September is the cruelest month, babu We are daily labourers We are kiln workers We are domestic maids We are casual agricultural hands It is a lean season, babu And we are pushed to the walls Of seasonal hunger and recurring wounds We sell pots and pans And keep our empty stomachs at bay It is the month of diarrhea[Read More…]
They have seized our country and taking it away from us. Our lush forests,rolling plains,our upstanding hills,our majestic rivers,fruits of our toil, future of our children’s children.Our freedoms,our dignity,our past,our cherished heritage,our hearty laughter and our rousing songs. All that our fathers had fought and died for,all that our mothers cherished and nourished with the warmth of their breast. But[Read More…]
What a humiliating failure for the group of diplomatic missions in Palestine that are now supporting the six Palestinian human rights NGOs that Israel has dubbed “terrorist organizations” and closed down! The irony is that most of these missions are active accomplices of Israel’s apartheid and occupation of Palestine. When South Africa lived under an apartheid regime, there was a[Read More…]
Let me ask you a question. If you identify as Jewish, what is your reaction when you see a news item such as: ‘Israel settles 50 Ukrainian Jewish families in West Bank settlements’? Do you think, hey, wait a minute? Why is Israel accepting only Jewish war refugees? Or, in another leap, why is Israel “settling” refugees on internationally recognized[Read More…]
Gorbachev’s was a betrayer’s life. He has physically left this earth, hours back; but has kept kilometer posts of betrayal on a land years ago identified as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He’s the person who led a band of betrayers to dismantle the USSR – Soviet Union. The biggest country in the world stretching from the Pacific[Read More…]
When the Toronto International Film Festival 2022 stands just around the corner, the preparations for the fun and excitement are well underway. King Street West, which is known as the Festival Street for Torontonians, is fully embarked on the surprises it has to offer. The street will stop its traffic for the first three days (Sep 08 – 11) of the[Read More…]
A recent Senate proposal would needlessly create conditions for conflict with Russia while generating more greenhouse gas emissions. For several years now, the U.S. military has been preparing to expand its presence in the Arctic. On August 3, members of the Senate showed their own interest in a larger military presence in the region with the introduction of the Arctic Commitment Act. Introduced[Read More…]
Last Saturday on 27 August we commemorated 21 years since the martyrdom of Abu Ali Mustafa, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, targeted for an Israeli assassination raid with a U.S-made and -provided missile in occupied Al-Bireh, Palestine, in 2001.Till this day his memories shimmer like an inextinguishable light. Abu Ali Mustafa’s was[Read More…]
Highly destructive floods devastated parts of Afghanistan in August. This was preceded by a prolonged drought, stated to be the worst in decades, and two earthquakes this year. As an overwhelming majority of people including children face serious hunger and many-sided deprivation, the USA and others should immediately release the Afghanistan central bank reserve funds of 9 billion dollars or[Read More…]
In recent months there have been growing signs of increasing assertiveness of environmental movements in Punjab. This should be widely welcomed and is much needed, given the rapid degradation of environment here at several levels in recent decades. There was an impressive and successful mobilization recently to save the Mattewara forest in Ludhiana from the onslaught of an ill-conceived industrial[Read More…]
Instability in Iraq has not ended in Iraq despite withdrawal of a fighting group. Iraqi supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr began withdrawing Tuesday from Baghdad’s Green Zone after he demanded fighting end between rival Shiite forces and the army that left 23 dead and hundreds wounded. The violence that erupted on Monday pitched Sadr loyalists against Shiite factions backed[Read More…]
Julian Assange has long been in solitary-confinement imprisonment in Britain awaiting extradition to America on charges which could bring him 175 years in prison, but he has never been convicted of anything, and the U.S. Government has violated both the U.S. Constitution and U.S. laws by having thus imprisoned him for over a decade without his ever having faced a[Read More…]
George Berkeley is one of the greatest and most influential philosophers of the early modern period. In defending the immaterialism for which he is most famous, he redirected modern thinking about the nature of objectivity and the mind’s capacity to come to terms with it. Along the way, he made striking and influential proposals concerning the psychology of the senses,[Read More…]
