreign Policy Speech
Few could have been slack-jawed at the first significant foreign policy speech of US President Joe Biden. It can easily be filed under the “America is back” label. Back as well, as if the previous administration had been incapable of it, was a promise for that practice unflatteringly called jaw-jaw. “Diplomacy,” the President states from the outset, “is back at[Read More…]
Post-Corona Work Changes in Germany
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms The Coronavirus pandemic has led to many changes in our working life from zoom meetings to interviews at home, to the prevalence of the home office that often is at the kitchen table or in the bedroom. In Germany, the number of people working from home dramatically increased since the Coronavirus pandemic hit[Read More…]
Cyber Crime Volunteerism and the Unfolding of an Orwellian India
That the existence of democratic space and liberal discourse is shrinking in today’s India is a naked truth. Rabid polarization, communal disharmony, crony capitalism and stringent crack down of all the opposing voices against the government are realities of the day. With laws being thwarted and manipulated, brazen attempts to compromise the integrity of the legislature, executive, judiciary and the[Read More…]
Despite the Spin By Lobbyists , Extremely Tragic Health Impacts of Alcohol Confirmed by Latest Research
It is now well that the powerful tobacco lobby spread many falsehoods to undermine the steadily growing scientific evidence regarding the very serious health risks of tobacco. Millions of dollars were spent on this lobbying, with huge benefits doled out to corrupt scientists, decision-makers and media. The lobbyists and their collaborators made huge fortunes while public health suffered a[Read More…]
Disha Ravi, Sophie Scholl And The Unravelling Of Indian Fascism
When I founded Countercurrents.org in 2002, Disha Ravi who was arrested for sedition yesterday was a two-year-old toddler. In 2002, the CO2 level in the atmosphere was 370 ppm. Now it is 415 ppm. In just 19 years CO2 levels increased by just over 2ppm/year. The level of cumulative greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including Methane, Nitrous Oxide etc is[Read More…]
Why Amazon Is Fighting So Hard to Stop Warehouse Workers From Unionizing
Thousands of warehouse workers at an Amazon plant in Bessemer, Alabama, are at the center of a potentially game-changing union vote taking place right now. On February 8, the warehouse workers were sent ballots by mail to decide over the next seven weeks if they want to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Just getting to this point was[Read More…]
Kashmir, India, Pakistan And The UN
While Imran Khan’s recent speech in Kotli has caused quite a rouse in some political circles in Pakistan, most Kashmiris living across the Line of Control have again pinned their hopes that Pakistan will never back down in helping them to achieve their complete independence from both the countries. Addressing a huge rally in ‘Azad Kashmir’ on the occasion of[Read More…]
Degrowing for peace? Tackling structural violence and climate resilience
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda sets out global priorities, calling on countries to take “transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path”. The Agenda seeks to strengthen universal peace as part of a holistic agenda, bringing together social, environmental, and economic goals for sustainable development. Globally and in our local communities, we face complex[Read More…]
Transformation of Higher Education post COVID-19 in India
Written by Dr. Sudhamshi Beeram, Dr. Arathi P Rao and Prof. K Rajasekharan Nayar The disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic has been drastic and perhaps one of the most dramatic transitions witnessed in the education sector. The massive and unexpected closures have forced educational institutions to seek quick fixes in different digital learning platforms (Jandrić, 2020). More than a semester[Read More…]
The Next Course for USA
The heavy burden of so-called Trumpism has been removed from the shoulders of the USA. Donald Trump could not perpetuate his reign adopting the policy of Joseph Goebbels. But the bad legacy and its consequential effects are not over yet. The new administration led by Joe Biden faces an upheaval task to overcome the challenges. The so-called all-powerful USA is[Read More…]
Serious Accidents and Disasters Involving Dam Workers Are A Wake-Up Call for Improving Safety
The prayers of the entire country have been with the brave efforts for rescuing trapped workers in Uttarakhand. This is also the time for realizing the seriousness of the very difficult, hazard-prone and risky conditions in which dam workers toil in India in remote areas, particularly the Himalayan region. Whether it is the Uttarakhand disasters of 2021 or 2013,[Read More…]
The Devil
When I met the Devil last night I told him that `God is within you’ `I have no God,’ he said `I am the Devil’, said the words From his wisdom teeth `That’s ok, bro’, I said `We have something in common But you have God within you’. `What the F*#@*%&<?’. Jumped the angry Devil in front He tried to[Read More…]
ED Raids and NewsClick: Weaponising the law by Criminalising Free Speech
People’s Union for Civil Liberties is shocked at the illegal detention of the editor-in-chief of news portal, NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha and his partner, Gita Hariharan, at their home in Delhi as the 113-hour “search” by the Enforcement Directorate continued. Senior citizens aged 73 and 67 years, they were kept in confinement and not allowed access to phones and even to[Read More…]
The Wolf in Sheep’s Skin: IMF, WTO and WB role in promoting poverty and misery
IMF and WB do not function like UN agencies on a ‘One nation, one vote’ system. Voting power is pegged to the size of economy and on financial contribution to the WB. The after effects of some of the decisions of IMF/WB are as under: In 1994, Zambia declared that it could not hire an additional 9,000 school teachers it[Read More…]
Emergency rally for Professor Saibaba held outside Indian visa and passport application center in Canada
Members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together on Sunday, February 14, to raise their voices for the jailed Indian scholar who is being incarcerated despite being disabled below the waist, and having been tested positive for COVID 19. A well-known human rights defender, former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba is currently serving a life term after having[Read More…]
Release Climate Activist Disha Ravi
News that Disha Ravi, a young woman and climate activist from Bengaluru, has been “picked up” – in what is referred to as a “closely guarded operation” of the Delhi police – is highly disturbing both for what appears to be its illegal nature and for the over-reaction of the State that it represents. Earlier today, Disha has been remanded to[Read More…]
Alarming rise in state repression and clampdown on news outlets and journalists
NAPM condemns the alarming rise in state repression and clampdown on news outlets and journalists exposing the anti-people nature of the establishment NAPM is outraged at the increasing number of instances of the state blatantly targeting news outlets and journalists who refuse to budge and report the truth in public interest, despite threats from those in power. These threats[Read More…]
Institutions to protect democracy have to show their strength
The raid on Newsclick by the enforcement directorate unambiguously shows how the government ‘respect’ those voices who differ with it. The Enforcement Directorate these days has become the new CBI and is being used as a political tool. This is deeply disturbing how these agencies have allowed themselves to be used as a political tool to harass the opponents of[Read More…]
Military Coup: The Myanmar – China Nexus
Myanmar has reverted to military rule. Claiming allegations of election fraud as basis for a coup the military has detained top civilian leaders of the former government, including the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi who was head of government and the President, Win Myint. And many others including the student protesters that had brought Suu Kyi’s National League[Read More…]
Growing call for federal democracy in Myanmar
Written by Constanze Ruprecht and Bobby Ramakant Growing number of civil society networks for peace, health and human rights from around the world are unifying their call for federal democracy in Myanmar. In a joint statement condemning the Coup d’état in Burma (after an online South Asia Solidarity Forum for federal democracy in Myanmar), over a hundred of these individuals,[Read More…]
Missions to Mars: Mapping, Probing and Plundering the Red Planet
In the first month of 2020, Forbes was all excitement about fresh opportunities for plunder and conquest. Titled “2020: The Year We Will Conquer Mars”, the contribution by astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter was less interested in the physics than the conquest. A potentially very crowded scene was described. Various countries would send their cluttering devices to “orbit, rove, sample, dig,[Read More…]
Europe Will Redefine Itself Despite Political Shift in the US
Despite the long-awaited political change in Washington as Democratic President, Joe Biden, has officially become the 46th President of the United States, Europe is unlikely to resume its previously unhindered reliance on its trans-Atlantic partner. The four years of Donald Trump were rife with tension and strife between the US and Europe – in fact, between the US and its[Read More…]
For De-Escalation on India-China Border, Government Needs Wider Support of the Opposition
In difficult times one good news that has emerged recently relates to some progress on de-escalation on India-China borders. As several knowledgeable observers have pointed out, we should not hasten to celebrate peace too soon as there are several uncertainties. Nevertheless any turn for the better in de-escalation is certainly welcome , and both the involved governments, their advisers and[Read More…]
