by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies So what are Americans to believe about the rising tensions over Ukraine? The United States and Russia both claim their escalations are defensive, responding to threats and escalations by the other side, but the resulting spiral of escalation can only make war more likely. Ukrainian President Zelensky is warning that “panic” by[Read More…]
Most reporting in the current conflict leaves out the crucial role the U.S. has played in escalating tensions in the region. As tensions began to rise over Ukraine, US media produced a stream of articles attempting to explain the situation with headlines like “Ukraine Explained” (New York Times, 12/8/21) and “What You Need to Know About Tensions Between Ukraine and Russia” (Washington[Read More…]
Recently, the debate is being re-initiated when several judges of the Supreme Court have recommended the decolonization of the Indian legal system. Also, the Chief Justice of India in several of his speeches has expressed the need to `Indianize’ the system to provide the access to justice to the poor. This article while examining the deliberations that took place since[Read More…]
“Ahh, you know Aai what happened today”? I entered Home with excitement, threw my college bag and entered the kitchen. Mother was preparing Dinner. “Don’t you dare to come into the kitchen with shoes you idiot, go remove them”. Aai shouted at me. “Ooops, sorry, sorry”. I was really guilty as shoes were dirty due to rain and mud, moreover[Read More…]
At a time of continuing high levels of economic distress and hardship in rural areas, there is a very strong case for a big increase in budgetary allocations for those schemes which can directly help to reduce this distress. In this context two actvist groups known for their careful study and monitoring of rural employment guarantee scheme and which are[Read More…]
The first wave of Covid in India revealed that those running the government were clueless. The second was exposed their sheer incompetence. And now, during the ongoing third wave of the pandemic, it is becoming very clear that those at the top of the governance pyramid have become supremely indifferent to the plight of the public. This is at least[Read More…]
Image: Nadia Mansour/Facebook Sivan Tal has proposed on Twitter a UN resolution on Nakba denial similar to the Israeli-sponsored resolution approved by the UN General Assembly in January of this year condemning any denial of the Holocaust and urging all nations and social media companies “to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion.” The resolution would[Read More…]
Bharat Samvad Abhiyan – (India Dialogue Campaign) We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLIC … HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE IT TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION. (Preamble, Constitution of India) The objective of the Bharat Samvad Abhiyan is to continuously nurture and maintain the commitment of citizens to a constitutionally[Read More…]
It has become common fare to read ghoulish stories of child abuse in institutions supposedly created to care for the vulnerable. Orphanages, homes, religious orders have tended to feature, along with their assortments of innumerable sadists and pederasts. But in December, another institution caused ripples for its alleged role in abusing children. A Danish Radio documentary series, The Search for[Read More…]
How the FBI Ignored White Radicals While Spying 24/7 on Muslim Americans Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson excused one of the leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers organization implicated in the January 6th insurrection by describing him as “a devout Christian.” It’s safe to surmise that he wouldn’t have offered a similar defense for a Muslim American. Since September 11th, and even[Read More…]
Interviewing Vijay Prashad about the question of “What Should the Left do About China?” Transcript of the Anti-Empire Project’s Anti-Empire Radio Episode 101, recorded January 13, 2022. Justin Podur: Well, Vijay Prashad, welcome. Here we are. Vijay Prashad: Thanks. Great to be with you, Justin. Justin Podur: For the listeners who don’t know, Vijay is the director of the Tri[Read More…]
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, is leading his country’s anti-Palestinian propaganda, this time engaging in pre-emptive hasbara in anticipation of a Palestinian response to the ongoing evictions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. “Would you consider it a terror attack if a rock like this was thrown at your car while driving with your children?”[Read More…]
Gregory Stanton the founding President of Genocide Watch who predicted the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda years before it took place in 1994, has in recent times, raised an alarm that a genocide of 200 million Muslims in India is very much on its way. He asked “the US Congress to pass a resolution that warns genocide should not be allowed[Read More…]
Toward the end of 2021, Indian farmers achieved the impossible: a win against the right-wing government of Narendra Modi by forcing a repeal of three draconian farm laws. This is the remarkable story of how the farmers persevered through chilly winters, blistering summers, monsoon floods, the pandemic’s second wave, and a relentless, ruthless propaganda war unleashed by the government through its[Read More…]
In the midst of the stressful Covid pandemic autorickshaw workers in Coimbatore have come up with an innovative model for improving incomes of gig workers by forming their own cooperative. They have developed their own app and are executing gig work on their own without having to pay any commission to any corporate-backed, third-party coordinating platform. The Federation of Indian[Read More…]
Prof Randhir Singh was a Marxist scholar, political theorist and teacher from India. He was one of the founders of the student movement in India in the 1930s and a freedom fighter who remained in jail during India’s freedom struggles in the 1940s. He was put in the same barrack in Lahore Central Jail where India’s foremost revolutionary Bhagat Singh[Read More…]
by Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan As corporate media provides a parade of pro-war politicians and pundits from both the Democratic and Republican parties, grassroots movements must demand peace and diplomacy, now, before the outbreak of war. Is a Russian invasion of Ukraine imminent? At the heart of this avoidable catastrophe is Moscow’s concern over the ever-increasing U.S. military threat on[Read More…]
Media are full of information and disinformation on Ukraine. Many of those are adding charges to the Ukraine situation, a few show activities to flare up war situation, and a few show a different situation. Following are a few media reports in brief: Ukraine Accuses U.S. of Hurting Its Economy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the U.S. was damaging his[Read More…]
World Health Organization (WHO) informed: Globally, as of 4:00pm CET, 28 January 2022, there have been 364,191,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,631,457 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 28 January 2022, a total of 9,854,237,363 vaccine doses have been administered. Situation by WHO Region Europe: 138,839,947 confirmed Americas: 132,400,000 confirmed South-East Asia: 51,328,032 confirmed Eastern Mediterranean: 18,614,606 confirmed Western Pacific: 14,970,594 confirmed Africa: 8,037,551 confirmed Source: WHO, Data may[Read More…]
The stress on the economy became evident, especially in the aftermath of the raging pandemic from the 7.3% contraction in GDP in 2020-21. The distress faced by poorer households has continued over a period of time with the pandemic acting as a catalyst in increasing the woes of such households. In a latest round of survey conducted by People’s Research[Read More…]
Vienna, Austria: If there would be a Nobel Prize for negative innovations Pres. Biden and His Secy. of State Blinken would stand foremost qualified. Since the beginning of Cold War our world had heard that grand American yarn “Russians are coming”. Excepting for Afghanistan and a very short stay in Syria to break ISIS backbone, which they efficiently did, Russians[Read More…]
Much is unclear about the situation in and around Ukraine. Does Putin really intend to invade all or part of Ukraine? Or is the buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s eastern and northern border, in Belarus as well as southern Russia, merely a means to exert pressure, demonstrate resolve, and win a few concessions from the West? Is the confrontation[Read More…]
Giants – The Global Power Elite. Peter Phillips. Seven Stories Press, New York, 2018. Abby Martin’s interview with Peter Phillips was the instigator for reading Peter Phillips’ now slightly outdated but highly valuable work, “Giants – The Global Power Elite.” The interview is valuable unto itself and like all Abby Martin’s work is concise and pointed; it is a good[Read More…]
by Shobha Shukla & Bobby Ramakant In a world with over 7 billion people, more than 10 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered by the end of January 2022. But more than 3 billion people globally have not received even their first vaccine dose yet. Despite having enough of vaccine doses to protect the most at risk from COVID-19,[Read More…]
For weeks, Washington and its NATO allies have stoked a global war crisis with Russia, claiming that NATO must prepare to defend Ukraine from Russian invasion. Yesterday, in a stunning rebuke to NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied that a Russian invasion was imminent and asked NATO to dial down its war rhetoric. Yesterday morning, senior Ukrainian officials told CNN[Read More…]
As Covid raged across India over the last two years hundreds of thousands of Indian prisoners suffered the most. Under ‘permanent lockdown’ their voices remained unheard behind the walls of the prison. According to reports, almost 70 per cent prisoners in Indian prisons are undertrials. The overwhelming majority comprise Muslims, minority communities, adivasis and dalits. However, there are few reports[Read More…]
On January 11th we celebrated the birth centenary of the Marxist intellectual Randhir Singh. who perished on January 31st in2016.For 4 decades he served as a Lecturer of political science in Delhi University. Randhir Singh was an embodiment of Marxist scholasticism .With utmost consistency he exposed the autocratic nature of the Indian parliamentary democracy, the fatal consequences of globalisation from[Read More…]
The defining feature of a democracy is the right of its citizens to question the government on its actions. But the moment this right is denied or under challenge—for one or the other reason—democracy goes in decline. Election is no guarantee that the wishes of people are always reflected in the proper way and at the right place. The[Read More…]
On 22 January, 2022 a 106 years old Bandru Narsimhulu died in Hyderabad with a heart attack. Otherwise he was still active. When he was much active he entered into an agreement with Mahabub Nagar district Government hospital, to give his body for research use. On the very day of his death after his friends, political supporters and relatives saw[Read More…]
Poring over Appu Suresh and Priyanka Kotamraju’s THE MURDERER.THE MONARCH AND THE FAKIR(Harper Collins) at a stretch I have just finished reading it.The story has its own interest and the authors have brought to light things that can never be evaded now.Savarkar and his associates can no longer be simply absolved of guilt as has so far been done.The Prince[Read More…]
Global crises abound—escalating war in Yemen, potential famine in Afghanistan, rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and uncertain prospects for a U.S. return to the Iran anti-nuclear deal. All of these challenges require skillful diplomacy, and that urgently applies to the situation in Ukraine. As PresidentJoe Biden has ordered 8,500 U.S. troops in the region to be on high alert, Congress[Read More…]
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled the resetting of the Doomsday Clock on January 20th 2022, electing to keep the clock’s setting at 100 seconds to midnight, same as 2021, which is not at all encouraging since that’s as bad as the setting has ever been. The past few resets of the incomparable clock have essentially been SOS signals[Read More…]
The vast destruction wrought by the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945 should have been enough to convince national governments that the game of war was over. Wars have had a long run among rival territories and, later, nations, with fierce conflicts between Athens and Sparta, Rome and Carthage, Spain and Britain, and the combatants of World Wars I and II[Read More…]
The intervention by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kazakhstan marks a change for multinational security both regionally and around the world. The Russian-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), created headlines in January 2022 after 2,500 of its troops entered Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order during anti-government protests in the country. The troops, sent in to secure[Read More…]
Hyper-capitalism has systematically weakened regulations to help capital at the cost of consumers. The verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes case simply illustrates the growing post-’90s disregard for consumers. The verdict on Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who was tried for fraud in a U.S. court, was guilty. Theranos was a company set up by Holmes and her former partner[Read More…]
Outside the St. Michael’s Church in Mahim Mumbai is a powerful slogan. “God will always abide with me, even if I retreat!” In many ways this creative caption sums up the raging controversy on ‘Abide With Me’ that has been on prime-time news and on social media for a week now! A recent Government (Defence Ministry) communique finds no mention[Read More…]
Throughout the centuries from the dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations divided between themselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of the country in its southern and western parts from the river Walawa to that of Chilaw and the Tamils possessing the Northern and Eastern parts. The Tamil Kingdom was overthrown and conquered by the[Read More…]