The Supreme Court term which ran from October 2021 through June 2022 was among the most reactionary, far-reaching terms in memory. With six right-wing judges on the Court, we saw decisions that were gifts to corporate power and horrible for the well-being of people. Flinging aside precedent after precedent, the written opinions inserted rhetorical footholds for even more dystopian decisions[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, In my letter dated 26-8-2022 addressed to RBI Governor (https://countercurrents.org/2022/08/reports-on-highly-leveraged-debt-based-operations-of-the-adani-group-calls-for-a-closer-look-from-the-psu-banks-point-of-view/), I had specifically referred to the risks the public sector banks (PSBs) face from loans given to large private groups of companies, excessively dependent on over-leveraged debt, with little equity contributions of their own, aggressively expanding their activities into new areas in which they[Read More…]
Economist Abhijit Sen passed away on the night of 29 August, 2022. He was 72. For a long time he has been regarded as one of India’s leading agricultural economists who made a very important contribution to government policy, particularly in the context of public distribution system. India’s structure of food security has been created to a considerable extent on[Read More…]
The ghost of population control was resurrected after the Assam and the draft U.P Population bills made the headlines last year. It reinvigorated the commonly held belief that some people and communities bear way too many children and therefore impede the important work of national development. And the default solution envisaged to deal with these over-productive people is to punish[Read More…]
A group of climate scientists have said: Time is short to secure a livable and sustainable future; yet, inaction from governments, industry and civil society is setting the course for 3.2 °C of warming, with all the cascading and catastrophic consequences that this implies. In this context, when does civil disobedience by scientists become justified. The scientists said: The scientific[Read More…]
The princely state of Cooch Behar merged with the Dominion of India on August 8, 1949 and became a part of the State of West Bengal on January 1, 1950. To go to Cooch Behar, one has to cross Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, which were also once part of other neighbouring hill kingdoms and annexed by the British. During my[Read More…]
Opposition to Vizhinjam Port Project Must be Seen in the Wider Context of Protecting Coastal Ecology and Communities The wider discussion on coastal areas often takes place in the context of their beauty and tourism potential. However ecologists place more emphasis on seeing coastal areas as very significant as well as sensitive areas whose development activities should be carefully monitored[Read More…]
The other day, my newly appointed domestic help (Premdevi) was morose and after a lot of persuasion, I got to know the reason. She narrated that her husband who is very abusive, and jobless for the last four to five years, stay back at home, don’t look for a job or perform household chores and expects his wife to take[Read More…]
Ambedkar King Study Circle’s 3rd annual conference urged the companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents Anti-caste activists gathered in Cupertino on Aug 27th under the theme to resist Brahminism and Hindutva urged the companies in the USA to include caste discrimination in the policy documents and appriciated Apple being the first company in the[Read More…]
Currently inIndian media an active debate is taking place in the country on “frebbies” or Subsidies given to poor. The controversy was first initiated by PM Narendra Modi who warned the youth against being influenced by a “revari culture”. Soon Mr. Upadhyaya, a BJP leader and a lawyer, known for his communal hate speeches, moved a petition in the Supreme[Read More…]
On August 28, 3700 kg. of explosives were used in Noida city ( in national capital region) to demolish two 100-metre tall structures called Apex ( 32 storeys) and Ceyane ( 29 storeys), following court orders based on complaints of glaring violations of construction regulations and the builder’s own earlier commitments. These twin towers were not in the original plans[Read More…]
How the conservative patriarchal Family Ideology operates and is challenged in the courts The data from the NCRB shows that increasingly a large number of women are approaching the courts with the complaints of domestic[Read More…]
The U.S. has deployed two of its warships to the Taiwan Strait in a first such mission since the controversial visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, the Navy said on Saturday. Media reports said: USS Chancellorsville and USS Antietam, guided-missile cruisers, are sailing through international waters in the area, according to a statement from the U.S. 7th[Read More…]
Honestly, if you had described this America to me more than half a century ago, I would have laughed in your face. Donald Trump becoming president? You must be kidding! If you want a bizarre image, just imagine him in the company of Abraham Lincoln. I mean, really, what’s happened to us? Not, of course, that we haven’t had bizarre[Read More…]
The International Debt Statistics (2022) published by the World Bank has revealed that the external debt of 123 low- and middle-income countries have increased on average 5.6 percent to $8.7 trillion in 2020. It shows devastating impact of the pandemic on economy of the developing countries. The G20 creditors have designed a policy framework called the Debt Service Suspension Initiative[Read More…]