JatiIndia Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present and Future: Munawar Faruqui
The intruder [Gaur] was referring not to a joke Faruqui had just made, but one that he’d uploaded on YouTube in April 2020. It referenced Rama, a widely worshipped Hindu deity, and his wife Sita. “O Lord, my beloved, has come home,” Faruqui starts, dropping lyrics from an enormously popular Bollywood song in which a woman celebrates the return of[Read More…]
The Phone Salesman
He was pissed! Really pissed! How could that purchasing agent asshole do this!? What a way to start his week. As it was he hated Mondays, always! The new week brought the same anxieties all the time. You work on straight commission and this is the way it is. He remembered the Hyman Roth character from Godfather 2 saying to[Read More…]
Western Aid: Myth and Reality
The West seeks to preserve present relations, which enable it to make immense profits by exploiting natural and manpower resources of the whole world. It also molds socioeconomic development of neo-colonial states to the purpose, by adopting development models, which will be based on foreign capital for finance, technology and know-how. There is good reason behind the billions of easy[Read More…]
Farmers continue to burn flame of Resistance against Neo-Fascism
With the expansion of the movement through consolidation of democratic forces from other states to support the Peasant agitation the movement is on the verge of creating the impact of an inferno. The Punjabi peasantry have inspired the famers of other states, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to join the ranks of the movement. We must salute the peasantry for[Read More…]
UK economy’s collapse in 2020 was worst since 1709
The coronavirus pandemic’s economic collapse in the UK is severe, worst in three centuries. The economy contracted by 9.9 percent in 2020, initial estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed on February 12, 2021. A study of historical data by the Bank of England shows that recession to be the worst since 1709, the year known as the Great[Read More…]
The extreme rate of global warming: IPCC Oversights of future climate trends
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and comprehensive summaries of the peer-reviewed literature raise questions regarding the assumptions inherent in computer modelling of future climate changes, including the supposed linearity of future global temperature trends (Figure 1). Computer modelling does not necessarily capture the sensitivity, complexity and feedbacks of the atmosphere-ocean-land system as observed from paleoclimate studies. Underlying published[Read More…]
How Digital Fascism Works
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms Most people have some idea about what fascism is. Fascism’s Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, the original fascism, was invented in Italy in the 1920s. One-hundred years on, however, Italy has changed and so has fascism. Mussolini’s classical version of fascism has become digital fascism. Perhaps one of the world’s foremost experts on fascism, Italian Jewish[Read More…]
Al Jazeera’s Tele-documentary, the Bandit Brothers and Bangladesh’s Dossier of Abuse
On February 1, 2021 the Qatar based TV outlet, Al Jazeera aired a tele documentary, “All the Prime Minister’s Men.” The tele documentary that included several sting operations involving convicted fugitive brothers of the Bangladesh Army Chief, General Aziz Ahmed depicted multiple layers of abuse and corruption – money laundering, extortion, bribery, extra judicial killing, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests of[Read More…]
History Writing to the Rescue against Sectarian Nationalism – A Tribute to Prof D.N. Jha
India currently is in the grip of ‘constructed Hate’. This in turn has led to violence against vulnerable sections of society, particularly religious minorities and dalits. As such one understands that love is a natural phenomenon and Hatred is generally a phenomenon constructed around misconceptions about the targeted sections of society. These targeted sections of society have to bear the[Read More…]
The double burden of COVID-19 and Diabetes
Written by Prabhu Dutta Shaw, Dr. Arathi P Rao COVID-19 is a disease that has indiscriminately affected individuals with unequal vulnerability. While the world is still suffering because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of the emergence of a diabetes epidemic has started looming into view. On the one hand, it is seen that hyperglycaemia tends to increase morbidity[Read More…]
Indian Democracy Needs Help and Guidance of Distinguished Lawyers, Jurists and Retired Judges at Five Levels
India has a glorious tradition of eminent lawyers and jurists playing a very valuable democratic role. This was particularly strong during the early stage of the Congress-led freedom movement when lawyers provided the most important base. Not equally well-known is the important role played by several eminent lawyers in providing legal help to revolutionaries of the freedom movement. This important[Read More…]
Is India’s social justice paradigm under threat? Stories of Fr. Stan Swamy and Sudha Bharadwaj
In a letter written by Fr. Stan Swamy SJ, from the prison, said, “Dear friends: Peace! Though I do not have many details, from what I have heard, I am grateful to all of you for expressing your solidarity support. I am in a cell approximately 13 feet x 8 feet, along with two more inmates. It has a small[Read More…]
Why 2021 is humanity’s make-or-break moment on climate breakdown
Last year will be remembered for many things, and let’s be honest: most of them will be bad. But amidst the hardship and suffering, there is a positive story to be told. 2020 was perhaps the first time in living memory when governments around the world took radical action to put the interests of public health and wellbeing above that[Read More…]
The Guardian revealed its true face in sacking a columnist for criticising US military aid to Israel
The revelation that a leftwing journalist, Nathan J Robinson, has been sacked as a Guardian US columnist for criticising Israel on Twitter – and that he was pressured to keep quiet about it by Guardian editors – should come as no surprise. He is only the latest in a long line of journalists, myself included, who have run foul of[Read More…]
Grain Scam in Punjab, by farmers… a message being circulated in social media. Is it true?
FCI storage yards with wheat bought at MSP, scene across Punjab and Haryana. Water is sprinkled on wheat bags to let the grain rot, and is thrown out as waste. Sold to distilleries by “ 5-star farmers and their agents” now agitating on Delhi border. Rs 6000 to 7000 cr per year involved. Going on for 45 years. So the[Read More…]
Love
If I tell you that love is a reality, You may call me a romantic. If I tell you that love is an abstraction You may call me a confused idiot If I tell you that love is God You may call me immoral If I tell you that love is revolution You may call me an anti-communist If I[Read More…]
Vizag Steel Plant: A victim of neglect over decades
Visakhapatnam, the steel city (Ukku Nagaram, the name assumed because of steel plant) has woken up to this decision of the Centre (for 100 per cent strategic disinvestment ) without consulting anybody. Its people, employees of VSP and the trade unions came together and voiced together for withdrawal of the decision to disinvest the Government’s share in VSP. The Centre’s[Read More…]
Communication: the ethical side to organ donation
Written by Dr. Chandrima Chatterjee, Bhagyashree Dutta, Dr. Anamika Roy Organ donation is a much debated and sought-after topic, yet numerous bioethical controversies are associated with it. With the advent of organ black markets, revised regulations and increased precautions for donating organs. As far as bioethical concerns are there, one factor is communicating the different facets to the family members[Read More…]
Hindu Nationalism: From Genesis to Present Ruling Dispensation
As per Indian Constitution India is a secular democratic Country. Lately Hindu nationalism has started impacting the nature of state and citizenship in a very strong way. As Indian Nationalism developed during freedom movement, Hindu nationalism and Muslim Nationalism came as opposites of Indian Nationalism. The origin of Hindu nationalism and also Muslim Nationalism can be traced to colonial period.[Read More…]
Trouble in Vaccine Land: The Wiliness of South Africa’s Coronavirus Variant
It began as a shudder through the scientific and public health establishments. A new variant of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 had been found, mutating in South African climes, potentially outwitting human responses to it. Vaccines such as Oxford-AstraZeneca’s would have to be brushed up. Rollouts would have to be reconsidered. The South African variant has been given a few designations:[Read More…]
Post-Brexit Truck Driving – a Driver’s Report
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms It is Saturday morning in Dagenham, East London and for truck driver Johan Most Brexit means waiting. It was the Saturday after Britain had left the EU. Lorry driver Most is feeling the dire consequences. He has been on the road for six days. Actually, he wanted to stop in Dagenham only briefly[Read More…]
Beyond Donald Trump
When Martin Luther King preached his famous sermon “Beyond Vietnam” at Riverside Church in New York City in April 1967, I don’t recall giving his words a second thought. Although at the time I was just up the Hudson River attending West Point, his call for a “radical revolution in values” did not resonate with me. By upbringing and given[Read More…]
Oratory comes with Conviction: ‘Hum Do, Hamare Do’
Oratory is important in todays time. Narendra Modi gave a new term ‘andolanjeevi’ to his supporters which was countered by activists vehemently. Modi’s speech was nothing but addressed to his audience and now that includes corporate bosses too as he categorically said that ‘private’ is important for ‘nation building’. The second most important speech which was highly impressive and exposed[Read More…]