Soon after the Covid-19 pandemic hit India in March 2020, the imposition of a nationwide lockdown forced millions of desperate migrant workers, deprived of income or security, to return their home across the country. However, their problems did not end even after they returned from the city to the village. After coming to the village, many of them remained unemployed.[Read More…]
During 1917-1947 for three decades tens of millions of people in India, including a large number of women, were drawn towards a path of freedom struggle whose most non-negotiable precept was that of non-violence. This remains perhaps the biggest non-violent mobilization of people against injustice, which also had reasonable continuity over the longest period. This struggle against what was then[Read More…]
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a new book, which discusses worrying recent developments in the Antarctic and the Arctic, which warn us of catastrophic consequences if we neglect urgent climate action. The book may be downloaded free of charge from the following link: http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/Warnings.pdf Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier Diagonal cracks have been observed[Read More…]
Speedy trial is an integral and essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. However, delay in disposal of cases due to the upsurge in the pendency of cases results in denial of this right. A study by PRS Legislative Research says that as of September 15, 2021, over 4.5[Read More…]
In the land of the ignorant. The dictionary defines ignorant as ‘ Lacking knowledge, information or awareness of a particular thing’ . It seems, regardless of the level of education obtained by many of my fellow citizens, we have always been a nation of ignorance. How far do you wish to go back? Let’s just go back to what myself and other baby boomers can perhaps recall, and[Read More…]
The three-day conclave in Oslo on January 23-25 for interaction for a core group of Western diplomats with Taliban officials marks a new phase in the political situation in Afghanistan. The West was represented by the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy as well as the European Union. Norway is uniquely placed to reconcile alienated parties. Apart from its strong[Read More…]
The diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games may go down in history as the official start of the cold war between the US, a handful of its allies and China. The American strategy, however, of using boycotts to pressure Beijing in the name of ‘human rights’, may prove costly in the future. On December 6, Washington[Read More…]
At least once a week, a stranger writing a book, magazine article, newspaper feature, or blog; representing a documentary film, radio serial, or podcast; researching a paper for middle school, high school, or college asks me for an interview about Muhammad Ali. I’m on the short list of live resources because I began covering him when he was Cassius Clay[Read More…]
Review of World War in Syria by A.B. Abrams On 30 August 2021, the United States’ 20-year military occupation of Afghanistan came to an end when the removal of American forces was completed. Although the withdrawal was botched, it was the correct move. The withdrawal is ignominious because it turns out that the much ballyhooed US fighting forces were, in[Read More…]
Do our “Defense Departments” really defend us? Absolutely not! Their very title is a lie. The military-industrial complex sells itself by claiming to defend civilians. It justifies vast and crippling budgets by this claim; but it is a fraud. For the military-industrial complex, the only goal is money and power. Civilians like us are just hostages. We are expendable. We are[Read More…]
In the thick of the cold winter mist, with a woolen scarf around her face, 25 year old Anju Naik starts her day by knocking on the doors of residents of Rohina Village, situated in Phalodi Block of Jodhpur district in Rajasthan. Every day she manages to reach out to at least 10-12 households as part of a door-to-door campaign[Read More…]
Amid the talks of a five trillion dollar Indian economy, there is still an India where people struggle to arrange two square meals a day. Many strive hard for basic needs of food, health and education. Often unheard and ignored, these voiceless people mostly don’t matter to the mainstream media. This book, through various ground reports over a decade and[Read More…]
On the face of it, there seems to be little in the way of connection between the treatment of Novak Djokovic by Australian authorities and the cooling of the Serbian government towards Rio Tinto. The Anglo-Australian mining giant was confident that it would, at least eventually, win out in gaining the permissions to commence work on its US$2.4 billion lithium-borates[Read More…]
The US became increasingly Zionist subverted after Apartheid Israel gained nuclear weapons by 1967. Support for Apartheid Israel (and hence of Apartheid) is now a pillar of US politics, with anti-racist critics of Israeli Apartheid ferociously attacked, side-lined, and falsely defamed as anti-Semitic. However Zionist control and hubris are now blatant: 32 percent or about one third of President Joe[Read More…]
The current crisis of spiraling gas prices in Europe, coupled with a cold snap in the region, highlights the fact that the transition to green energy in any part of the world is not going to be easy. The high gas prices in Europe also bring to the forefront the complexity involved in transitioning to clean energy sources: that energy is not simply about[Read More…]
Some, who do not know who the Legend Sandhya Mukherjee is, are wondering why she turned down the lowest of the Padma Awards, (“Shree”). A few Bhakts have gone to the extent of condemning her for declining the award. An erstwhile lifetime DD Sports Presenter, has, condemnably, termed it a fashion. For those of us, like myself, who happen to[Read More…]
On 23rd January 2022, a public meeting was organized by the Kamsar-o-Bar’s region of the Muslim community (commonly known as Biradary) in Dildar Nagar, district Ghazipur (UP). In this meeting, formally Darul Qaza (it refers to home of judgment) office was inaugurated and a Qazi has been appointed by office bearers of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (IIMPLB)[Read More…]
India is marking its 73rd Republic Day today. New Delhi is beautified for the celebrations. Armed troops parade the newly built central vista displaying their advanced weaponry and military capabilities while hundreds of people cheer them on. As a part of the Republic Day speech, the Prime Minister will yet again make some new promises amid the charade of accosting[Read More…]
Sri Lankan President’s opening speech on January 18, 2022 detailing his commitments and acceptance of current volatile situations is welcome in paper and words but whether they would be put into practice and make them a reality is far from certain viewing the past track record of most of the Presidents including Prime Ministers . The President’s acceptance of accountability[Read More…]
As Russia threatens to move its forces across the Ukrainian border, the talk in Washington, D.C. is focused on how many weapons and troops the United States can send and how quickly, how to design the most crippling sanctions, and whether to impose them before or after an invasion occurs. This discussion assumes that Russia can be threatened into submission. Or[Read More…]
by Rosemary Mason and Colin Todhunter The volume of pesticide use and exposure is occurring on a scale that is without precedent and world-historical in nature. Agrichemicals are now pervasive as they cycle through bodies and environments. The herbicide glyphosate has been a major factor in driving this increase in use. These statements appear in a 2021 paper ‘Growing Agrichemical[Read More…]
The History of Bastar is the history of struggles. Bastar put up stiff resistance to forces that wanted to exploit bastariyas land, life, natural resources and dignity. The Bhumkal rebellion of 1910 was one such rebellion which shook the British empire. Led by adivasi leader Gunda Dhur, people resisted the exploitation of forest and natural resources by the colonisers. From[Read More…]
Snapshots from the UN Genocide Convention The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – CPPCG for short – is an international treaty, which was the direct outcome of the atrocities in Germany and elsewhere, during of World War II. CPPCG was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1948. It stands ratified[Read More…]
With December’s High Court decision to overturn the lower court ruling against the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, lawyers of the WikiLeaks founder immediately got busy. The next avenue of appeal, strewn less with gold than obstacles, would be to the Supreme Court. The central question remained: Should the publisher be extradited to face 18 charges, 17[Read More…]
A relative of mine, who works for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) compiling data on foreigners entering the United States, recently posted a curious logo on his Facebook profile: a white Roman numeral three on a black background surrounded by 13 white stars. For those who don’t know what this symbol stands for, it represents the “Three Percenters,” a[Read More…]
Lok Morcha Punjab adressed a meeting in Teachers Home Bathinda, on January 22nd which was curtailed in terms of size because of covid restrictions. Still it was one of the most qualitative in projecting the democratic revolutionary alternative model to the people. It stressed on active political campaign, opposing slogan of boycott and participating in elections. Speakers touched upon the[Read More…]
These days one wakes up every morning to headlines about fresh ravages of COVID-19 and one more scandalous attempt by the government at the Centre to re-fashion history and public memory. There are certain common threads to the latter campaign. For one the desperate attempt to sift and sweep out the great contribution of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National[Read More…]
Most spheres of Indian politics have been tainted by communalism. Looking at the current political scene of the country, it seems that just as there is a consensus on neoliberalism among the political and intellectual elite of India, similarly a consensus has been made on communal politics or political communalism. Political parties, which are called secular, resort to communalism in[Read More…]
The statement of APSEZ(Adani Ports) that it will not deal with the containers from Iran Pakistan, and Afghanistan inadvertently confirms the earlier transactions and raises suspicion that huge quantum of drugs might have gained surreptitious entry into our nation. At first instance Adani Ports said that it has no policing power, later it says that it does not want to[Read More…]
Solidarity reporting calls on journalists to push beyond reporting the easy soundbite from an official press release in order to do the work of representing people experiencing injustice. Imagine that a reporter is writing a story about your house, which has become practically unlivable. The reporter wants to understand the issues in the house, how it affects people who are[Read More…]
As India is about to celebrate its 72nd Republic Day with pomp, pride, and parades, it is also time to rethink whether the country is living up to its constitution. India became a constitutional republic on January 26, 1950, replacing the colonial government act of India of 1935. It was a memorable day for all Indians who transformed their lives[Read More…]
A GoI twitter release has a video of the Navy band playing, (With the ratings dancing to), the old hit movie tune, “Monika My Darling”, at the R-Day rehearsals. What a sight! This video will definitely give you goosebumps!🇮🇳 🇮🇳 Are you ready to witness the grand 73rd Republic Day celebrations with us? Register now and book you e-Seat today![Read More…]
We have been bombarded by news reports and announcements from President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. On January 18, as he prepared to leave for Kyiv, Berlin and Geneva, Secretary of State Blinken, said “We’re now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine.”[Read More…]
The planet is heating up like never before, as “ground temperatures” hit all-time records in the Northern Hemisphere as well as the Southern Hemisphere, and ocean temperatures threaten the world’s major fisheries of the Far North, which are imperiled beyond any known historical precedent. (See- The Oceans Are Overheating, January 14, 2022) According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration[Read More…]
In April 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) released an annual report, perhaps overlooked in the midst of the raging COVID pandemic, again warning that little recent progress has been made in developing new, desperately need antibiotics. In fact, the report analyzed 43 antibiotics currently in the development pipeline and found that exactly none of them addressed the 13 most[Read More…]
Is history an ocean of knowledge without shores? Is it a seamless fusion of interdisciplinary knowledge? How does it reach us and help us develop our perspectives of lived and living lifestyles? Why does it motivate us to integrate for common good? These are some important questions whose answers we shall try to seek through the following discussion. History is[Read More…]
The first step in reviewing any new legislation or amendment to an existing legislation, is to understand the intent and purpose of what is proposed. In reviewing the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 as introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 9th, 2021, the intent and purpose are evident through the reading of the following: (i) Section 4 of[Read More…]
On 20 January, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi a dishonest man, and emphasized that Channi should not be viewed as a common man. That is, the patent of the common man lies with Kejriwal alone, and in this respect, honesty as well. Kejriwal made this statement in a quick response to the ED’s[Read More…]