It seems that no matter where one looks nowadays, there is a preponderance of friends and neighbors who call themselves ‘ Good Christians’ and then act the opposite. They need to read what their hero said in his Sermon on the Mount for starters. Or his powerful response to a wealthy follower of his: ” Easier for a camel to[Read More…]
At the UNHRC 51st Sessions due to commence on September 12, 2022, the members are expected to debate the final draft Resolution on accountability, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka to be presented by the UNHRC High Commissioner including her oral statement on the first day on 12th September 2022, this being the first item in the agenda. The question[Read More…]
Roads are crumbling, bridges are collapsing and railway lines are flooded . The surging waters from the rivers are drowning entire villages all around. It has rained so much that even where there is no flood, the kutcha houses have become wet and some are falling apart. Schools have declared holidays and public transport is closed. People are unable to[Read More…]
Women activists’ encompaasing the entire globe are raising their fist to confront imperialism, fascism, and all forms of reaction. Together with the broad masses, they draw inspiration from their heroes and martyrs, and are determined to be torch bearers in cause of national and social liberation. Sadly the ruling governments liquidate their kind through murder framing them with false charges[Read More…]
There can be little doubt that the two recent events that have caused most stir and grabbed most attention are Ghulam Nabi Azad’s letter of resignation from the Congress after an association for nearly fifty years and the Adani group’s precipitate bid for hostile take-over of the NDTV.Both have lessons for the defenders of democracy in their mortal struggle for[Read More…]
(This is the English translation of my Hindi article titled ‘Swatantrta Diwas Ke Kartavya’ published in ‘Yuva Samvad’ and ‘Hastakshep.com’ on the occasion of 66th Independence Day in 2013. The article was reissued last year on 15 August 2021 on the occasion 75th year of the independence – with the hope that along with the exchange of greetings on[Read More…]
Sri Lanka has to face the UNHRC Session in September 2022 and submit its report on human rights, accountability and justice and other Recommendations mentioned in the UNHRC Resolution 46/1 of March 23, 2021. This 46/1 Resolution, titled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights,” was adopted by the UNHRC, in Geneva, on March 23, 2021, during the 46th Sessions. By[Read More…]
In Ratiya district of Haryana on August 25th a protest was staged confronting the selling of education by the BJP govt.in the name of the New Education policy. Students assembled from villages of Alika, Kelawa and Malwala.Preceding the rally the students undertook a protest campaign within the villages. They launched a dharna vociferously raised slogans outside the central University gate.[Read More…]
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) expresses its shock and horror at the order by the ASI S P Chero of Border Security Force (BSF) of 68 Battalion to rape a woman who was hiding with her baby daughter in the fields of spiny gourd (কাঁকরোল) while being caught in attempting to cross the Indo – Bangladesh border at[Read More…]
We must place true value on the environment and go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of human progress and well-being,” said United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres in June at Stockholm+50, a meeting convened by the UN to discuss the world’s environmental and ecological crises. It was an astonishing statement. This once-fringe idea of going ‘beyond GDP’ is finally appearing[Read More…]
A year has now passed since the tumultuous U.S. withdrawal from decades of war and occupation in Afghanistan. With the Taliban functionally in charge, the country faces a deteriorating humanitarian crisis and economic collapse. But instead of taking action to promote stability and reinvigorate the economy, the U.S. has made it worse and penalized innocent, ordinary Afghans. According to the United[Read More…]
Julian Assange’s legal team has taken its next step along their Via Dolorosa, filing an appeal against the decision to extradite their client to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the odious US Espionage Act of 1917. Since his violent eviction from the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019, much to the delight of the national security[Read More…]
Buenos Aires was rocked again last week by massive protests against austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Structural reforms with austerity have resulted in soaring inflation, currency depreciation, poverty and inequality that is eroding Argentine society and economy, while enabling bail out of private lenders and vulture funds like BlackRock. Argentina is now on its 21st IMF[Read More…]