Chandra Singh Garhwali—World Peace Movement Will Never Forget the Soldier Who Refused to Fire on Unarmed Protestors
It was a tense day in Peshawar in 1930.The freedom movement under the guidance of Badshah Khan and the overall national leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was progressing from strength to strength. The Khudai Khidmatgars ( literally those who have committed themselves to serving God through service to humanity ) organized by the Badshah ( literally king, so called as he[Read More…]
Tribute to Tarimela Nagi Reddy on 104th birthday today
Today on February 11th the Indian Communist movement celebrates the 104th birth anniversary of legendary Comrade Tarimela Nagi Reddy.Without doubt he was one of the most outstanding personalities ever in the history of the Communist movement and arguably contributed more as an architect of the massline than any Indian revolutionary. Imbibing his teachings are important even today when the Indian[Read More…]
The Regime Moves to Oust Mahua Moitra, a sitting MP, from Parliament
So, now even within the Parliament one can’t speak out – if it’s not to the liking of the regime. <<The BJP on Wednesday initiated a privilege motion against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra over her remarks in the Lok Sabha concerning a former Chief Justice of India. While the TMC MP’s remarks were expunged from the record, the BJP[Read More…]
At a time of growing farmer discontent, a reduction of agriculture budget is surely hard to justify
Keeping in view the escalating farmer discontent in India in recent times, many people had reason to expect that the union government will respond by significantly raising the budget for agriculture, particularly in the context of some of its most favored schemes. But when the union budget for 2021-22 was presented recently, they were in for a rude shock as[Read More…]
Bhima Koregaon Case: Evidence planted in accused Rona Wilson’s computer
Activist Rona Wilson’s computer was compromised for over 22 months before the Pune Police raided his home in New Delhi and arrested him as co-accused in Bhima Koregaon violence, claimed the Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm Arsenal Digital. The firm in its report said that the 10 letters used first by Pune Police and later the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as[Read More…]
The Rightist Regimes, Monopoly Houses And State
In a globalized world market the monopoly houses are growing in a manner that they could control the democratic state apparatus in the countries of their headquarters like never before. When the right wing parties come to power with the full support of monopoly houses there is a contract between monopoly houses and the party that their market reach must[Read More…]
ED Raid At NewsClick Condemned
A press statement on the ED raid at NewsClick offices in Delhi from Kolkata-based digital media groups We the undersigned strongly condemn the harassment and intimidation of independent media houses and journalists associated with them by the BJP run central government. The raids by the Enforcement Directorate at the office of News Click and the homes of its directors and[Read More…]
Budget 21-22: Denial of Ambedkar and Birsa Munda
Union Budget 2021-2022 is a Saga of Deception Presenting the digital Union Budget, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs stated that India’s fight against COVID-19 continues into 2021 and that this moment in history, when the political, economic, and strategic relations in the post-COVID world are changing, is the dawn of a new era – one in which India is well-poised to truly be the land[Read More…]
Continuing Prosecutions: Assange and the Biden Administration
With changes of presidential administrations, radical departures in policy are always exaggerated. Continuity remains, for the most part, a standard feature. It is precisely that continuity being challenged by groups fearful of the continuing prosecution of Julian Assange. The effort by the US Justice Department to extradite Assange from the UK on eighteen charges based on the Espionage Act and[Read More…]
The Russian Alternative: How Moscow is capitalizing on US Retreat in Palestine, Israel
Israeli anxiety was palpable when it was reported that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was not contacted by the new American President, Joe Biden, for days after the latter’s inauguration. While much is being read into Biden’s decision, including Washington’s lack of enthusiasm to return to the ‘peace process’, Moscow is generating much attention as a possible alternative to the[Read More…]
Ending the Other War in Yemen
On February 4, in his first major foreign policy address, President Joe Biden announced “we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.” Speaking of the Saudi-led coalition that has been at war in Yemen since 2015, creating what he called “a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe,” Biden declared “This war has[Read More…]
Post-Pandemic American Society Must Not Return to its Industrial Capitalist Roots
Our mace shaped COVID19 enemy, and its mutations merrily popping up around the United States, ironically has opened up new possibilities for inching beyond the grimy confines of industrial capitalism to new modes of work, learning and being that were initially promised by technocrats at the dawn of the Internet/World Wide Web. Indeed, the Pandemic of 2020-21 (Pandemic) revealed that[Read More…]
Biden Should Stop Payment on U.S. Funds to Sisi’s Egypt
Written by Ariel Gold and Medea Benjamin Under Donald Trump’s presidency, Egypt, as well as Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UAE, and other repressive regimes, had virtually free reign to commit unchecked human rights abuses without worry that they might be chastised or lose U.S. diplomatic and financial support. But when Joe Biden won the 2020 election, President Sisi of Egypt[Read More…]
Himalayan Ecology Faces Many-Sided Threats and Stress, Need for Declaring Ecologically Protective Peace Zone
A very important aspect of Himalayan region is that the number of people impacted by what happens to the environment of the Himalayan region is very high. This can be seen very easily in India in the very densely populated Ganga-Yamuna plains, but is true for some other countries as well. Of course the population within the Himalayan region can[Read More…]
System of Safety of Dams Needs Improvement at Several Levels, Including Unbiased Assessment of New Projects
We are in an important phase of assessing and planning for safety of dams. On the one hand new legislation on this subject is under consideration, on the other hand a serious disaster implicating two or more hydel projects in the Himalayan region has re-emphasized the need for a much stronger system of dam safety that can also take into[Read More…]
Raid On NewsClick: An Attempt To Muzzle The Voices of Dissent
NewsClick, a progressive website based out of Delhi has been raided by the Enforcement Directorate. The raid comes at a time when NewsClick has been bravely covering the farmers’ agitation and other issues of the marginalised when most of the mainstream media are keeping silent or toeing the line of the government. The raid on NewsClick is a continuation of[Read More…]
Religions, Female Virginity and Fidelity
Violence against women has been a universal phenomenon in the East and the West. In the West measures have been taken against it. They have met a certain degree of success. In the East and Africa, identification of the problem has just begun in the last two decades and little by way of effective measures against it has been done.[Read More…]
Information Interruptus: Bing, Google and the News Media Bargaining Code
It’s looking a touch quixotic, but the News Media Bargaining Code has become Australia’s weapon of choice in attempting to redistribute proceeds from big tech into the coffers of a withering fourth estate. It has now reached a point of sufficient concern for Google as to become threatening, winding its way to a Senate Committee Inquiry before going to Parliament[Read More…]
The Peaceful Path Ahead for the Farmers’ Movement—Increasing Internal Strength While Reaching Out Widely
It appears now that an early agreement with the government is not likely and so the farmers’ movement has to prepare for the long haul. The popular farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has said that the sit-in or dharna can continue up to October this year, and he as well as others have said that this will continue till the three[Read More…]
100th anniversary is a time to heal the wounds of Chauri-Chaura
The events at and around Chauri-Chaura, a rural area located in Gorakhpur region of Uttar Pradesh, during the first week of February 1922 constitute an important chapter of the history of the freedom movement of India. These events became the immediate and most frequently mentioned reason for Mahatma Gandhi to stop the non-cooperation movement abruptly and this in turn had[Read More…]
Switzerland’s contribution to the International Neoliberal Order
The Russian Revolution in 1917 panicked Europe’s upper middle classes, already much discredited and weakened by the gigantic tragedy of the First World War, the result of their own greed, irresponsibility and incompetence. The crash of 1929, which almost ruined most of the industrialized capitalist countries but hardly affected the young Soviet Union, further strengthened the alternative posed by the[Read More…]
Some Variables Related to Wealth and Destitution
Many a person knows that “it takes money to make money.” So rather than frittering away financial assets, these many invest money in ways and means that are thought will likely lead to more capital being accrued. Of course, any fiscal gain is often largely predicated on others needing or wanting some product or service which an investor has funded[Read More…]