Even in Pandemic Times, Health Allocations Have Been Far Short of Real Needs One of the most glaring flaws of India’s fiscal policy which has faced severe criticism relates to less than adequate allocation for health sector. Raising combined annual spending by the centre and states on health to at least 2.5% of the GDP has been mentioned often as[Read More…]
Haaretz, the liberal Zionist Israeli newspaper, along with much of the world, has come a long way since the advent of the BDS movement on the international political scene, and since it ridiculed historian Ilan Pappe in a 2005 story titled “Alone on the Barricades.” At the time, Pappe (who is no longer alone on the barricades) was experiencing a[Read More…]
by Shobha Shukla & Bobby Ramakant With almost 19 million new COVID-19 cases reported, the third week of January 2022 recorded the highest-ever weekly number of new infections so far in the pandemic’s history. This was an increase of 20% more cases than the earlier ‘highest-ever record’ which was set in the previous week. With over two years into the[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I refer to my letter dated January 15, 2022 on the imprudence of listing LIC in the stock market and the misleading valuation approach adopted by the government (https://www.moneylife.in/article/lic-ipo-gross-underestimated-valuation-put-it-on-hold-says-eas-sarma/66146.html). As the single largest social security provider in the country for the economically weaker sections, the social value of the LIC[Read More…]
Today being a Sunday, I happened to hit upon 2 gloom stories [https://www.pressenza.com/2022/01/ukraine-loitering-at-the-brink-of-doom] [https://davidswanson.org/munich-is-not-in-ukraine-appeasement-begins-at-home/] on a world crisis smothering at the Ukrainian front, a situation that has the potential to blow out into human extinction. It seems, American politicians simply cannot understand this world anymore and their power-media brainwashing with disinformation campaigns stuporing the public equally to irrationality. There are,[Read More…]
Writing about sex in the year 2022 is not at all, like writing about sex in the late 1960s – the time of student revolution, and 1970s – the time of the sexual revolution. At that time, the air was charged with sexual curiosity. Women’s lives were changing at a fabulous rate and many engaged in the exploration of women’s[Read More…]
In the long and storied history of the United States Army, many young officers have served in many war zones. Few, I suspect, were as sublimely ignorant as I was in the summer of 1970 upon my arrival at Cam Ranh Bay in the Republic of Vietnam. Granted, during the years of schooling that preceded my deployment there, I had[Read More…]
A recent seminar from the group “Visualizing Palestine” served to present four graphic representations of environmental problems within Israel/Palestine [https://visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/between-rising-tide-and-apartheid?v=large] The graphics are self-explanatory and need no review here – they are after all graphic, and speak well for themselves. The discussion talked around the graphics, what they emphasized and how they are necessary for a clear understanding of environmental[Read More…]
Subhash Chandra Bose was one of the first nationalist leaders in pre-independent India to set his foot in Northeast India, 3 years prior to India’s Independence in 1944. And, he brought the focus on the Northeast region in the Indian national movement. His decision to enter the Northeast region and Burma (Myanmar) was a well-planned strategy. Secondly, Northeast India has[Read More…]
As India approaches its Republic day, annual rituals of guns salute and unfurling of the national flag followed by republic day parade will be held at Delhi. We all Indian citizens will be made feel proud of our democracy. US President Joe Biden, at the recent Summit for Democracy, emphasised that democracy has to be renewed with each generation. Has[Read More…]
Recent times have been exceptionally difficult and full of uncertainties for most people. While there are so many important issues that face India today, this review seeks to focus attention on six exceptionally urgent ones. Firstly, we need to give much more attention to all those people who are living in poverty and denial of basic needs, including those who[Read More…]
Some time ago, I met the daughter of a friend who has by now finished 2 years of college life without setting foot in the college campus. All this time the classes have been held online and just as she was looking forward to getting ready for offline college and making some friends, Omicron surfaced and things were back to[Read More…]
In recent times several justice studies have pointed out how the wealth of top billionaires of world have increased at a very fast pace. But the latest estimate presented on January 19 by the organisation Americans for Tax Fairness has still proved shocking for many people. This estimate tells us that the wealth of top 10 US billionaires has increased[Read More…]
The juvenile remoulding of symbols by quenching the flames of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame and magically merging the dead flame with one in the National War Memorial has caused widespread disgust.In the favourite tactic of surgical strikes the act had been neither in public demand nor anticipated.The logic barely stands scrutiny. Sure the dead in the First ever World[Read More…]
Our PM has spoken. To quote him: “We have to light the lamp of responsibilities and obligation inside the heart of every citizen of the country. Then only the country will reach new heights”, and “… society should stand on the foundations of equality and social justice”. [“Efforts made to spoil India’s reputation globally; our duty to present the correct[Read More…]
Historian Ramchandra Guha in his book ‘India after Gandhi’ quotes a letter of RSS Chief Golvalkar where Golvalkar saw growing cadres of communists as a threat and wrote a letter to Sardar Patel offering support of RSS to counter this threat of ‘Red Alert’. Now, the growing threat of Red is again in the news and the Prime Minister of[Read More…]
It is ironic that even former right-wing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had rejected a Knesset (Israeli Parliament) bill which proposed to give the government greater power to control and suppress online content. This was in 2016, and the bill was introduced by Netanyahu’s Likud party rival, Gideon Sa’ar. Some analysts argued that Netanyahu had feared that a law aimed[Read More…]
While a drift towards increasing inequality is by itself very harmful for a country which already has high levels of poverty and deprivation, this situation has been worsened further in some countries by increasing dominance of billionaires and the extremely extra-ordinary increase of their wealth within a short time, particularly since the advent of the pandemic. At world level,[Read More…]
Co-authors: D Hanumanta Rao & MA Krishna Prof M. Radhakrishna, aged 80, passed away around 8.30 pm, January 21, 2022, at Hyderabad, in his residence. He had lung infections towards the end. The Eminent Computer Scientist-Teacher was fondly known as ‘RK Sir ’ by his students and colleagues. The above photo was taken when he was around 75. He was[Read More…]
Top scientists responsible for the “Doomsday Clock” issued a stark warning Thursday about how close the world is to catastrophe due to the climate emergency, nuclear weapons, and “disruptive technologies in other domains.” Launched by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947 as a symbol for “how close we are to destroying our world,” the clock remains at 100 seconds to[Read More…]
This is the first book by Wangba Senjam, a 35 year writer from Manipur, who has written this in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Despite the difficulties he faced, he makes a strong impression with the originality, freshness and deep sincerity of his ideas. His inclination and ability for out-of-box thinking is evident also in the subjects he has selected for his[Read More…]
In November 2020, the Moroccan government sent its military to the Guerguerat area, a buffer zone between the territory claimed by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The Guerguerat border post is at the very southern edge of Western Sahara along the road that goes to Mauritania. The presence of Moroccan troops “in the Buffer Strip in the Guerguerat[Read More…]
To Shri Mansukh Mandaviya Union Health Minister Dear Shri Mandaviya, At a recent meeting to review the Covid containment effort, the Prime Minister was reported to have said, “There is a need for continuous scientific research… including genome sequencing, given that the virus is evolving continuously.” Contrary to what he had said at the meeting, it has been reported (“Blow To[Read More…]
Stretching far beyond the distant horizons is a mountain where trod the gods on their way to heaven, where mankind prayed for redemption, for a broader vision, for union with universal, infinite energies. The peaks tower snow white — stretch out an awning. Long ago, these were not there. The ranges birthed as two ancient land masses embraced. [Read More…]
Our present BJP-RSS rulers are trying overtime to change the Constitution of India in the interest of themselves and their party. They are trying to convince people that if Nehru can amend the Constitution within the first fifteen months of its adoption in the interest of his party, then why can’t they? Well, the constitution is not Shalgramshila (a solid[Read More…]
If we were to imagine our journey towards the 73rd Republic Day as a long, tiring and sometimes treacherous trek through the Himalayas, then looking back we can be proud that we managed to survive some dangerous terrain. The mountains were right at the beginning where we were air-dropped by the colonial powers, into the death-zone. The lack of adequate[Read More…]
History looks like repeating itself like in the 2012 and 2017 elections where the central programme of farmers groups was attended by around 12-15000 persons., which I personally witnessed in Barnala and Bathinda.The tactic of active political campaign proved correct with those calling for boycott or participating making negligible impact. It effectively raised the democratic political consciousness of the peasants[Read More…]
“A people who are subjugated by an alien people have the inherent right to free themselves from such alien subjugation” It is the right which is the right of self determination – A right which has today become a peremptory norm of general International Law. Eelam Tamils deserve to demand this right due to the following justifiable and reasonable reasons.[Read More…]
It’s now more than 20 years later and that American offshore symbol of mistreatment and injustice, the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is still open. In fact, as 2021 ended, New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg, who has covered that notorious prison complex since its first day, reported on the Pentagon’s plans to build a brand-new prefab courthouse at that naval base. It’s intended[Read More…]
The 77th Anniversary of the Defeat of Fascism in Europe in the month of May 1945; approaches us. Below is a picture of Soviet Troops entering Warsaw and being greeted by the residents of the city. Contrary to Public Perception (ingrained into our Collective Psyche by Big Media and Her Relentless Efforts to Re-Write History); the Soviets were not seen as[Read More…]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns of imminent Russian assault on Ukraine, scrambling to get allies to rally. (File photo) A special press briefing in unseemly hurry by the US state department to warn an imminent Russian assault on Ukraine; a surprise call by state secretary Blinken to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to be followed by an unscheduled meeting[Read More…]
I swear, I can’t hear well. Photo: Osval, Granma “Havana Syndrome” came out as an accusation, first, against Cuba, and then, against Russia. Now, the CIA has found the fact: No hostile power, no foreign enemy was involved with the so-called Havana Syndrome. A report by NBC News – CIA says ‘Havana Syndrome’ not result of sustained global campaign by hostile power[Read More…]
The Indian ruling party, BJP, believes in using unscrupulous means to achieve and retain power. This includes instigating riots and achieving polarization by dividing people on religious and social lines. It also believes in the use of new technology to disseminate hate. Way back in 2005, it used short messages (SMS’s) in Assam to evict so-called “Bangladeshis” from Dibrugarh in[Read More…]
On January 16, 2022, Oxfam, a non-profit organization, released a report on the rapidly growing economic inequalities in the world ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The findings of the report on the rapidly growing economic inequalities in India show that the country’s wealth is being rapidly grabbed by billionaires and the common man[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies President Biden and the Democrats were highly critical of President Trump’s foreign policy, so it was reasonable to expect that Biden would quickly remedy its worst impacts. As a senior member of the Obama administration, Biden surely needed no schooling on Obama’s diplomatic agreements with Cuba and Iran, both of which began to resolve long-standing foreign[Read More…]
by Sut Jhally & Roger Waters Anyone who has ever been critical of Israeli actions toward the Palestinian people knows what to expect next—an avalanche of pit-bull attacks and smears that their criticisms of Israel are motivated by racism and anti-Semitism. The latest example is the response to actress Emma Watson’s pro-Palestinian Instagram post, which led (predictably) to Israeli officials and[Read More…]
For a long time a gigantic and recklessly ambitious project proposed in India for linking about 37 rivers at 30 or more places had been largely dormant. Things started moving in its favor after the 2014 elections and the installation of the NDA government. Within about two years this project had been pushed ahead quite a bit.Now with the[Read More…]