Pandu Narote, who was framed d along with former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for Maoist links, died on Thursday after contracting swine flu. He was imprisoned at the Nagpur Central Jail. One of the blackest days in post-1947 Indian history. Crushing of democratic dissent has touched volumes unprecedented, with[Read More…]
30 to 33 million persons are reported to be seriously affected by floods in Pakistan, a country with a population of 220 million. Due to this a national emergency has been declared in Pakistan. The previous worst floods in Pakistan were recorded in 2010 when nearly 20 million people were affected, causing damages estimated at $10 billion. This was followed[Read More…]
In Village Hardike in Sangrur the Zameen Prapt Sangharsh committee planted their flags to launch a successful land capture of seven acres of land. A truly remarkable victory giving the ruling classes a striking blow and tribute to relentless spirit of activists. Heroically they resisted strong police contingents assembled who were determined to sabotage the proceedings, who were shaken to[Read More…]
The international debt trap is a product of colonial and neo-colonial plunders, imperialist hegemony and neoliberal economic policies imposed by developed countries on developing world. The Asian, African, Latin American and even the capitalist west is suffering from debt due to the dominance of Westphalian capitalist system that controls world economic and politics. However, the reactionary and capitalist ideologues,[Read More…]
A statue of Alluri Srirama Raju, ( July 4, 2022 – May 7th 1924) with bow and arrows; this model is the standard depiction seen in most places, across the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State. He is mostly presented in saffron robes of a Sanyasi. A centenary of the popular armed struggle, Rampa Adivasi Revolt, led by[Read More…]
Several networks of people living with HIV are pouring in support to the ongoing indefinite sit-in (since 21st July 2022) outside offices of India’s AIDS programme, to demand an end of stockout of HIV medicines, and ensure minimum one-month dispensation of these medicines nationwide. The government of India’s guidelines of 2018 state that those persons stable on the HIV therapy[Read More…]
It must have been music to Elon Musk’s ears. Twitter, a platform he has had a patchy relationship with, has been the recipient of various blows inflicted by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the company’s former head of security. This was no mean feat, given the company’s reputation as being essentially indestructible. But Mudge was left with every reason to seethe; his[Read More…]
The United Nations helps design a deal to ship foodstuffs blocked in Ukraine ports. The United Nations has some bragging rights in Ukraine after months of criticism it could not stop the disastrous war, devising a deal with Turkey, Ukraine and Russia that could deliver much-needed corn, grain and wheat. The landmark pact was announced on July 22 after two months of talks brokered[Read More…]
For years, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors dutifully documented extensive animal suffering at Moulton Chinchilla Ranch (MCR), a chinchilla breeding facility in Minnesota. In 2021, MCR was the only USDA-licensed supplier of chinchillas for research, according to National Geographic and Science. Meanwhile, USDA inspections of MCR reported seeing chinchillas, many destined for experimentation, with eyes swollen, weeping, and sealed shut; a thin, unresponsive chinchilla, missing part of[Read More…]
China had warned of “serious consequences” in the lead-up to the visit but has avoided any significant military escalation so far. Following the chaotic U.S. departure from Afghanistan in August 2021 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Washington has sought to reaffirm its commitment to its allies and partners. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on August 2[Read More…]
Thanks to Parti des Travailleurs (حزب العمال Akabar Ixeddamen) of Algeria for letting us know the cruel condition of life in which the majority of population are in. But before we go to that and start thinking what might happen, we should have a recap of last 3½ years. The movement started on a Friday, February 16 and continued each[Read More…]
In recent months the need for strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has become clearer than ever before. As USA/NATO relations with Russia and China have deteriorated fast, there are increasing indications of the world’s division between two major political and military power blocks being strengthened, the dividing lines becoming deeper. First and foremost, it must be stated clearly that this[Read More…]
Sometimes it was a rise in pig iron prices due to disruption of supply chains due to the Covid pandemic. Now you can find the Ukraine War as a reason for the increase in the price of coke used in the steel industry. Not so long ago it was GST and demonetisation. Whatever be the real reason life is surely[Read More…]
Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress Party has become a topic of much discussion in the media. The Congress has announced that it will organise a padyatra (foot march) which will start from Kanyakumari on 7th September and reach Kashmir in 150 days. During the padyatra, a route of about 3500 km will be covered through 12 states and 2[Read More…]