100 Seconds to Midnight?
If you live in California, you’re likely to be consumed on occasion by thoughts of fire. That’s not surprising, given that, in last year alone, actual fires consumed over four and a quarter million acres of the state, taking with them 10,488 structures, 33 human lives, and who knows how many animals. By the end of this January, a month never before[Read More…]
Condemn Raids on Newsclick
The Delhi Union of Journalists(DUJ) condemns the raids by the Enforcement Directorate on the office of online portal Newsclick and the homes of its owner editor Prabir Purkayastha, editor Pranjal and human resources head Amit Chakravarty earlier today. Newsclick has been providing a platform to leading investigative journalists like Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and bold video journalist Abhisar Sharma, P.Sainath -among[Read More…]
Modi’s politics of tears
Mr Narendra Modi often cries as if tear drops can replace misgovernance and hide the failures of his government. The display of tear drops help to build a persona of human feelings. There is no scientific way to measure whether his tear drops reflect sincerity or master act of political strategy to hide Hindutva politics of hate. This is an[Read More…]
The U.S. and China are already fighting for 6G dominance
A Bloomberg report said: “Most of the world is yet to experience the benefits of a 5G network, but the geopolitical race for the next big thing in telecommunications technology is already heating up. “For companies and governments, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The first to develop and patent 6G will be the biggest winners in what some call the[Read More…]
Two U.S. carriers groups conduct exercise in South China Sea amid tensions with China
Media reports said: Two U.S. carrier strike groups have conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea. This new muscle flexing comes days after the U.S. buzzed China-controlled islets in the disputed waters, prompting anger from China. The two groups, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz aircraft carriers, trained in the South China Sea on Tuesday, the[Read More…]
Dam Workers Face Serious Hazards, Need Much Better Safety and Social Security
The tragedy in Uttarakhand has again highlighted the extreme vulnerability of dam workers who toil often in very hazardous conditions in very remote parts of the country, away from public gaze. In particular the hazards faced by workers are very serious at several dam construction locations in the Himalayan region. While better safety conditions for dam workers are needed everywhere,[Read More…]
Tribute to Comrade Amritpal Passi or Jagseer on 13th death anniversary
Comrade Amritpal Passi or Jagseer left us exactly 13 years ago on February 9th, tragically succumbing to Cancer. He was a state Commitee member of the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India (Marxist Leninist) We also commemorated his 70th birthday on January 22nd this year. Without doubt he was one of the most defining or impactful comrades in Punjab his[Read More…]
Remembering Kondapalli Koteswaramma through Her Memories
Several events were narrated to me about ‘the left political spectrum’ before I became a member, and worked with a couple of political organisations within this spectrum in Kolkata. Before Kolkata, in Pune, I was a part of college protest events at BMCC and ILS both, after the tragic murder of the rationalist, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, and had[Read More…]
13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and its significance
The results of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), with Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected as General Secretary of the 13th Party Central Committee, have made headlines around Asia, according to Vietnam News Agency (VNA). It began on Jan 25 and concluded on February 1 after eight days of working. The congress fulfilled its agenda and[Read More…]
India’s Growing Disease Burden… Will Healthcare Budget Suffice?
The global health emergency that jolted the world from its slumber made us realize the value and importance of health, probably the only positive outcome of the pandemic. Baring few nations, others struggled hard to cope with their crumbling health infrastructure. In India too, Health sector which had long been overshadowed and ignored in both priority and fund’s in the[Read More…]
The Myth of Hardness: Public Sciences and Jugglery
The present world is dominated by a scientific world view which places undue focus on practicality mainly arising out of a market-oriented economic philosophy. Technological advancements have definitely helped the present society in many ways especially communication sector, education, health, travel etc. Of course, in this ‘new world’, basic sciences have become marginal and this has tremendous implications for education[Read More…]
Lives In Mathematics
Human history as cultural history We need to reform our teaching of history so that the emphasis will be placed on the gradual growth of human culture and knowledge, a growth to which all nations and ethnic groups have contributed. A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a book which presents the lives and[Read More…]
Release Nodeep Kaur
The Kisan Andolan has brought many new faces, young and dynamic activists full of ideological commitments as well as active on the ground which is a positive sign. When the movement started, many people asked me the question about the agricultural workers, Dalit, Adivasis. I was very clear that farmers have now realised that corporate culture is anti-farmer which is[Read More…]
With eye on Biden, India’s Iran diplomacy shifts gear
By a fortuitous happening, the top South Block official heading the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran Division in India’s External Affairs Ministry, J.P. Singh was in Iran in the weekend, hot on the heels of the senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. It is improbable they met. It is equally improbable that the Indian diplomat failed to take note of the Taliban co-founder’s[Read More…]
Reasons Why Tehri Dam Needs Very Special Precautions Of Safety
The Tehri Dam Project (TDP) constructed in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand is one of the most discussed dams of the world in the context of the debates on dam safery. The salient features of this project are :- A 260.5 meters high earth and rockfill dam, across the river Bhagirathi at Tehri just after its confluence with river Bhilangana[Read More…]
Why Rs2 lakh is too little compensation for the dead in Uttarakhand
Soon after the disaster in Uttarakhand on February 7, 2020, when a deluge washed away two hydropower plants and left at least 100 dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a sum of Rs2 lakh each would be given to the families of each of the dead, and Rs50,000 each to those who have sustained injuries. PM Modi’s monthly salary[Read More…]
Uttarakhand flood: Fatality and devastation
A major challenge associated with any natural disaster is the quantitative character of the forecast; the task is not just to forecast the occurrence of an event, which is difficult enough by itself, but to anticipate the magnitude of the event. Similarly, sometimes it is difficult to anticipate the form and nature of the disaster as well. A sudden and[Read More…]
Canadian Punjabi Press Club holds demonstration outside Indian consulate in Vancouver
Members of the South Asian media fraternity came together on Monday, February 8, to raise their voices against ongoing suppression of freedom of the press in the world’s so called largest democracy. The demonstration was held right outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, by the Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia (PPCBC). This was in response to the recent arrests[Read More…]
Did Climate Change Cause The Uttarakhand Tragedy?
The rescue operations for the tragic glacier burst which killed 11 and triggered massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda Rivers in Uttarakhand causing grave damage to houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project is still underway. Reportedly, over 203 people went missing after the tragedy. As per the latest reports, the rescue teams have been conducting non-stop operations and have[Read More…]
Question Marks on Himalayan Dams After Another Disaster
Following the terrible disaster in Uttarakhand questions are likely to be raised once again regarding the safety and desirability of the many dams and hydel projects in the Himalayan region. What started as a natural disaster got much aggravated due to the various complications created by hydel projects and their tunnels., The workers and employees of these projects appear[Read More…]
Global food prices soar to 6-year high, says FAO
World food prices rose in January for the eighth consecutive month, led by cereals, vegetable oils and sugar, reports the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. A FAO report said that its food price index marked a 4.3 percent increase from December, reaching its highest level since July 2014. FAO’s Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes[Read More…]
Not my India
Why is it so difficult? To be bold and fearless In a world which is cruel and vicious To speak against injustice To seek fairness, equality and peace To be aware of the governments games and tricks To state the facts as it is. To be an accomplice of the ‘anti-nationals’ To question the government and be rational To never[Read More…]
Responsibility Of The Celebrities
India, since 2014, has been witnessing sharp polarization between people who support the government and people who adhere by the values that define this nation. Unfortunately, majority of the celebrities with millions of followers on social media accounts support the government blindly, disregarding the social conditions, the plight of the ordinary citizen and the democratic value system which sustains this[Read More…]
Struggle of Women Farmers to Protect Their Land
From time to time several cases of women farmers being harassed and attempts to grab their land have been increasingly reported from various parts of country. One reason for this is increase in migration from villages and the growing responsibility on women who stay behind to take care of small farms. In the absence of men some land-grabbers feel they[Read More…]
Nazi Ascendance Of Wilhelm Frick And Joseph Goebbels
NAZI ASCENDANCE OF WILHELM FRICK AND JOSEPH GOEBBELS–FROM MUNICH PUTSCH- STORMING TO NURENBERG LAWS-1935. (RETURN OF THE REPRESSED) – HISTORICAL LESSONS.-CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY- “Pictographic Depiction” of their Historical Ascendance to Nazi Strangulation” Following the NURENBURG Rally of Reichsparteitag ( REICH PARTY) was held in 1923 and what followed was imitation of Mussolini’s March in 1921 and seizure of power in[Read More…]
The World Welcomes Biden But Hedges Its Bets
The nightmare is over. The vanquished beast has crawled back to Mar-a-Lago to lick his wounds. The heroes are hard at work repairing the damage. As America returns to the international stage, the world heaves a collective sigh of relief. That, at least, is the story the incoming Biden administration is telling. “America is back, multilateralism is back, diplomacy is[Read More…]
‘Freedom is Never Voluntarily Given’: Palestinian Boycott of Israel is Not Racist, It is Anti-Racist
Claims made by Democratic New York City mayoral candidate, Andrew Yang, in a recent op-ed in the Jewish weekly, ‘The Forward’, point to the prevailing ignorance that continues to dominate the US discourse on Palestine and Israel. Yang, a former Democratic Presidential candidate, is vying for the Jewish vote in New York City. According to the reductionist assumption that[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s Desperate Damage Control Exercise To Degrade Draft UNHRC Resolution
Recently. President Gotabaya Rajapakshe appointed a three man Commission to study and find out if any human rights violations have been revealed in the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission [ LLRC] Paranagama and Udalagama Commissions by ignoring and rejecting the several Reports of the UN Special Rapporteurs including United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon’s Report which detailed comprehensive human rights[Read More…]
Are You Or Someone You Know At Risk For Diabetes?