President Putin has been making some astonishing demands, including: NATO mustn’t admit additional countries near Russia, such as Ukraine and Georgia. NATO must cease military activity in non-NATO territories: Georgia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and parts of eastern Europe. Yet, incredibly, Putin has himself been enabling a NATO member’s aggression bordering Russia. In 2020, the Kremlin embraced Turkey’s sending[Read More…]
These days there is a lot of enthusiasm in progressive liberal circles about the powerful presence of dissent in Indian traditional thought.Accompanied by head-shaking about the pernicious effect of Anglophilia and dominance of the Engish language in academic circles. Inordinately nettled at the saffron camp’s repression of liberal thinking in the name of pristine Indian tradition and at its hostile[Read More…]
This week, Oxfam published a major report in advance of the annual World Economic Forum Davos Agenda. Coming as society enters the third year of the pandemic, the Oxfam briefing expresses an undeniable reality: the COVID-19 pandemic is a malignant byproduct of a society that is deeply ill with the disease of social inequality. Entitled “Inequality Kills,” the Oxfam report[Read More…]
In the death of Mr N.D. Patil on January 17 we have lost a dedicated, honest leader of the Peasants and Workers Party. His wife Saroj is the sister of Mr Sharad Pawar and the two leaders represent two contrasting approaches to politics. Mr Pawar, the leader of the Congress and then the National Congress party, in fact comes from[Read More…]
A Film Review Two of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American president bookend this extraordinary documentary film. It opens with President John F. Kennedy giving the commencement speech at American University on June 10, 1963 and it closes with his civil rights speech to the American people the following day. It is a deft artistic touch that suggests the brevity of[Read More…]
Getting familiar with some of the trends of New Normal is absolutely necessary and advisable. These new normal trends are so active in affecting our lives negatively. Being ignorant of these new normal trends will leave us in lurch depoliticized subtly. The first new normal. The global big pharma has strongly buckled up itself for bullying any regulative mechanisms that[Read More…]
History’s annals are filled with war profiteers and hustlers for the opportunistic return. They come in the form of hoarders, arms manufacturers and wily business folk making a steal on slaughter and mayhem. But the other conflict – that of battling a pandemic – has also shown that profits exist for those willing to exploit the crisis. With the global[Read More…]
This infographic was prepared by https://www.indiacovidsos.org/
It is good that an official appeal is to be filed against the judgement of the Additional Sessions Judge in Kerala exonerating Bishop Franco of all charges of multiple rape of a nun who was his subordinate. Hopefully, the appeal will lead to a restoration of justice and dignity to not only the complainant in this case, but also to[Read More…]
A reading of the elaborate 289-page judgment delivered by additional sessions judge, Kottayam, G Gopakumar, acquitting rape accused Franco Mulakkal, former Bishop of Jalandhar diocese, makes it seem that time has stood still since the infamous Mathura judgment in 1978 (Tukaram And Anr vs State Of Maharashtra, AIR 1979 SC 185), which triggered the women’s movement in India. In that[Read More…]
The latest wave of protests began in Janaozen (sometimes spelled Zhanaozen), an oil town in western Kazakhstan. It was here that police shot down unarmed strikers in December 2011. Ten years later, the oilmen again struck for higher wages, better working conditions and the right to organize. The immediate triggers were the layoff in December of 40,000 workers by the[Read More…]
A sword pierced my soul, the day I heard the calls For genocide against our Muslim nationals – What makes it still more chilling and sinister Is the loud silence of all those who matter. We who speak can say that silence speaks louder, It echoes in ears it reaches and further; It beats up a drum roll of tacit[Read More…]
The media coverage of the hostage-taking at a synagogue in Texas has been predictably hysterical, Islamophobic and inaccurate about Aafia Siddiqui, the apparent political cause of the hostage-taker Malik Faisad Akram. According to his family in England he has “mental health issues.” He was “said to have” weapons and explosives. He was “said to have” threatened[Read More…]
In the early 1960s, at the height of America’s original Cold War with the Soviet Union, my old service branch, the Air Force, sought to build 10,000 land-based nuclear missiles. These were intended to augment the hundreds of nuclear bombers it already had, like the B-52s featured so memorably in the movie Dr. Strangelove. Predictably, massive future overkill was justified in[Read More…]
Last month has seen a series of incidents which are very disturbing, to say the least. They have been promoting hatred, promoting misogyny, targeting Muslim women and abusing the ‘Father of the nation’. Along with this we also came to know the immaculate investigation by The Wire, which tells us the frightening Tek Fog app capable of creating a storm[Read More…]
A report issued by the British-based international aid agency Oxfam last week has highlighted the rapid escalation of economic and social inequality in the Asia-Pacific region during the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting how a handful of the ultra-wealthy have directly benefited from the suffering of millions. The investigation found that 20 new “pandemic billionaires” had been created over the past two[Read More…]
The global charity Oxfam released a briefing on Monday entitled “Inequality Kills” in advance of the World Economic Forum State of the World conference being held virtually January 17-21. In focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, the document paints a devastating picture of the world capitalist order. It shows that the unprecedented accumulation of wealth by the world’s billionaire elite is[Read More…]
The discovery by Alvarez and Alvarez (1980) of the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary (~66 million years-ago) asteroid impact, eliminating approximately 80 percent of all species, has among other released enough dust and debris to cloud large parts of planet, enhancing the mass extinction of some 80 percent of species of animals. When Turco et al. (1983) and Carl Sagan (1983) warned the[Read More…]
Rhetoric not matched by budget allocations so far The government admitted in July 2019 in a reply in the Rajya Sabha that doubling of farmers’ income was not possible by 2022 at the current rate of growth in the agriculture sector, but added that it was trying to promote the growth of allied sectors to achieve the target. (see PTI[Read More…]
External interference in Afghanistan has reappeared much sooner than one would have expected after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August. In a familiar pattern, the rumour mill has become active. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova hit out today at the rumours being planted by American sources insinuating that Moscow is supplying arms to the so-called National Resistance Front of[Read More…]
Long before intersectionality became a prevailing concept which helped delineate the relationship between various marginalized and oppressed groups, late South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu said it all in a few words and in a most inimitable style. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together,” he said. Like other freedom and justice icons, Tutu[Read More…]
The American Trap – My Battle to Expose America’s Secret Economic War Against the Rest of the World. Frédéric Pierucci (with Mathieu Aron). HOdder & Stoughton, London, 2020. It becomes more clear with more and more readings that the “American trap” is the U.S. dollar, and that for some it is no secret. Frédéric Pierucci’s well written personal story tells[Read More…]
MLK day was observed on January 17 yesterday in the USA and many parts of world. Actually there was some confusion regarding the exact day as last year MLK day was observed on January 18 which is the date today. This confusion can be cleared by remembering that the MLK day is actually observed on the third Monday of January,[Read More…]
Part One: inspired & freely adapted from a poem by the French lyric poet Paul Eluard On every door at every gate in every doorway on all the windows, mirrors of all the world I write your name. On every road with every step in the wide meander and the sand on the straight and narrow and around[Read More…]
On 15 January, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) met at Delhi’s Singhu border, to review the progress made by the government on its promises made at the time of the repealing of the three agri laws. Following Parliamentary and written assurances, the farmers had suspended their movement and lifted their occupation of the Delhi borders. At the review meeting, it[Read More…]
NCHRO condemns the actions of the authoritarian police in Dhinkia village, Odisha and the government’s attempt to displace its local populace In the Dhinkia village in Odisha, the collusion of corporations and government is being manifested in the routinely egregious manner. The people there have been protesting against the attempts to displace them and hand over the land to the[Read More…]
As Muslims are facing increased threat in several countries, like the unending public lynching and the recent open call for genocide by the Hindutwa militia in India, some sections of them are shrinking into their shells. Hijab or veil is one expression of this shrinking phenomena. This uniform, often black, lose covering over one’s dress, known as purdah in south[Read More…]
It will not be out of context to know that the architect of the Indian constitution, Dr. BR Ambedkar was present when on December 25, 1927 at Mahad, Maharashtra a copy of Manusmriti was burnt. On this day he also called upon to commemorate every December 25 as ‘Manusmriti Dahan Divas’ by burning the same. Justice Abdul Nazeer, is not[Read More…]
On this, as we approach the 77th Anniversary of the Defeat of Fascism, a small commemoration of my Father’s contribution as a Radio Operator in the Indian 8th Army in North Africa during 1944. The above picture is of my Father, who was a Radio Operator in the Indian 8th Army; slugging it out for the British Imperialists in a[Read More…]
Australia’s treatment of Novak Djokovic, the tennis world number one, has been revelatory. Unintentionally, this has exposed the seedier, arbitrary and inconsistent nature of Australia’s border policies. The approval by the Australian Federal Court of the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke’s decision to re-cancel the prominent Serb’s visa left the country a heaving precedent that will be invoked, in future, with[Read More…]
Throughout 2021, Americans were absorbed in arguments over mask mandates, school closings, and the meaning of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, geopolitical hot spots were erupting across Eurasia, forming a veritable ring of fire around that vast land mass. Let’s circle that continent to visit just a few of those flashpoints, each one suffused with significance for[Read More…]
India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Shri V. Muralidharans’s following statement on July 31, 2021 in the Rajya Sabha is timely, fitting and correct which also alludes to the nagging and continuing unsolved problems being faced by the Tamils in Sri Lanka. “India believes that delivering the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil community is in the best interest of[Read More…]
It’s been six years since the Rohith Vemula has left us, but the nation has hardly learnt from his death. There were many well-wishers of Rohith Vemula who mourned on his death. The nation has seen numbers of protests in the universities, Vemula was also discussed in the parliament. But when we will evaluate the result of his big sacrifice,[Read More…]
by Shobha Shukla and Bobby Ramakant Is it not shocking that after more than two years into the pandemic (when we know how to protect ourselves from getting infected, and have had vaccines for more than a year now), by far the highest-ever number of corona virus infections in a single week were reported in the second week of January[Read More…]
We the undersigned strongly condemn the brutal police violence by Odisha Police that continued for hours on the villagers of Dhinkia in Jagatsinghpur district on January 14. The villagers of the entire region have been carrying out a protest against land acquisition by the district administration for Jindal Steel Work Utkal Limited. On January 14, as people were gathering for[Read More…]
On the night of Sunday, January 16, members of the Indian Diaspora came together to denounce draconian laws of the world’s so-called largest democracy. To mark the 93rd birth anniversary of the towering US civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., they burnt copies of the contentious Indian laws, such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Armed Forces[Read More…]
On 14 January, a breaking news story from the New York Times informed its readers: “U.S. Says Russia Sent Saboteurs Into Ukraine to Create Pretext for Invasion.” Unsurprisingly, Washington “did not release details of the evidence it had collected.” Why did the NYT not question the withholding of evidence? Why even deign to report what so easily could be dismissed,[Read More…]
The US and its allies are countering the re-emergence of China with a Sinophobic confection of new alliances, military threats, jingoism and false propaganda about a falsely claimed Uyghur Genocide in Xinjiang. However excellent health, infant mortality, maternal mortality, population growth and education outcomes in Xinjiang reported by China and confirmed by respected NGOs contradict Sinophobic US, UK and Australian[Read More…]
The Hindutva draws its ideological inspiration from the European fascist organisations like the National Fascist Party/Republican Fascist Party in Italy and the Italian Social Republic under Benito Mussolini, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, The Fatherland Front in Austria under Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, the National Union in Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano, the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (‘Traditionalist Spanish Phalanx of the Councils of the National Syndicalist Offensive’) in Spain under Francisco Franco. European[Read More…]