Dr. Iravati Karve [15 December 1905 —-11 August 1970 ] is India’s first pioneer, leading anthropological researcher and world-renowned researcher in sociology. Anthropologist, social scientist, atheist, rationalist and literati, the great writer and orator known to Maharashtra in various capacities. A progressive thinker who has become an example of women’s freedom is Dr. Iravati Karve. A very highly educated, cultured[Read More…]
As record-breaking high temperatures and historic droughts afflict millions of people around the world, a study published Thursday warned that by the end of the century, dangerous heat driven by the worsening climate emergency will hit much of the Earth at least three times more often than today. The study—conducted by climate researchers at Harvard University and the University of Washington[Read More…]
Ahead of October’s election, with leftist Lula leading the polls, fears are rising of a Bolsonaro coup – meaning it’s the entirety of Brazil’s democracy at stake. After four years of a right-wing Bolsonaro government, Brazilians will vote for a new president on 2 October 2022. Former president Lula—currently high in the polls—is confronting an increasingly delirious incumbent, who appears[Read More…]
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is celebrating the spirit of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” in 2022 to mark 75 years of India’s independence. It is well-timed and relevant to know that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has produced many freedom fighters who fought for independence. While we are celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, present-day India is going through[Read More…]
RSS-BJP rulers of India have suddenly developed immense love for the Indian national flag. According to press reports under “Har Ghar Tiranga” [Tricolour at every home] campaign Centre facilitated hoisting of the Tricolour at 24 crore homes across the country from August 13 to 15 as part of the celebration of the 75th year of India’s independence. Even PM Modi[Read More…]
To Shri Shaktikant Das Governor RBI Dear Shri Das, RBI must have seen the disturbing report of the credit research agency, CreditSights, on highly over-leveraged expansion programme undertaken by the Adani Group in India and abroad (https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-adani-group-deeply-overleveraged-creditsights-says-2022-08-23/) The credit research agency is reported to have pointed out, “The conglomerate’s debt-funded growth plans could spiral ‘into a massive debt trap’ and[Read More…]
A new civilization is emerging in our lives, and blind men everywhere are trying to suppress it. This new civilization brings with it new family styles; changed ways of working, loving, and living; a new economy; new political conflicts; and beyond all this an altered consciousness as well. Millions are already attuning their lives to the rhythms of tomorrow. [Read More…]
To Shri G C Murmu C&AG Dear Shri Murmu, I write this in continuation of my previous two letters dated 13-8-2022 & 15-8-2022 on the 5G spectrum auctions (https://countercurrents.org/2022/08/5g-spectrum-is-it-a-distress-sale-cag-may-look-at-it-carefully/) There are two important post-tender developments that accentuate the concerns I had raised in my letter dated 13-8-2022. They are as follows. Relaxation of security conditions in border areas for mobile operators- Is[Read More…]
The world of trade is having interesting developments. An AP report from Seoul said: South Korea landed a 3 trillion won ($2.25 billion) contract with a Russian state-run nuclear energy company to provide components and construct a turbine building for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, officials said Thursday. The South Koreans hailed the deal as a triumph for their nuclear[Read More…]
![Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, Sunday, August. 7, 2022. [Photo: Hatem Moussa/WSWS]](https://cdn.countercurrents.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Gaza-1-200x150.jpg "Fake Neutrality: How Western Media Language Misrepresents Palestinians, Shields Israel 139")
While US and western mainstream and corporate media remain biased in favor of Israel, they often behave as if they are a third, neutral party. This is simply not the case. Take the New York Times coverage of the latest Israeli war on Gaza as an example. Its article on August 6, “Israel-Gaza Fighting Flares for a Second Day” is[Read More…]
Egoistic Leaders are Misleading the Humanity Leaders create leaders. But most contemporary leaders are not good readers of history as they never learnt any lesson from their own wrong thinking and actions. Late Robert Fisk (“The only Lesson we ever learn is that we never learn.” 3/19/2008: Independent.co.uk), described them as “dead enders”, claiming “mission accomplished” when they did nothing[Read More…]
On 21st August, A protest demonstration was staged at Picnichen Spot, Opp Shaheed Birsa Munda Statue, Aarey forest, Mumbai. It opposed the present Maharashtra Government of Shinde-Fadnavis in installing Metro 3 depot at Aarey and to project the truth behind depot politics and land scam. More than 500 persons protested, from a broad strata of society.. Students, Dalits, Adivasis and[Read More…]