Eight years ago, I went for a blood pull early in the morning. I was instructed to eat nothing and only have plain water, coffee or tea starting at ten o’clock at night until after the blood extraction the next day. So I decided the day before the procedure that I would have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner as that[Read More…]
Farming Memories
If they are terrorists Then why do they feed us? If they are disruptors Then why do they make the world work? You might hit and insult You might tarnish and blur You might push them against a wall But before doing so Perhaps think of this- That you consume their toils That your dreams, they power That verdant life[Read More…]
Fundamentalists Can’t Live Together
Religious revival and highly charged conflicts in a shrinking world make it difficult for people of competing faiths to live together. Fundamentalists of all creeds exhibit a striking commonality; an inability to think rationally. Menachem Begin bombed the King Edward Hotel in Jerusalem 1945, Communal riots in Jabalpur, in India in 1961, religious riots in Beirut in 1983, Babri[Read More…]
The Kisans Are Right: Their Land Is at Stake (Part 3 of 3)
In the previous two parts (I & II) of this article, we saw how (1) the Government is trying to ram through a conclusive determination of property rights in agricultural land throughout the country. This is being done explicitly in order to develop a “vibrant land market”, i.e., in order to facilitate transfers of land; (2) for the last 20[Read More…]
Tribute to Gundappa Vishwanath on 40th anniversary of his Melbourne Classic
Today on February 7thH we commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gundappa Vishwanath’s epic 114 at Melbourne in 1981. This knock virtually took India out of the doldrums or despair to effect one of cricket’s great turnarounds to win a test and draw a rubber on Australian soil for the first time. The memories of his strokes on this day are[Read More…]
The Sharp Knife of Memory – A Review
Originally written and published in 2012 in the Telugu language, Nirjana Vaaradhi, is a memoir by Kondapalli Koteswaramma. Sowmya V.B. translated this book in English, and ‘The Sharp Knife of Memory’ was published and released in 2015 by Zubaan books, to reach a much wider circle of readers, beyond the boundaries of the two Telugu speaking states of India. Koteswaramma[Read More…]
HIV science has advanced but policies-programmes have been slow to #endAIDS
HIV science has advanced but policies and programmes have been slow to respond towards ending AIDS, said Mitchell Warren, co-chair of the global conference on HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) and Executive Director of AVAC (Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention). Scientific advances have seen huge gains on HIV prevention and treatment fronts. Sadly, what has not changed is the lack[Read More…]
Let the Investigation Begin: The International Criminal Court, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
International tribunals tend to be praised, in principle, by those they avoid investigating. Once interest shifts to those parties, such bodies become the subject of accusations: bias, politicisation, crude arbitrariness. The United States, whose legal and political personnel have expended vast resources on the machinery of international courts and jurisprudence, remains cold to the International Criminal Court. The sceptics have[Read More…]
Biden’s Idea of India and Savarkar’s are poles apart
According to media reports, the US President Joe Biden has picked as many as 20 Indian-Americans for senior positions in his government, and the common thread running through them is that none of them had anything to do with the RSS or the BJP even remotely. What a curious yardstick to apply — avoid like plague India’s high-flying cultural organisation[Read More…]
Displacement of rural communities , diversion of fertile land and forests likely to prove very costly
Several countries including India have embarked on a development strategy which emphasizes very rapid and large-scale extraction of minerals, construction of large dams and super-highways, huge urbanization and industrial projects. This is equated to development and progress by ruling regimes and hence they do not give adequate and proper attention to the huge social and environmental costs of such development[Read More…]
On laws, lawlessness and Satyagraha
Mahatma Gandhi fought the British and their sedition case, invented Satyagraha (righteous indignation) and laid down his life for communal unity. He might have never imagined that the British weapon of sedition law would be used against Satyagrahis in Independent India. He strongly opposed bad laws and awakened the nation saying non-cooperation with evil is equal to cooperation with good.[Read More…]
Protection of Tribal Land and Forests Rights is Important Not Just for Livelihoods but Also for Invaluable Traditional Wisdom
Many commentators on land and forest rights, including former senior government officials, have expressed serious concern at the land alienation suffered by tribal farmers and the dilution of their forest rights. While this has led to a serious livelihood crisis among a large number of tribal households, in addition this has led to immense threats to the rich[Read More…]
The Cow Problem Of Cow Belt
Written by Sandeep Pandey and Kushagra Kumar Narendra Modi’s ascension to power brought a new phenomenon to India – cow vigilantism. Number of mob lynching incidents took place some resulting in loss of life for the victims who happened to be mostly Muslims. Dalits too took the beating. On the other hand the aggressors hardly ever got punished. In fact,[Read More…]
Alexei Navalny And The Politics Of Vladimir Putin
Written by Zeenat Khan and Ferdous Khan Last Tuesday (February 2) Russian activist Alexei A. Navalny, the loudest critic of Vladimir Putin was sentenced to 2 plus years in prison for violating the terms of his 2014 conviction. The prison service claimed Navalny had violated the terms of his parole by not checking in with his case workers. Some of[Read More…]
Not just Rihanna or Greta, Indian farmers are inspiring the world
Rihanna, Susan Sarandon, Greta Thunberg, John Cusack – the list of well-known celebrities endorsing the struggle of Indian farmers against the country’s new corporate-authored farm laws is growing by the day. What started out as a domestic fight by thousands of Indian farmers to preserve their livelihood and way of life is rapidly morphing into a global cause. And the[Read More…]
Farmers’ Protest in India – Price of Failure Will Be immense
Globally, there is an ongoing trend of a handful of big companies determining what food is grown, how it is grown, what is in it and who sells it. This model involves highly processed food adulterated with chemical inputs ending up in large near-monopoly supermarket chains or fast-food outlets that rely on industrial-scale farming. While the brands lining the shelves[Read More…]
Farmers’ Movement: Time to Introspect
Two achievements of the ongoing peasant movement in opposition to the three agricultural laws which have transformed this movement into nothing sort of exemplary are: carving out a space for democratic resistance; and expanding awareness of the ill effects of capitalism pushed through policies of privatization-corporatization. These two achievements of the peasant movement contain special significance in view of the[Read More…]
Market solutions will make roads unsafe for everyone
India along with 193 countries had promised to halve deaths and serious injuries on the roads by 2020 (as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals). But we have failed to keep this promise as the year 2020 passed by. In 2015, number of road traffic accident deaths in India were 146,133. In 2019, instead of declining (by half), the number[Read More…]
Most Cost-Effective and Pain-Reducing Way of Reducing Cancer-Related Distress is to Focus More on Preventive Aspects
There is increasing concern that the denial of cancer care and diagnosis to a lot of patients during the recent times of lockdowns and concentrating medical attention on Covis-19 is likely to lead to an increase in cancer related deaths in the near future. To give just one indication of this, a Lancet study has presented estimates of a[Read More…]
Rejecting and Reinventing Indian Republic
“They may kill me but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body but they will not be able to crush my spirit”. These statements of Shaheed Bhagat Singh still echoes in the minds, hearts, ideas and soil of India. Though the colonisers killed him and finished his body, but the spirit of Shaheed Bhagat Singh continues[Read More…]
Farmers Are Tillers, Not Killers
Kangana Ranaut again and again is attacking the Indian farmers as terrorists. She has done that in response to the world famous pop singer Rihanna and famous environmentalist girl Greta’s support to farmers movement. Sachin Tendulkar and other pro-BJP forces also joined the chorus. Most of these forces are pro-monopoly houses and hardly have any engagement with the agrarian production.[Read More…]
131st Birth Anniversary of Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan–Who?