Debashish Mukerji’s new book The Disruptor How Vishwanath Pratap Singh shook India has come at a rather topical time as the OBC reservation issue is back in the news. I have another reason to relate to the subject as I covered the OBC agitation in the 1980s in Maharashtra for the Times of India. And I had occasion to preside[Read More…]
The short expiration dates of vaccines donated to the sharing program is a major problem, Etleva Kadilli, an official concerned with the issue told the European Parliament (EP) on Thursday. The official heads the Supply Division of UNICEF, the UN’s agency for the betterment of children’s lives worldwide. “Until we have a better shelf life, this is going to be[Read More…]
On January 10, 2022, National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said, “It [Pakistan] is still not [free from US influence] and I doubt that there is any country which is free from it.” He added that the country does not have any financial independence, being dependent on loans from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other foreign organizations. “When we cannot [fulfill][Read More…]
Not too long ago, it seemed return of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in Uttar Pradesh (UP) with Yogi Adityanath as chief minister would be virtually a cakewalk for him. Suddenly, speculations about political winds not favouring him but his key rival – Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) have raised questions about Yogi’s credentials. It is possible, state elections may[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I understand from news reports that the LIC IPO is going to be issued shortly. Keeping in view the fact that it is the millions of policy holders of the LIC who have contributed to the Corporation’s phenomenal growth over the decades, some of us feel that relegating their interests[Read More…]
In a shameless and barbaric move several platoons of Odisha police entered Dhinkia village with total disregard to democracy and all constitutional norms. They forcibly broke the wooden barricade and prevented us to go to our betel vines in the morning. As villagers gathered in large number and opposed their way, the police lathi-charged injuring about 30 villagers, some of[Read More…]
People’s Initiative to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi on the 30th of January – for National Unity, Communal Harmony, Non-Violence & Peace. LET THE NATION STAND IN SILENCE AS ONE!! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOXmwnMZf1G7MZmnA3KgE9VLEmhyP1ubc29W-hFO9A4YT4IA/viewform?usp=sf_link Dear Fellow Indians, Zindabad! In the recent years, the country is witness to the growing threat of communal fascism, even as the very[Read More…]
Anniversaries for detention centres, concentration camps and torture facilities are not the relishable calendar events in the canon of human worth. But not remembering them, when they were used, and how they continue being used, would be unpardonable amnesia. On January 11, 2002, the first prisoners of the absurdly named “War on Terror”, declared with such confused understanding by US[Read More…]
Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1922-2006) is very widely, and fondly, remembered as one of the greatest directors, editors and story-tellers of Hindi cinema who also contributed in a smaller way to cinema of other languages. Leaving his career of teaching Maths to train under an editor of Bangla films predictably called Kenchi Da, he shifted to Hindi to learn from great masters[Read More…]
Given all the attention focused on the covid-19 pandemic, the Build Back Better bill, the January 6th attack on the Capitol and the media-hyped crises over Ukraine and Taiwan this past year, many other important issues have not received much attention. One example is the Palestinian/Israeli situation. Views of Israel There have been some major breakthroughs in the perception of[Read More…]
In early 2020, we saw the beginning of the COVID-19 ‘pandemic’. The world went into lockdown and even after lockdowns in various countries had been lifted, restrictions continued. Data now shows that lockdowns seemingly had limited if any positive impacts on the trajectory of COVID-19 and in 2022 the world – especially the poor – is paying an immense price[Read More…]
On January 11, 2022, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths appealed to the international community to help raise $4.4 billion for Afghanistan in humanitarian aid, calling this effort, “the largest ever appeal for a single country for humanitarian assistance.” This amount is required “in the hope of shoring up collapsing basic services there,” said the UN. If this appeal is not[Read More…]
Sitting inside a 4×6 feet room of her house, situated in Jaipur’s walled city, Afrooza Bano is busy carving the notches on bamboo sticks used to make kites. It’s mid-day and she has almost finished making 500 kites and is still to make 500 more. While she is strings the bamboo sticks together, her husband arranges them in a pile. Despite[Read More…]
The world’s oceans in 2021 witnessed the hottest temperatures in recorded history. (Source: Lijing Cheng, et al, Another Record: Ocean Warming Continues Through 2021 Despite La Niña Conditions, Advanced in Atmospheric Sciences, January 11, 2022) According to the Ocean Conservancy: “From the beginning of industrialization until today, the ocean has absorbed more than 90 percent of the heat from human-caused global[Read More…]
For decades, Hollywood has produced a plethora of films extolling American military prowess in warfare. Aside from Oliver Stone films and a few others, e.g., Casualties of War, usually these Hollywood films depict the United States as a force for good defeating fascists and other evildoers. Never-ending US militarism has provided a cornucopia of potential war scripts for Hollywood. Currently[Read More…]
Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh proposing to extend urban authority laws to the Scheduled Areas to bypass the PESA legislation To Shri Ram Nath Kovind President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, Under Article 244(1), read with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, areas predominantly inhabited by the adivasis have been notified by the President as “Scheduled Areas” where there[Read More…]
If, during the three day Martin Luther King birthday holiday, a world attention getting source, for example, a Chinese government spokesperson, would point out that the government of the United States of America was condemned as the most violent in the world by America’s own idol, this writer believes it would be a sensation, and a most difficult moment for[Read More…]
As Bitcoin prices rise, so will the incentive to mine it, creating a feedback loop that spells trouble for the climate. For advocates of cryptocurrency, the promise of an economic future that is managed by a blockchain (a decentralized database that is shared among the nodes of a computer network, as opposed to being held in a single location, such[Read More…]
China’s increasing security measures in Xinjiang reflect its historical territorial vulnerability and concerns over internal stability. Balancing these with its international ambitions and foreign relations will be no easy feat. For over a decade, increasing international attention has been focused on China’s treatment of Xinjiang’s Uyghur population. While Beijing is wary of all forms of separatism—Hong Kong and Tibet being its other major[Read More…]
The word “encirclement” does not appear in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 27th, or in other recent administration statements about its foreign and military policies. Nor does that classic Cold War era term “containment” ever come up. Still, America’s top leaders have reached a consensus on a strategy to encircle and[Read More…]
The financial wizards of Wall Street have devised a new way to profit from Mother Nature. They’ve created a class of stocks called Natural Asset Companies that will control the earth’s resources such as water, wildlife, forests, minerals, and farmland. The project was developed by the Intrinsic Exchange Group in partnership with the New York Stock Exchange, the Inter-American Development[Read More…]
Why the Lessons of History are Ignored America, Russia and NATO’s Geneva diplomatic talks ended in failure without any formal course of action to avoid military confrontation on Ukraine’s border. Other vital issues include how to treat each other in a futuristic imaginary encounter of common interests. The global community is watching the prelude to a staged drama of unwarranted[Read More…]
In the Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare defines relationships as marriage of true minds, where sovereign individuals love each other to overcome all impediments in life with the tempest of unchanging will. These voluntary, organic and humane ideals are institutionalised and domesticated to comply with the requirements of patriarchal, religious and capitalist cultures in different continents. The moral philosophers have also[Read More…]
Dawn of 21st century, for Dalits, should have been better because of the long war they waged on superstructures of discrimination, the price they have paid with their lives, agony, torture and humiliation they have been subjected to should have resulted in offering better fruits. They should not have faced even an iota of discrimination; notorious primitive forms of untouchability[Read More…]
There is now a real hunt for coining ever new terms for new upsetting phenomena in society and politics,such as finer terms to denote different degrees of authoritarianism in stead of seeing as a whole the concerted and unremitting campaign to turn the state into a full-fledged fascist state. On the other hand there is a reluctance to examine the[Read More…]
Like the bilateral negotiations between the US and Russia on Monday, the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Wednesday also ended with no tangible result. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called it a “positive sign” that the 30 NATO countries and Russia were “sitting at the same table again for the first time in two and a half years and[Read More…]
As we celebrate the birth anniversary (12th January) of the saffron robed monk who projected spirituality of Hinduism, the diversity and syncretic nature of India, it is very reassuring. His teachings are in total contrast to the present scenario, where many saffron robed are promoting hate and inciting violence in the name of same religion. Swami Vivekananda, the legend who[Read More…]
Amid the existential crises of Indian Muslims after Partition, the constitutional assurances given to the collective identity was vital in ameliorating the fears of the Muslim community. While individual freedoms are tenable while interpreting the constitution, recognition of the collective identity of the Muslim community by the way of State protection for colonial era Muslim Personal Law and special powers[Read More…]
Julian Assange has now been in the maximum-security facilities of Belmarsh prison for over 1,000 days. On the occasion of his 1,000th day of imprisonment, campaigners, supporters and kindred spirits gathered to show their support, indignation and solidarity at this political detention most foul. Alison Mason of the Julian Assange Defence Committee reiterated those observations long made about the imprisonment[Read More…]
The Pacific may well be the part of the world most likely to see “strategic surprise,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Monday, in comments apparently referring to possible Chinese ambitions to establish Pacific-island bases. Enormous Strategic Interests On January 11, 2022, a Washington datelined Reuters report said: Campbell told Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)[Read More…]
Cautious cooperation, lingering distrust, and outright conflict have characterized the Sino-Russian relationship for hundreds of years. But alongside natural reasons to collaborate, a shared animosity toward the United States ensures positive relations will endure. The 21st century has seen the forging of “cooperative” relations between China and Russia, with the benefits of this new partnership outweighing the historical differences between these two[Read More…]
As soon as media reports emerged regarding a deal between Palestinian prisoner, Hisham Abu Hawash and the Israeli prison authorities, Israeli extremists, led by Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir, angrily raided the Assaf Harofeh Hospital where Abu Hawash was being held. A Palestinian political activist, Abu Hawash, 41, is a father of five. He was arrested by the Israeli army from[Read More…]
The Union cabinet recently made a decision to increase the age of marriage for girls to 21, bringing this at par with men. The age has, to put things in context, been gradually raised over the years. The legal marriage age for women in India was first set to 14 years in 1929. In 1949, the age for women was[Read More…]
To Shri Narendra Modi Prime Minister Government of India South Block, Raisina Hill New Delhi-110 011. Dear Prime Minister, I write to you, the Leader of our great Democratic,Secular, Socialist Republic of India, governed by a Constitution which enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms of Indian citizens, irrespective of caste, colour, race or creed, as a senior concerned citizen who[Read More…]
Painting of Afghan woman by Sarmistha Sarker On a sunny Covid winter day, even while people waited for the third wave to fasten its grip, the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata hosted a brilliant show of paintings, sound, images and light show, photographs and multi-layered aesthetic installations, created during the pandemic and lockdown by a group of[Read More…]
The week January 4-January 11 has seen heavy snowfall in many parts of Himachal Pradesh. This led to a heavy rush of tourists from plain areas. Newspapers reported nearly 60,000 arrivals in just Manali and Shimla during the later part of the week. Several hotels which had been reporting low business had to insist on advance bookings and over 90[Read More…]
Quite recently, I have observed and spoken to dozens of people about the impact brought in by ongoing waves of recent pandemics in the name of Covid, Delta and Omicron. One must understand that the history of science demonstrates many more pandemics that took the toll of millions of people worldwide and in India. COVID-19 was a once-in-a-lifetime event that[Read More…]
The World Economic Forum (WEF) warns: The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic may take years to reign in. The WEF has also sheds light on major concerns regarding the future from the globe’s economic elite. “Covid-19 and its economic and societal consequences continue to pose a critical threat to the world. Vaccine inequality and a resultant uneven economic recovery risk[Read More…]
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu The world lost a great moral leader this Christmas when Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away at the age[Read More…]
Capitalistic Chasms and the Disenchanting Age A grotesque imagination of pluralism beholds a complex aura of experiencing diverse cultures, faiths, traditions, belief systems, existential principles, undercurrents of ideologies and imaginations. Excavating oneself through the convoluted layers of social relationships, interactions, organisations and realities can prove liberating as well as enslaving in manifold senses. Such concoctions of manoeuvred sociality and dogmatic[Read More…]
Was Mahatma Gandhi a Coward, Who Preached Non-violent Struggle Against the British Due to His Cowardice? India was attacked by Mahmud of Gazani in the 11th century. He attacked 17 times. The last time was in 1025. He robbed Somnath Mandir and carried its wealth to his own country. But none of the Hindu rulers could stop him. Later, Gori[Read More…]
Over 650 eminent persons have signed a petition demanding that Malayalam Manorama (Kerala’s largest media house owning the largest circulated newspaper) withdraw it’s latest issue of Vanitha Magazine. The outrage is about a cover photograph in the Magazine of a prominent Malayalam actor accused in a molestation case. On the cover he is seen with his family. The photograph effectively[Read More…]
by Shivani Das & Sai Thakur Photo of Stand-up Comedian Munawar Faruqui | Source: Youtube/ Munawar Faruqui Channel Munawar Faruqui, the Mumbai-based stand-up comedian, hit the headlines when he posted on Instagram ‘hatred won, artist lost, goodbye! INJUSTICE’ after his show in Bangalore was cancelled on the 28th November 2021. The city police cited the law and order situation. So[Read More…]
Satellite measurements indicate that 2021 was one of the warmest years on record, with the past seven years being the hottest period recorded globally (M et Office, January 10, 2022). Attempts at global emission reductions, lowered in part due to COVID-19 economic slow-down, appear to have little effect on atmospheric CO2 rise, as indicated by the current rise of atmospheric[Read More…]
In the controversy surrounding the Prime Minister’s visit to Punjab, an investigation into a secret app that spams and trolls thousands has gone ignored by the big media, notes the Delhi Union of Journalists. Painstaking investigation of the app Tek Fog, by two technical researchers for the Wire, reveals how tech is being used to pursue a political agenda and[Read More…]
“History begins in a barbarism of sense and ends in a barbarism of reflection,” says Italian Philosopher Giambattista Vico. Vico claimed that men ‘make’ their own history, and his claim had a different view of what ‘making’ means. When Dr. Abdel Latif Chalikandi—a Rome-based scholar, who serves as the Cultural Advisor, Tawasul Europe Centre for Research and Dialogue—was speaking on British Raj:[Read More…]
As the New Year began, I woke up to the news that the FCRA of hundreds of organisations who had applied for the renewal of their permission to receive Foreign funding had been denied. In the list was the well-regarded agency Oxfam, the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa and a chain of small rural hospitals in North and[Read More…]
After granting World Number 1 men’s tennis player Novak Djokovic a visa, the corrupt, racist and mendacious Australian Coalition Government waited until he had flown all the way to remote Australia before abruptly cancelling his visa and imprisoning the Serbian champion in an immigration detention centre used to indefinitely and highly abusively incarcerate men, women and children refugees without charge[Read More…]
January 10, 2022 will be remembered as one of the odder days in the annals of sport. For one, it had little to do with physical exertion. Tennis proved secondary to the claims of one Novak Djokovic, currently the world’s number one ranked player. Instead of finding himself training on court in preparation for the Australian Open, he found himself[Read More…]
It is high time for the United Kingdom to recognize its failure and realize that the sufferings of the Tamils started immediately after the British left Sri Lanka in 1948 and find justice and freedom to the oppressed Tamils who are now at a great loss of lives, land, resources, human rights etc. United Kingdom knows well that Sri Lanka[Read More…]
Tokyo Electric Power Company-TEPCO- has been attempting to decommission three nuclear meltdowns in reactors No. 1 No. 2, and No. 3 for 11 years now. Over time, impossible issues grow and glow, putting one assertion after another into the anti-nuke coffers. The problems, issues, enormous danger, and ill timing of deconstruction of a nuclear disaster is always unexpectedly complicated by[Read More…]
When the Maharashtra home ministry decided last year to reduce the number of prisoners in the state’s crowded prisons to reduce impact of the third wave of Covid, they were in for a surprise. Some inmates, it seems, did not want to be released at all. According to jail officials, several prisoners who have been granted emergency parole have not[Read More…]
At a time when there is widespread apprehension regarding high-power efforts to weaken regulations which have by and large sought to keep away GM foods from India, it will be useful to recall the widely appreciated and admired democratic process during the days of the UPA government which had led to a decision being taken to safeguard the food safety[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies August 2020 U.S. drone strike in Kabul killed 10 Afghan civilians. Credit: Getty Images The Pentagon has finally published its first Airpower Summary since President Biden took office nearly a year ago. These monthly reports have been published since 2007 to document the number of bombs and missiles dropped by U.S.-led air[Read More…]
The political crisis in Kazakhstan, which began on January 2 with mass protests against gas price hikes, has become a focal point of geopolitical and social tensions across Central Asia. With the support of the Kremlin, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s government has cracked down on the protests with extraordinary violence, turning the country’s largest city, Almaty, into a war zone. Military checkpoints have[Read More…]
PUCL strongly condemns the registration of FIR by the CBI against Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns (CPSC) and its initiative, People’s Watch on 6th January 2022 for alleged FCRA violations of the year 2012, and raids conducted by CBI officials at their office in Madurai on 8th January 2022. PUCL expresses serious concern over the increasing criminalization and denial of permissions[Read More…]
Recently the Coalition for GM-Free Agriculture in India has expressed serious concern regarding the new regulations being framed and discussed for regulating GM food as these are leaving wide gaps regarding food safety as well as feed safety. There is concern particularly regarding import of processed GM food. The consultations are being done very hurriedly without giving adequate chance for[Read More…]
PF: Hi, this is Pieter Friedrich, and today I’m speaking with Dr. John Dayal. Dr. John Dayal, who is 74, is a former newspaper editor, a researcher and author, and one of India’s senior human rights and freedom of faith activists. We are going to be discussing the issue of persecuted Christians in India. So, thank you for joining me, Dr.[Read More…]
Barely a few days are left to go now and all eyes, certainly of the farmers and their supporters, are on 15 January – the day Sunyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) is to reassemble in Delhi. There, SKM will seek to evaluate the progress made on the promises made by the government following the repeal of the three agri-laws in November[Read More…]
Rarely can the treatment of a grand sporting figure by officialdom have caused such consternation. Novak Djokovic, the tennis World Number One, has always had a tendency to get under skin and constitution, creating a large following of admirers and detractors. But his current treatment by Australian authorities, and his subsequent detention as an unlawful arrival despite being granted a[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer and Meg Young Most people in the so-called advanced world lives, as it seems, part of their daily existence with the Internet, smart phones, smart TVs, email, Twitter, YouTube, logging in to a company’s website where we are employed to be remote-controlled, etc. Yet, outside of work and sometimes even while being online for work, plenty of[Read More…]
Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Fight to Contain Them Here’s a scenario to consider: a military force has purchased a million cheap, disposable flying drones each the size of a deck of cards, each capable of carrying three grams of explosives — enough to kill a single person or, in a “shaped charge,” pierce a steel wall. They’ve been programmed[Read More…]
Although 2021 is now behind us, there are many issues that will linger for a while, or much longer, and will certainly dominate much of the news in 2022, as well. These are but a few of the issues. NATO-Russian Brinkmanship Exasperated with NATO expansion and growing ambitions in the Black Sea region, Moscow has decided to challenge the US-led[Read More…]
by Shobha Shukla & Bobby Ramakant The year 2022 began on a dismal note, with its first week reporting the highest-ever number of COVID-19 cases in a week globally. Since the pandemic began in December 2019, the reported number of people who contracted the virus has been over 306 million and 5.5 million people have died due to it worldwide.[Read More…]
Omicron is the name given to a mutant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported in South Africa. Subsequently, several other countries, including India, have reported cases of this variant. Among those infected by this variant were a good many who had been vaccinated or had been infected by earlier Covid variants. Early data on the new variant show two trends: that there[Read More…]
At the Dharam Sansad conducted at Haridwar, December 17-19, 2021, by Hindu sants and seers, there were calls for killing Muslims to cleanse Indian society. These are calls for genocide. Speakers also called upon army and police personnel to take up arms to kill Muslims. One speaker reportedly called for socio-economic boycott of Indian Muslims, and stated that governments will[Read More…]
Late January of this year will mark the first anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This momentous international agreement, the result of a lengthy struggle by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and by many non-nuclear nations, bans developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, and threatening to use[Read More…]
The United States claims it is operating under a “rules-based order”—but the term is not the same international law recognized by the rest of the world. Rather, it is camouflage behind which American exceptionalism flourishes. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other members of the Biden Cabinet are fond of proclaiming the “rules-based international order” (RBIO) or “rules-based order” every chance[Read More…]
As 2021 ended the Government of Rajasthan made a concerted push to increase Covid vaccination rates in the state by announcing a series of disincentives. The unvaccinated it said will not be eligible for benefits under government schemes and may also have to pay fines. While this new policy was prompted by the arrival of the Omicron variant and fears[Read More…]
I have a confession to make. That I have been converted many times. From one faith to another to yet another, endlessly. And I simply love it. Sometimes I got converted through the power of a compelling idea, just by reading a wonderful book. Or watching a well-made movie or listening to a song (especially sung by Mohammad Rafi saheb).[Read More…]
Today is the third day of my seven-day hunger-strike for the persecuted Christians of India. It has now been over 60 hours since I ate anything. CLICK TO VIEW ON YOUTUBE One thing that makes the situation of persecuted Indian Christians particularly unique is that they live in the only democracy in the world — in fact, aside from China,[Read More…]
They search from door to door. Asking questions shaped by hate and suspicion. They want to know how Christ entered those homes. Did he enter brandishing weapons that struck terror? Or did he wheedle his way into those homes? Using guile and deceit. They are brokers in the market place where power is sold to those, Who can pay the[Read More…]
Delhi Airport Metro as a Case Study According to the currently dominant ideology, the private sector is more competent, efficient, and technologically capable than the public sector, and thus public-private partnerships save public money. The World Bank says: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) can be a tool to get more quality infrastructure services to more people. When designed well and implemented[Read More…]
With all the constraints of time, I do wish to share my views with a large number of friends and likeminded people on an issue, which is very crucial in the coming days and times. This issue concerns farmers participation in coming Punjab Assembly elections, may be in other states -UP and Uttarakhand too, but primarily in the context of[Read More…]