February 6 is the 131st birth anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also popularly known as Frontier Gandhi and Badshah Khan. He was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, a die-hard opponent of the two-nation theory and the idea of Pakistan. He was totally committed to Gandhi’s idea of non-violence, enjoyed the same stature in the NWFP also known as Frontier[Read More…]
Are The Farmers Making Delhi Irrelevant?
The irony of this is lost on a government drowning in its testesterone: with every nail studded barricade installed at Tikri, Ghazipur or Singhu, Delhi is making itself progressively redundant to the ongoing course of events, and perhaps even to the future shape of things in India. A subterranean tsunami is slowly building in the country and the power elite,[Read More…]
The political impact of Kisan Andolan
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait’s tears has changed the dynamics of not merely farmers movement but politics particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Till January 26th, it was clear that the protesting farmers were largely from Punjab and those in power with their daily calculators at hand were visualising for a political profiteering from the prolonged movement. They had[Read More…]
India: Whose sovereignty is it anyway?
The questions of national sovereignty are dominating debates in Indian politics today. The Indian media has become the voice of the BJP government led by Mr Narendra Modi. The government and media derides anyone as anti-national if one question’s the government of the day. The students, youths, religious minorities, Dalits, tribals, Kashmiris, human rights activists, lawyers, rationalists, writers, journalists, comedians,[Read More…]
Reflections on the farmers movement
Identity politics cannot subsume real politics. Hindutva built on Hindu identity cannot stop emergence of a challenge built on solidarity of the oppressed classes. Mandir Masjid can polarize and keep the people divided in the name of Hindu Muslim. But the challenge can come from somewhere else (Sikhs), though not on the basis of identity. Challenge can come from anywhere[Read More…]
Master of Disaster – Germany’s Private University
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms Nestled in the northern Hanseatic port city of Bremen, Jacobs University is one of Germany’s few private tertiary institutions Jacobs University In a country dominated by 107 state-run universities., it is soon to join a list of eighteen other private universities and colleges that have closed their doors in the last few years.[Read More…]
The Christmas Tree
Let me tell you, divorce with kids is no fun. In most traditional divorces the dad goes off and the mom keeps the kids. Now, many will say that the mom then has it the worst, for she has to take care of them without a dad around to help. Everyone knows that it is the mom who has to[Read More…]
JFK, Allen Dulles, and Indonesia
A Review: JFK vs. Allen Dulles by Greg Poulgrain Before I digress slightly, let me state from the outset that the book by Greg Poulgrain that I am about to review is extraordinary by any measure. The story he tells is one you will read nowhere else, especially in the way he links the assassination of President Kennedy to former CIA Director[Read More…]
How alert shopkeeper brought missing child back home
On February 3, 2021, Nitin Negi, who runs an electronics goods repair shop in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi, found a toddler outside his shop, no trace of his parents. The shopkeeper asked the little fellow what his name was, what his mother’s name was, and what his father was called. The toddler said he was Nana, his mother Anju and[Read More…]
Changing Lives and Livelihoods of Challakere: First impressions of the Unscientific Science City
Villages in Challakere taluk, Chitradurga district of Karnataka have been impacted by the illegal and unscientific diversion of nearly 10,000 acres of pristine Amrit Mahal Kaval grasslands to create a Science City. Kavals are unique ecological landscapes that are dominated by grasses and are perhaps the gene banks of future staples. They support livelihoods that are carbon neutral. But unfortunately,[Read More…]
“A simple boy from the prairie”: An interview with Robert Jensen
When a European graduate student emailed to ask if I would participate in an assignment to “do an interview with one of my favourite authors,” I said yes. My books have not exactly been best-sellers, and so I was an easy target for anyone describing me as a “favourite author.” But beyond my gratitude for someone noticing my writing, I[Read More…]
Buddhist Political Theory: Social Contract Theory of the Origin of State
Reader’s Guide Buddhist theory of the origin of state, as contained is Digha Nikaya, one of the collections of Buddha’s teachings) is a great ancient Indian contribution to the history of political theory. Purpose of this chapter is to explain the need of the state for the maintenance of the social order, arising due to emergence of evils in the[Read More…]
Is the time ripe for re-opening schools?
The world has been on a roller coaster ride since March last year when coronavirus induces pandemic lead to the ‘closure’ of countries after countries. Now with the vaccine having arrived, and India reporting declining trends both in infection as well as mortality due to the dreaded virus, the confusion over the virus remains as before. Amidst the ecstasy of[Read More…]
Immediately release Nodeep Kaur and Shiv Kumar
Demand the immediate release of Nodeep Kaur and Shiv Kumar and cessation of targeting of workers and peasants by the Haryana Police! WSS strongly condemns the arrest and custodial sexual violence perpetrated by the Haryana Police in Kundli Industrial Area against 24-year-old dalit worker Nodeep Kaur On January 12th 2021, the Haryana Police began firing at a workers’ rally[Read More…]
The Kisans Are Right. Their Land Is At Stake (Part 2 of 3)
In the previous part of this article we saw that the Indian rulers are actively preparing the legal groundwork for parting peasants from their land. In the following part we place this in an international context. The world economy is witnessing an intensifying drive by international investors to get control of land, including agricultural land, in the Third World. Why[Read More…]
Our Mutual Fight: The Case against Pakistani Normalization with Israel
The Pakistani government should never, under any circumstances and no matter the pressure, normalize with Israel. Doing so is not only dangerous – as it will embolden an already vile, racist, violent apartheid Israel – but it would also be considered a betrayal of a historic legacy of mutual solidarity, collective affinity and brotherhood that have bonded Palestinians and Pakistanis[Read More…]
If Facebook Were to Engage with Me about the Term “Zionist,” Here is What I Would Say
Facebook is “independently engaging with experts and stakeholders” to discuss the usage of the term “Zionist.” According to The Verge, Facebook allows the term “in political discourse,” but not “when it’s used as a proxy for Jews or Israelis in a dehumanizing or violent way.” I am not an expert on Zionism though I have a book-shelf of information about[Read More…]
Making cancer treatment worse?
“He’s the best physician that knows the worthlessness of the most medicines.” -Benjamin Franklin The great 19th century physician, Robert Hutchinson, had a daily prayer which ran: “God! Give me deliverance from treating sick human beings as cases, not letting the well alone and making my treatment worse than his disease.” More than one hundred fifty years later we are[Read More…]
Rural vs Urban Population in India
The Farmers’ Protest Movement has brought into sharp focus that India consists of two countries. One is the mighty sprawling urban India where all of us fortunate live spoilt by consumerism and wanting more and more at the cost of others. The other is the weak scattered rural population who are waiting still since 1947 independence to survive poverty, hunger,[Read More…]
Why the Nation—and Yes Even the Government—Should Take Pride in the Resilience and Unity of the Farmers’ Movement
What has happened in the context of the farmers’ movement in India in recent days has brought joy and pride to its increasing number of supporters. A movement that can spring back to a position of such great and increasing support and strength within just a few days—less than a week—of terrible victimization tactics surely deserves congratulations and praise for[Read More…]
Winning Votes Through Identity Politics
According to official estimates, Donald J. Trump obtained a little more than 74 million votes in the November 2020 presidential election losing to Joseph Biden who secured a little more than 81 million votes. Biden won by a comfortable margin but Trump also performed remarkably well. What explains his performance? Analysis of his performance may reveal the growing influence of[Read More…]
A Narcissistic Monster In One’s Life
Approximately 4% of the population is born with brain anomalies that cause them to be narcissists. In dysfunctional societies, the number of people with this orientation can rise to be as high as around 20%. Partly this increase is due to certain desirable values and norms eroding for some individuals as they advance in age. Then they increasingly become comfortable[Read More…]
World Cancer Day
Today, February 4, is the World Cancer Day. We wish all the cancer patients and caregivers – family members, friends and caregivers in the cancer hospitals from all levels – helpers, nurses and oncologists our best wishes, concern and empathy. All sciences have borders of unknown. In the case of cancer it is even more so. There are a lot[Read More…]
Modi’s Farm Produce Act Was Authored Thirty Years Ago, in Washington D.C.