During the month of December 2021 two warnings of impending sea level rise were issued by highly respected groups of climate scientists. These are professional scientists who do not deal in hyperbole. Rather, they are archetypical conservative serious-minded scientists who follow the facts. The most recent warning on December 30th is of deteriorating conditions at the Arctic and Greenland. The[Read More…]
The people of Dhinkia in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha have risen in strong protest against Jindal Steel Works and for the protection of their land, lives and livelihoods. As directed by the Odisha government, there is heavy police repression and coercion being carried out for land acquisition which is becoming brutal and inhuman with the passing of each day. All[Read More…]
Yesterday, Joe Biden delivered a speech from the U.S. Capitol in which he told the population there had been an attempt to overthrow the Constitution and establish a dictatorship in America. Biden warned that the danger had not passed and that the conspirators were actively planning to overturn upcoming elections. January 6 was “an inflection point in history,” he said.[Read More…]
As the dust settles on a movie that has well and truly got people talking about the climate crisis in a way that no other movie has, it is worth talking about one of the most important messages of the movie, and one that has largely been ignored. In Don’t Look Up, as the meteor hurtles towards Earth, finally the fictional[Read More…]
A French privacy watchdog accused the tech giants Google and Facebook of making it difficult for users to opt out of tracking their activity. France’s online privacy regulator has ordered Google and Facebook to cough up some €210 million ($237 million) between them, fining the firms for their questionable use of data-tracking ‘cookies’ on their sites. A report by The[Read More…]
Riots flared up in several cities of Kazakhstan on January 2. Later they erupted in other cities, including in Almaty, the largest city in the country, and on January 5, the riots snowballed into mass riots and violence, along with looting and attacks on state buildings. The rioters beheaded 2 police officers. At least 18 security officers were killed by[Read More…]
“Make the lie big. Make it simple. Keep saying it, and eventually they believe it”. These words of Adolf Hitler, the fascist leader of Nazi party of Germany seems to be proving true for India by its ruling establishment. Historically speaking, Adolf Hitler was a German leader who joined the Nazi Party which later became the largest elected party in[Read More…]
I am a Muslim Woman And I am not for sale I sacrifice my life for freedom struggle I stand against the British rule I am Shaheen bagh I am the voice you are afraid of In kashmir, In Manipur I stand against the oppression I call out your name In Jamia, In Aligarh I am the history You want[Read More…]
The farmers spirit elevated and reverberated at a boiling point in Ferozepur like a spark turning into a prairie fire, in protest staged a few days ago by the farmers groups of Punjab .It was one of the most comprehensive acts of rebellion and striking blows to neo-fascism. Prime Minister Narinder Modi was virtually compelled to retreat towards Delhi due[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer & Meg Young Unlike rather known concept of “climate” justice, the idea of “carbon” justice is so advanced that it does not even have a Wikipedia entry, yet. One of the countries that might serve as a near perfect example for carbon justice is Australia. With its massive coal export, Australia is one of, or perhaps, “the” worst country[Read More…]
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 many aspects of[Read More…]
A screengrab from the video showing a dozen men lowering the dead body of N. Kuppan. Courtesy: India today, August 22, 2019. There are still cases “ where the dalits could not even carry the dead bodies across certain lands belonging to the people of the so-called higher castes,” lamented Justice R Mahadevan of the Madras High Court, reported last [Read More…]
I salute the veterans who recently dared to write to the President and Prime Minister of India regarding “open call of the genocide of Indian Muslims”; their letter also mentions targeting of other minorities like Christians, Dalits and Sikhs. These brave soldiers and other eminent personalities have written exactly what needed to be said to the powers that be –[Read More…]
by Vaibhav Sorte & Jayanth Tadinada A frail figure, sporting a beard with a kurta and pyjama hung on him, scuttling with determination and head always held high is how one would have noticed Sharjeel Imam in the hostel 4 of IIT Bombay. It seemed he was unstoppable but if you managed to get his attention and asked something, a[Read More…]
104 organisations have endorsed the poster campaign against the Anti-Conversion Laws in India. We request you to circulate, release and share the material. Karnataka Legislative Assembly has passed the Anti-Conversion Bill despite stiff opposition from the opposition parties. However, it is not yet tabled in the upper house to make it a law. The Anti-Conversion Law affects Christians, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis and[Read More…]
Today is the second day of my seven-day hunger-strike for the persecuted Christians of India. As I said yesterday, 2021 was the most violent year on record for Indian Christians. In total, they suffered nearly 500 attacks — more than one every day. That’s almost four times as many attacks on Christians as were reported in 2014, the first[Read More…]
By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship. We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine. In 2014, the suggestion that Donald Trump would become president would also have struck nearly everyone[Read More…]
With Syria still embroiled in its own war, Israel has been actively rewriting the rule book regarding its conduct in this Arab country. Gone are the days of a potential return of the illegally occupied Golan Heights to Syrian sovereignty in exchange for peace, per the language of yesteryears. Now, Israel is set to double its illegal Jewish settler population[Read More…]
Let me start 2022 by heading back — way, way back — for a moment. It’s easy to forget just how long this world has been a dangerous place for human beings. I thought about this recently when I stumbled upon a little memoir my Aunt Hilda scrawled, decades ago, in a small notebook. In it, she commented in passing:[Read More…]
Geneva: Expressing shock over the repeated incident of targeting women, including many Indian scribes in social media, the global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands proper actions against the individuals behind the ‘Bulli Bai’ online application. It may be mentioned that over a hundred women, largely Muslim personalities, were listed with doctored photographs in the app[Read More…]
Protesters have marched through the streets of Kabul over the past weeks demanding that the United States lift its financial blockade and end its illegal seizure of Afghanistan’s financial assets, which together are driving an economic meltdown in Asia’s most impoverished country. Women marched on December 29 carrying banners reading “Don’t kill us by hunger”, “Let us live” and “Joe[Read More…]
The 1987 13th Amendment, a conceived and delivered baby of India under the Indo/Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 for adoption by Sri Lanka has been lying in the constitution of Sri Lanka partly implemented and mostly ignored by the Sri Lankan Governments since then. This 13th Amendment is now activated and given new life and blood by the Tamil leaders[Read More…]
Farmerless farms manned by driverless machines, monitored by drones and doused with chemicals to produce commodity crops from patented genetically engineered seeds for industrial ‘biomatter’ to be processed and constituted into something resembling food. Data platforms, private equity firms, e-commerce giants and AI-controlled farming systems. This is the future that big agritech and agribusiness envisage: a future of ‘data-driven’ and ‘climate-friendly’[Read More…]
The words were red. And the rifles were red too. It was a time to win back everything that belonged to the people. A flame of rebellion raging against tyranny of the exploiting classes in remote Naxalbari in north-eastern India spread to different parts of the vast land of India, and in its neighboring countries. The uprising in Naxalbari that[Read More…]
Awards and honours bestowed by States or private committees, republican or monarchical, are bound to be corrupted by considerations of hypocrisy, racketeering and general, chummy disposition. From the Nobel Peace Prize to the range of eccentric and esoteric orders bestowed each year in Britain by Her Majesty, diddling and manipulating is never far behind. You are bestowed such things as[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer & Catherine Link Even though Marx’s well-acknowledged truth that capitalism creates two classes is over 160 years old, class remains a much debated issue. Marx’s idea is relatively straightforward. In capitalism, there are two classes: firstly, there are workers or proletariat. Workers need to sell their ability to work as workers don’t own any means of production, or the ability to[Read More…]
Last month we commemorated the 30th anniversary of the fall of the USSR. There is a virtual vendetta launched against Marxism by the Western media. In actual fact what collapsed 30 years ago was state capitalism or revisionism, not true Socialism. The path had already been paved by leaders like Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev earlier who eradicated the roots[Read More…]
Like many other nations globally, India has been navigating through an economic crisis while battling an onslaught of Covid-19 and its variants. However, one may find it hard to pin down a leadership anywhere bent upon augmenting that misery for its own people through arbitrary and quirky actions. That is probably what the Modi administration has done by canceling about[Read More…]
People’s Voices against the project 1 The Chief Minister of Kerala who is now on a stint meeting the “ prominent citizens “ in each of the 11 districts through which the Silver line project will pass should instead turn off the alarming signal lights and sirens of his car and step out in the streets masquerading as an ordinary[Read More…]
To Shri G C Murmu Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Dear Shri Murmu, I invite your attention to the following report on an ongoing investigation by the Supreme Audit Office of Poland into the alleged purchase of the controversial Pegasus software by the government of that country and its possible misuse for illegally exercising surveillance over Poland’s opposition[Read More…]
Shri Sushil Chandra Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar Election Commissioner Shri A C Pandey Election Commissioner Dear S/Shri Sushil Chandra, Rajiv Kumar and Pandey, I had earlier requested the Union Home Secretary, under intimation to you, that political parties should not be allowed to hold rallies in view of the impending Omicron crisis. My letter dated 22-12[Read More…]
The Sanjha Morcha organised dalit labourers organised Black flag march on December 30th in Rampura Phul.Around 2000 persons participated. The rally was adressed by Kulwant Singh Selbrah ,Zora Singh Nasrali and Prithpal Singh Rampura.They touched upon issues like cancellation of debts upto Rs 50000,distribution of plots or panchayat land as promised, stopping harassment of women, continuous employment of agricultural labour,[Read More…]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the working class suffered the most. And, among the working class, the worst off were those who are not even recognized as the organized working class – domestic helps. When the lockdown began in March 2020 these helps – mostly women – faced a tremendous problem. First of all, they had trouble commuting daily to the[Read More…]
‘Unity in Diversity’ has been a major phrase which I picked up during my school days. Enjoying Ramlila for ten days before Vijayadhami ran parallel to seeing the Tazia processions, to the Jains processions with slogans Vande Viram (Hail Lord Mahavira), the celebrations of dalits on the day when Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, and the celebration of Christmas with college[Read More…]
Since 2018, we in Kerala especially those of us living in mountainous areas or the coast are afraid when clouds darken the skies and there is possibility of rains. This is because for 2 years in sequence we have faced torrential floods when dams, rivers and lakes (all water bodies ) overflow and take away everything that we possess, sometimes[Read More…]
With Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s borders, it’s not only Ukrainians who worry about what President Vladimir Putin may have in store for them. It’s Kazakhs too. For now, Kazakhs don’t have to be immediately concerned about Russian troop movements. What unsettles them is years of Russian rhetoric, spearheaded by Mr. Putin’s repeated comments, stressing the ideological rather than the[Read More…]
The Doomsday Clock has been sitting the past year at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to civilization-ending apocalypse. The United States has done little to quell doomsday apprehensions by ratcheting up tensions with China over Taiwan and its warships in the South China Sea, as well as with Russia over Ukraine, further NATO expansion, and[Read More…]
The US presidential doctrine is an odd creature. Usually summoned up by security wonks and satellite personnel who revolve around the President, these eventually assume the name of the person holding office. They are given the force of a Papal bull and treated by the priest pundits as binding, coherent and sound. Much of this is often simple mythmaking for[Read More…]
An article by Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times last July is a prime example of western intelligentsia’s limited understanding of China’s unhindered rise as a superpower. “Becoming a superpower is a complicated business. It poses a series of connected questions about capabilities, intentions and will,” Rachman wrote. To help us understand what this claim precisely means, the FT writer[Read More…]