On December 18, addressing a Kisan Sammelan (farmer conference) in Madhya Pradesh by video conferencing, Narendra Modi declared: We are compelled to do things which should have been done 25-30 years ago…. The new laws that have been made for the farmers are in the news for some time now. These agricultural reforms have not come about overnight. Every government of[Read More…]
Coronavirus Education: Learning and Teaching from the Margins
The coronavirus student, a species brought forth in the world of education by a pandemic that has killed over 400,000 people in the United States and 100,000 in the United Kingdom, is a troubled creature. When universities and schools across the globe were given varying and often contradictory messages on the safety of continuing in class teaching and participation, the[Read More…]
Canada should strip Akshay Kumar of his citizenship in the wake of his stand against Rihanna
The Bollywood actor’s support to India Against Propaganda campaign demands prompt action from the federal government. The # campaign is in response to the Barbadian pop star’s tweet in support of agitating farmers of India. Thousands of farmers are protesting near New Delhi, the Indian capital, against controversial farming laws that favour corporate control over the agro industry, threatening the[Read More…]
Everything false is not fake: What’s the difference?
As fake news becomes a propaganda tool, there is also great outrage about everything that is not true. I want to share a recent experience on a Whatsapp group meant solely for journalists, which set me thinking about the difference between false and fake. I shared a video that I had received on another group, of two women being crushed[Read More…]
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies In 2004, journalist Ron Suskind quoted a Bush White House advisor, reportedly Karl Rove, as boasting, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” He dismissed Suskind’s assumption that public policy must be rooted in “the reality-based community.” “We’re history’s actors,” the advisor told him, “…and[Read More…]
Right to Food Campaign Exposes How Women and Children Have Not Received Much-Needed Justice and Care in Union Budget 2021-22
While all sections of people suffered in Covid, women and children suffered even more. Several studies including the recently released Oxfam Inequality report have documented that the loss of job is even more in troubled times for women and it is even more difficult for them to get their work back. Women in the unorganized sector who could save their[Read More…]
Rabindranath Tagore, Humanism and Nationalism
As Bengal elections are looming on the electoral horizons, BJP has intensified its attempts to appropriate the tall icons from Bengal. As for as ideology is concerned the only leader it should have been claiming is Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Bhartiya Janasangh, the previous avatar of BJP. As such the tall icons from Bengal who have contributed immensely[Read More…]
Gandhi Remembered: Falsehood about Non-violence- Part 3
MK Gandhi was remembered across the board, on his death anniversary, January 30, but amid a flood of lies and half-truths in the Big Media, and clouding up truth about what happened in broad daylight on January 26, in capital Delhi. Gandhi is linked with Truth and non-violence, cited as basic tenets of his life and work. But the day[Read More…]
The Kisans Are Right. Their Land Is At Stake (Part 1 of 3)
Part 1 The protesting kisans on the borders of Delhi repeat one thing over and over: When fighting against the three farm-related Acts, they are fighting to save their land. “See, they want to capture our land. Adani, Ambani, corporate houses…” says one young protester. Though wheelchair-bound, he has come from Punjab to take part in the Delhi protest. An older kisan,[Read More…]
China cherishes Hanoi’s nay to ‘quad’
The 13th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam got under way in Hanoi on January 25, 2021. It will go on for nine days. Succinctly put, another profound test of socialist democracy is unfolding in Asia, second only to China’s. The 13th national congress of Vietnam’s ruling communist party, which began in Hanoi on Jan 25 Monday[Read More…]
Concept Of Human Sexuality And Havelock Ellis’s Arduous Wave Of Liberal Open-Mindedness In The Bygone Victorian Era
Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to reverence life until we know how to understand sex. ~ Henry Havelock Ellis (2nd February 1859–8th July 1939) Human Sexuality is a subject that is tightly wound up with hushed whispers and deadly silence, often resorting to hunting us back with physical or verbal violence. India is still[Read More…]
Why Revolution Is Now Needed More Than Ever Before But Needs Much Conceptual Clarity
Revolution is inherently a very noble concept as it is based on three very important understandings for promoting improvement of human society. Firstly, there is a recognition that there is something basically wrong with the way human society is organized and functions at present, leading to avoidable large-scale distress and potential of this increasing even more in future. Next ,[Read More…]
PM Modi’s Fraudulent Love For The Tricolour
PM Modi conveys to the nation Mann ki Baat (words from the heart) only on Sundays. One assumes that the words coming from our PM’s heart would be pristine, innocent and without any malice. Unfortunately, his Mann ki Baat is not from heart but words spoken hail from brain which is generally believed to induce subjective, untruthful and sectarian thoughts.[Read More…]
Gandhi Remembered Amidst Falsehood And Half-Truths-Part 2
MK Gandhi was remembered across the board, on his death anniversary, January 30, but amid a flood of lies and half-truths in the Big Media, and clouding up truth about what happened in broad daylight on January 26, in capital Delhi. Gandhi is linked with Truth and non-violence, cited as basic tenets of his life and work. But the day[Read More…]
Canadian Punjabi Press Club holds demonstration in support of journalists being harassed by the Indian authorities
Members of the South Asian media fraternity came together on Monday, February 1, outside Indian visa and passport center in Surrey, to raise their voices against suppression of the free press in the world’s so called largest democracy. Organized by the Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia, the rally was called in response to the recent arrests of Indian journalists[Read More…]
A Forever Champion of Women and Land Rights- Revisiting Bharti Roy Choudhary’s Legacy
The Indian socio political environment at this moment is witnessing a never before revolutionary churning since the days of British colonialism. History is being etched by the ongoing farmers protest against agricultural laws brought in by an inconsiderate dispensation that is hand in gloves with crony capitalists. Farmers breaking all the barriers of gender, religion, caste and geography are uniting[Read More…]
The Greater Green Revolution—Distortions in Rural Development
The green revolution has been widely discussed and its different aspects have been highlighted by various observers according to their own understanding of emphasis and priorities. To this writer the essence of the green revolution seems to lie in the following tendencies, all the more significant because these seem to be shared by technological changes in other sectors of[Read More…]
For Mahatma Gandhi Equal Respect for All Religions Was One of the Most Essential and Non-Negotiable Aspects of the India He Wanted to Create
If the rulers of our troubled country today make a sincere search for solutions in the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, instead of merely garlanding his statue or photo, one of the most important lessons that they will learn is that of according truly equal respect to all religions. In fact this is a very basic lesson to which rulers of[Read More…]
Why the Far-Right Campaign to Cancel my Medium Blog will Fail
I have been trying to normalize anti-Zionist, anti-Israel speech through my writing and social-media activism for many years now. It hasn’t been easy (see my account of suing Quora for muzzling anti-Zionist speech here). In today’s climate of right-wing vigilantism, it has just gotten worse. I am now the target of a campaign to cancel my Medium blog, where I[Read More…]
Twilight of American Democracy
Introduction: Framing the Debate The 1920s were the formative years for Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany, largely a reaction to a combination of factors from the devastation of the Great War to the fear of the Bolshevik Revolution by European capitalists. One hundred years later, the historical antecedents in the US are not the same as in interwar[Read More…]
Joe Biden’s Peace Force? A Multipoint Plan to End War as We Know It
When it comes to war, if personnel is policy, America is yet again in deep trouble. As retired Army Major Danny Sjursen recently pointed out at TomDispatch, when it comes to foreign policy, President Joe Biden’s new cabinet and advisers are well stocked with retired generals, reconstituted neocons, unapologetic hawks, and similar war enthusiasts. Biden himself has taken to asking God to protect the troops whenever he[Read More…]
NAPM extends solidarity to the Global Campaign by (YAStA) Youth Action to Stop Adani
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) commends and extends its solidarity to the youth groups of India and Australia who, in an effort to bring more attention to the continuous struggles of the multitude — aboriginal, indigenous peoples, farmers, working class and other oppressed communities — against anti-people multinational corporate conglomerates, have successfully organised the Global Week of Action to[Read More…]
Military coup in Myanmar: ‘Garrison State’ back to dismantle democracy?
Fears of a military takeover in Myanmar came true in the early hours of 1 February when the powerful army resorted to a series of measures which included detention of the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior government leaders, followed by the declaration of a state of emergency in the country. The commander-in-chief of[Read More…]
Childhood Bullying
Bullying can start at an early age. It usually involves an act of ridiculing and shunning the intended victim, who is deliberately being mistreated. Moreover the bully sometimes is an individual and sometimes bullies can be an entire coordinated group of children assaulting a singled out person. All school aged bullies pick on either one child or a number of[Read More…]
Turning Minorities Against Each Other: Leftist Hindu Politics In Kerala
Written by Mathew Kuriakose and Mythri Prasad-Aleyamma Syrian Christians in Kerala need no training to hate Muslims, a majority of them by default do so. But no amount of hatred for Muslims had prevented them from being in a seven-decade long political alliance with Muslims under the Congress umbrella. Hate was not enough to turn a minority community genocidal against[Read More…]
Budget 2021 Epitomises Hindutva Quackery in India
Budgets are political visions with economic planning based on resource allocation and revenue generation to face the crisis, fulfil the needs and desires of citizens, and shape the path towards future prosperity of society. Modi’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech and her budget documents in the tablet made by a South Korean company and backed up in a tablet[Read More…]
Car Culture
A.R. Kardar was one of the biggest personalities of the Hindi film world. He was also very versatile as a writer, actor, producer, director and studio owner. His Kardar studio in Parel in Mumbai is now reduced to a big motor car repair garage, a fact the glamorous film world is not aware of. His daughter Yasmeen reminisces that the[Read More…]
If Naga talks fail consequences will be unsavory
With the appointment of Mr. RN Ravi, the interlocutor of Indo-Naga peace process, as the Governor Nagaland on 20th July 2019 and the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A on 5th August 2019, Naga peace initiative has been inching towards a precipice. Intransigency on the question of Naga constitution and flag has created a situation where the peace process[Read More…]
Expanding range of options to prevent HIV is key as no one size fits all
While the currently available HIV prevention and treatment tools have helped reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 23% and 39% respectively since 2010, we still have a long way to go before ending this epidemic. With 1.7 million new HIV infections and 690,000 AIDS-related deaths in 2019, one cannot but over emphasise the urgent need to have more[Read More…]
The illiberal vision outlined in the UP Government’s affidavit before the Allahabad High Court
The recently promulgated Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversions Ordinance, 2020 [‘the Ordinance’], unofficially referred to as the ‘love jihad law’ by much of the news media, has been the subject of considerable discussion and analysis ever since it was enacted in November 2020. Its constitutionality was challenged by a public interest litigation filed before the High Court of[Read More…]
Solidarity is the Biggest Need for Indian Journalists Today
I find it hard to believe so I rub my eyes. So many frontline leaders of my profession ( journalism) have been implicated in serious charges and cases. In disbelief I look at the big names again. They would all be at the top of any guide on distinguished media personalities of India. Is this just a bad dream? Or[Read More…]
Farmers Not To Hold Talks Until The Harassment Stopped
Samyukta Kisan Morcha Press Note 69th day, 1st February 2021 (being released on 2nd Feb morning) Samyukta Kisan Morcha meeting was held today, which was chaired by Shri Balbir Singh Rajewal. SKM decided that there can be no formal talks with the government until police and administration harassment of different kinds against the farmers’ movement is immediately stopped. It noted[Read More…]
Doughnut Economics Boots Capitalism Out!
The rapid rise of Covid-19 has spawned a renaissance in socio-economic thinking about the best way to face the future, as mayors of cities throughout the world search for answers in the face of declining revenues while society demands more urgent help. Eureka! Amsterdam, the Venice of the North, discovers doughnut economics. With a click of fingers, it abandons the[Read More…]
Cowardly History: Australia Day and Invasion
It’s the sort of stuff that should have been sorted years ago in Australia: a murderous, frontier society ill disposed to the indigenous populace; the creation of a convict colony that was itself an act of invasion rather than settlement; the theft of land and its rapacious plunder. Even some of the rough colonists were not oblivious to such a[Read More…]
Fifty Year of Women Voting in Switzerland
Written by Thomas Klikauer and Nadine Campbell When we talk about democracy, in most cases we do not think about the fact that eleven decades ago – in the year 1911 – in most countries in the so-called advanced world, women could not vote. However, South Australia and New Zealand pioneered the way for women suffrage. In 1861, property-owning women[Read More…]
Good Germans
In Eric Kurlander’s 2017 book Hitler’s Monsters he sums up the whole ‘ Fuehrer Messiah Complex’ in a nutshell: ” In the Nazi version of history and politics, Hitler figured as a redeemer who would save the German nation and lead a godly realm to an ultimate victory over evil, light over darkness. By exploiting the supernatural imaginary, Hitler tied[Read More…]
Distant Neighbors—The PMO should reach out directly to farmers with a truly open mind
On January 30 the Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi told floor leaders of various political parties that the union government’s offer on three farm laws made to protesting farmers still stands and it was only a phone call away for talks. Informing about this meeting the Parliament Affairs Minister Sh. Prahlad Joshi said, “ The Prime Minister assured that the[Read More…]
Denial of justice through delay
To The Honourable Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court of India New Delhi, Sub: Citizens’ open letter to the Chief Justice regarding delay in listing/hearing important and urgent matters affecting lives of millions of people – denial of justice through delay. Your Honour, At the outset, let us point out why common citizens do not talk about the Court’s conduct. Because they fear attracting[Read More…]
‘In Pursuit Of Justice’
A socialist, a believer in equal opportunities, a defender of civil liberties, a deeply involved citizen of India and a humanist, the late Justice Rajindar Sachar (1923–2018) was a celebrated jurist. One who believed in standing for the last man in the line and was armed with a moral remit that never wavered, his life was momentous. Few jurists in[Read More…]
Opportunities Lost, Expectations Denied–Why the Union Budget is Disappointing
The Union Budget this year presented a huge opportunity for the government to break a new ground in terms of equality based path out of economic crisis. After all it is well known that inequalities have grown greatly during recent times with a further accelerating trend in 2020, in particular there have been huge gains for several billionaires and also[Read More…]
Condemn the arrest of journalist Mandeep Punia by the Delhi Police!
Campaign Against State Repression demands the immediate release of Mandeep Punia and cessation of targeting of journalists! On January 30th, Mandeep Punia, a freelance journalist who worked for The Caravan magazine and Junputh, was dragged across the police barricades at Singhu Border and arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. While his whereabouts were unknown for a long[Read More…]
Netaji Bose: Attempted Appropriation by Hindu Nationalism
Netaji Subhashchandra Bose’s birth anniversary was marked by various events this year (January 23). His portrait was unveiled by the President in Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was declared that his anniversary will be celebrated as Parakram Divas (Bravery day). Railway Minister announced the renaming of Howrah-Kalka Mail as Netaji Express. Mamta Bannerjee in contrast stated that his anniversary will be celebrated[Read More…]
Once in a Century Budget: Statement of Fact or Hope?
In December 2020, talking at a CII meet, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly stated: “100 years of India wouldn’t have seen a budget being made post-pandemic like this”. The budget to be presented on February 1, 2021 will indeed be a once a century budget, since never before has the GDP and revenue collection fallen so steeply. Never before have[Read More…]
Switzerland’s Dangerous Turn to the Far Right
On 25 September 2020, the Swiss Parliament passed a revision of the federal anti-terrorism law. This new law provoked many protests, some quite vehement, including the launch of a national referendum. One of the main instruments of direct democracy as practised in Switzerland, the people’s referendum allows the citizenry to vote to approve or nullify laws voted by Parliament. To[Read More…]
Release Mandeep Punia
The arrest of Mandeep Punia, a young independent journalist from the farmer protest site in Delhi is a reminder how Indian state is afraid of independent information. It is surprising that when the ‘powerful’ media houses have completely surrendered and have become merely hate mongers and fixing up their prime time shows to humiliate and castigate the opponents of the[Read More…]
Been There, Done That (Not!) – The Imperial Presidency Comes Home to Roost
Joe Biden’s got a problem — and so do I. And so, in fact, do we. At 76 years old, you’d think I’d experienced it all when it comes to this country and its presidencies. Or most of it, anyway. I’ve been around since Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. Born on July 20, 1944, I’m a little “young” to remember[Read More…]
Release the journalist Mandeep Punia
Janhastakshep takes strong note of and unequivocally condemns the fascist state crackdown on farmers and the journalists factually reporting the movement and the state action. Two independent journalists, Mandeep Punia and Dharmender Singh were detained by Delhi Police near Singhu border late night on 30th Jan, 2021. Punia is associated with Junputh and The Caravan while Singh works for Online[Read More…]