A bizarre event took place in northern India between December 17 and December 19, 2021. It was a “religious parliament” (Dharma Sansad) with the theme, “The Future of the Sanatan Dharma in Islamic India: Problem and Solutions.” The event took place in Haridwar, a city in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The speakers—each of them dressed in saffron robes, which are usually[Read More…]
Terrorist Groups Have Doubled Since the Passage of the 2001 AUMF It began more than two decades ago. On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” and told a joint session of Congress (and the American people) that “the course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain.” If he meant a 20-year slide to defeat[Read More…]
When Chandu, a cloth merchant of Sant Hirdaram Nagar (old name Bairagarh) of Bhopal, got a message on his mobile phone informing him that he had been certified fully vaccinated for Covid-19 he was not very happy. The reason was that in reality he had not received even a single dose of vaccine till then. The message was a fake[Read More…]
R L Stevenon’s classic of 1886, “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, described the duality of character in the same person, manifesting itself in strange ways that were difficult to understand. Had Stevenson been alive today to witness the happenings in Indian politics, he would have found the present day political leaders having attributes similar to Dr Jekyll[Read More…]
Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik’s stand has not softened even after the government withdrew three controversial agri-laws. Speaking at a social function in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri town on January 2, he said that when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the question of farmers’ agitation and raised the issue of the death of 500 farmers, the PM’s attitude was[Read More…]
The only place I want to hear him speak is in the dock at the Hague at the International Criminal Court facing trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. — George Galloway, former British MP and the director of The Killing$ of Tony Blair Canada’s head of state, also the queen of Canada, has made the war criminal Tony[Read More…]
‘The Quint’ (3 January 2022) has an article ‘Events on Christ will end with “Jai Sri Ram”: Behind Church Attacks in Haryana’. The article speaks about the slew of anti- Christian attacks in Haryana during the Christmas Season. It details a Christmas Celebration of some followers of Jesus in Kurukshetra which was disrupted by the goons of the local Bajrang[Read More…]
Joint statement of the leaders of the five Nuclear-Weapon States on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races Leaders of the five Nuclear-Weapon States, namely China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States on Jan 3 Monday issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races. The following is the full text of the statement: The People’s[Read More…]
And if this is called Dharma Sansad, there is no other Adharma one can imagine. State’s silence or tacit response, police officer laughing along with accused, which appeared in another viral video also add to the ‘hate’ the state does not want to prevent or punish. *** Our Constitution in the Article 19(1)(a) guaranteed that all citizens of India shall[Read More…]
To Shri Rajiv Gauba Cabinet Secretary Govt of India Dear Shri Gauba, I have come across a news report (https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/ongc-without-a-chairman-as-subhash-kumar-retires-no-replacement-appointed-122010100678_1.html) about the casual manner in which the concerned Central Ministries have been dealing with ONGC, India’s premier hydrocarbons exploration and development agency, which is the country’s main plank for self-reliance in the sector. Apparently, the concerned Ministries have[Read More…]
Tensions arose in Kerala at a recent discovery that the jaggery supplied to Sabarimala temple came with a Halal (meaning permissible according to Islamic rule) certification. SJR Kumar, former president of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) filed a petition claiming that the jaggery was prepared following Islamic traditions and hence ‘violated’ tantric rituals that typically used ‘satvik’ (pure) food items. This[Read More…]
Two recent lynchings following alleged cases of sacrilege in Punjab in the last month have raised disquieting questions. The first incident was reported at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where a person accused of sacrilege was lynched to death on the[Read More…]
by P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal Presently India is fast galloping towards a fascist Hindu state. The Muslim, Sikh, Christian minorities as also the Tribals and Dalits in India are facing threats to their very existence and don’t feel safe anymore. The dilemma in which middle class Hindus find themselves today is no different from the predicament faced by[Read More…]
Recently on December 15 Eli Saslow wrote a very important feature in The Washington Post on the daily routine life of an elderly police constable Lennie who has been charged with the responsibility of evicting those families or persons from their homes who have not been able to pay their rent. Essentially his daily duty during the last two decades[Read More…]
The 2021 presidential election in Chile has resulted in the victory of the left candidate Gabriel Boric. With nearly 56% of the vote, he has won by a margin of more than 10 percentage points. In absolute terms, this is a record majority, with some 4.6 million votes cast for Boric, putting him almost 1 million votes ahead of the[Read More…]
Bright Green Lies (Monkfish Book Publishing, 2021) grumbles and growls like a rambunctious thunderstorm on an early spring day opening up darkened clouds of acid rain across the world of environmentalism, including celebrated personalities. According to Bright Green Lies authors Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Max Wilbert: “We are writing this book because we want our environmental movement back.” As[Read More…]
At the outset, the Israeli military decision to revise its open-fire policies in the occupied West Bank seems puzzling. What would be the logic of giving Israeli soldiers the space to shoot more Palestinians when existing army manuals had already granted them near-total immunity and little legal accountability? The military’s new rules now allow Isreali soldiers to shoot, even kill,[Read More…]
The world has been universally paying homage to Nobel laureate and world hero Desmond Tutu (7 October 1931- 26 December 2021) for his opposition to apartheid through non-violent boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and his involvement in truth and reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa. However a mendacious, hypocritical, Zionist-subverted, pro-Apartheid Israel and hence pro-apartheid West ignores Tutu’s resolute opposition to[Read More…]
Some peoples possess shamans to explain how the world works. We have charlatan economists and politicians posing as intellectuals who claim to be able to reveal the mystery of running society. The ideas of Marx did not arise out of thin air but were grew from the works of many others before him. But the purpose of this short essay is not to explore[Read More…]
In the early hours of January 1, just as the new year dawned, a big tragedy spread a wave of sadness in Jammu where 12 pilgrims died and almost as many were injured in a stampede. It is really sad that such an accident which generally takes place in conditions of overcrowding has taken place at the time of COVID.[Read More…]
On the morning of January 1, in Dadam area of Bhiwani district, Haryana, a huge portion of a hill being mined for its stone fell down with a very loud blast. Death of 3 workers was reported soon after this. Serious concern has been expresed that a higher number of workers may have been buried under big stones. What could[Read More…]
WhatsApp University in the Chat Domain. Where Talk is Cheap But; The Cost of Glamour: — Magnifico. This short article is a parody on the anonymity of OnLine Chat via Social Media, primarily WhatsApp, where no one knows who the other person is and you can let your spine drop and the anger and racist contempt hang out. (Perhaps how[Read More…]
Dhanak of Humanity makes a sincere and urgent appeal to all leaders to invest in safeguarding our pluralistic and secular nature by making those spreading hatred and advocating violence accountable for their hate speech Two recent events have been of utmost concern for all who believe in humanity and non-violence. One by the Dharma Sansad, at Haridwar December 17-19, and[Read More…]
by Madhu and Bharat Dogra Songs of hope are always good but these become even better and more relevant in difficult times. This may thus be a good time to remember some of the greatest songs of hope from Hindi cinema. These became hugely popular at the time of their release and are still remembered and hummed by a very[Read More…]
by Alishan Jafri , Neel Madhav and Apoorvanand The arrest of the foul mouthed Kalicharan is seen as a very courageous step taken by the Chhatisgarh government. Kalicharan, a self-styled Hindu saint was booked by the state police after he made abusive remarks against Mahatma Gandhi at a Dharma Sansad held at Raipur. The meet was called to discuss[Read More…]
by K.R. Venugopal & E.A.S. Sarma Dear Mr Prime Minister, We are two retired IAS officers, who have served our country both at the State and Union Government levels. We are independent social thinkers with no affiliation to any political party. We have no personal or political agenda in addressing this letter to you. The reason we have taken the[Read More…]
Five former chiefs of staff of the armed forces and over a hundred other people including veterans, bureaucrats, and prominent citizens have written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding “open call of the genocide of Indian Muslims” at various events, most recently in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar and Delhi. The letter also mentions targeting of other minorities[Read More…]
It will require a strong sense of optimism to look for hope at the begininning of 2022. Nevertheless try we must to seek and summon hope from whichever nook or corner we can find it. Let us start then with three statements which may appear rather obvious but are often missed in real life. Firstly, solutions in case of[Read More…]
A Happy New 2022 to All that, hopefully, PERHAPS, will be a far better one than the butt-ugly year that was 2021. In America, wild fires and 177 km winds, that continue to howl in the dead of winter of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, follow on the heels of freaky cyclonic tornados that previously cut ugly, deadly swaths through its Midwest[Read More…]
In India, there is a saying that ’56 like you have seen’. This saying is formed from historical events and the background of this saying is also formed from the historical battle of Bhima Koregaon When only 500 Mahar soldiers had crushed 28,000 Peshwa soldiers. To understand the historical significance of Bhima Koregaon, one must first understand the Peshwa. The[Read More…]
When the Wire and Cross-current broke the news of the Assam Chief Minister’s family having been involved in a landscam in three different areas of the state,turning govt. land allotted for charitable purposes into real estate with majority shares under their belt,everyone expected the popular press here to raise a huge furore.The report pinpointed the location,the specific category of the[Read More…]
When the British ordered the exclusive use of the Nagari script in school in 1880 to meet a Hindu demand in the state of Bihar, the Muslims howled. The Hindi-Urdu duel in the end exploded into Hindu-Muslim war. In free India, Hindi gained the national stature as a symbol of Hindu pride and spread nationwide like wildfire, partly thanks to[Read More…]
Stumbling Towards Old Age And Looking for Someone to Lean On 
Tolstoy’s Dilemma 
Ukraine Peace Activists Protest During Zelensky White House Visit 
“Our world is becoming unhinged”: Antonio Guterres 
How Chances of Direct War between the USA and Russia Are Increasing 
G20 Biofuel Alliance threatens Food security 
Thousands Of Auto Workers Strike In Three U.S. Plants, Face Financial Hardship 
Submission To Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission, NACC: Mainstream Media Lying 
In The Name of Decolonization 
Is This the End of French Neo-Colonialism in Africa? 
Tel Aviv’s Losing Brands: Israeli ‘Coup’ and the Death of False Democracy 
Tackling Global Emergencies – UN International Day of Peace 
The Futility of Feudalistic Democracy 
Bayer over-riding Bhartiya Krishi 
Pulwama Bombing 14th February 2019: Unanswered Questions 
Himalayan Apple Growers Worried Over Increasing Threat from Imports 
After protests in flood-hit Derna, Libyan officials order journalists to leave 
International Day of Peace: Fostering Harmony and Unity in a World of Diversity 
More Butterflies, Fewer Billionaires — Unrigging the Global Economy 
Veganic Farming: How My Tiny Plot Produced 5,000 Pounds of Food Without Using Manure 
Fighting the Diaspora: India’s Campaign Against Khalistan 
CAIR Files Lawsuit to End Islamophobic No Fly List 
N.D.Mahanor, The Poet Who Taught Us to See Culture in Agriculture 
Dark and light streaks in India-China relations 
Why the Central Government Should Rush Special Aid Package for Himachal Pradesh 
Special Session: Another Image-Boosting Move? 
Eddelu ( Wake up) Karnataka: The Great Citizen’s Wall Against BJP 
Urgency of Improving Dam Safety Re-Emphasized in Libya and Ukraine 
Climate Crisis Threatens Largest U.S. Cities 
Little Amal Entertains and Informs on Refugee Children’s Strife 
Google Trial Must Fuel the Global Movement Against Digital Capitalism 
Linking Aadhaar With NPR Records: Is it Based on Informed Consent? 
In the debates before 2024 Elections in India, Agenda for Justice, Peace, Democracy and Environment Most Needed 
US imperialist hypocrisy and the Libyan flood 
Some Remarks on Russia in Global Politics Today 
A climate of Insanity 
Brief for Murder: Pinochet’s Apologists Five Decades On ‘Epidemic’ or Revolution: The Other Side of the West Africa Upheaval 
White Nationalism and Donald Trump 
How Arab Leaders Betrayed Islam and Defied the Logic of Political Change, Peace and Security? 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