India has been implementing some of the biggest nutrition programs for decades and while some improvement in nutrition is indicated, on the whole malnutrition levels remain high. This needs to be explained at several levels, and one explanation that should not be neglected relates to soil health. It is increasingly realized by scientists that soil health is closely related to[Read More…]
One of the things I wondered about a lot during my first months of work in the food system was productivity. Growing up in a Minority World country, practically all of my food came from large-scale, industrial farms. As a result, I—like many others—believed for a long time that industrial agriculture a necessary evil, an unfortunate requirement given how many[Read More…]
As children go back to school, a Delhi government programme to close the gap that has taken place in learning during the pandemic is helping in more ways than one. Pooja, a student in a government school in Saket, Delhi had been waiting to return to school for the past two years. As the classes commenced online during the pandemic,[Read More…]
“Migration studies have a significant role in the making of modern Kerala and the articulation of issues associated with it,” according to Prof. Michael Tharakan, Chairman, Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR). He was delivering an inaugural note at the five-day Young Scholars’ workshop on “Migration and Mobility” organized by the KCHR in association with the Inter University Centre for[Read More…]
On the day India was born eleven demons were let loose. A great celebration ensued Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! India won the match again! The match is always fixed. A man versus woman Bilkis versus eleven Satans played in broad daylight. A great uproar, carnal pleasure, proud chest, thumping victory: Bilkis: Zero, India: Eleven. It’s always the same match . India[Read More…]
China has issued a nationwide drought warning for the first time in nine years as the country copes with below-average rainfall and one of the strongest heat waves seen in six decades. Authorities are trying to seed clouds to make it rain. The drought is threatening food production, prompting the government to order local authorities to take all available measures to ensure[Read More…]
There have been several reports recently which indicate that road accidents due to drunken driving are increasing. In particular the rules relating to distancing of liquor availability from highways are being widely flouted. A recent detailed report on the situation regarding some highways passing through Haryana, in particular the Delhi-Jaipur highway,( Dainik Tribune August 24, 2022) states that there are[Read More…]
In Maharashtra, the administration has been claiming that there is a steady decline in the number of malnutrition and child deaths in the state. But, in recent figures that have come out, questions are being raised on the claims of the administration. In the last 17 months, from January 2021 to May 2022, over 22,751 children in the age group[Read More…]
Lok Morcha Punjab launched a sustained and most qualitative campaign engulfing 14 districts of Punjab, exposing the true nature of the 1947 independence. In simple folk language they narrated how the Congress digressed the path of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru,by diluting the cutting edge of class struggles of the working class and peasantry. The leaders summarised the various[Read More…]
Properly addressing the plastics problem involves not only interrogating corporate tactics but also understanding that some plastics provide societal benefits. Over the past few years, the paradox of plastic as both a miracle for and a menace to society has become a platitude. There are countless stories in the media and popular culture about our fraught relationship with plastic, focusing[Read More…]
There is an overwhelming boisterous ignorance that characterises Australia’s foreign policy approach to China. When Beijing was boxed and derided as emerging, weak and well-behaved, everyone supposedly got on. Washington remained the region’s patriarch and Australia its policing deputy. Everyone could get on plundering resources and making some ruddy cash along the way. Then, assumptions started being challenged: the cheeky[Read More…]
Indra Meghwal a nine year old student of Sarswati Vidya Mandir, Jalore in Rajasthan was beaten by his teacher on 20th July 2022. The crime of this boy, was that he drank from the water pot reserved for his upper caste teacher. This is the version of Indra’s parents and classmates. Another version is being floated that the boy was[Read More…]
A militant demonstration was held at Dadar Railway Station (East) on August 23rd, besides Hanuman Mandir, Dadar (East), Mumbai, attended by over 300 activists which is mainly consisted of women. It was organised by All India Womens Democratic Association, , Forum Against OppressionOf Women, Indian Christians For Democracy Jan Swasthya Abhiyan #National SolidarityForum Police Reform Watch , Vinayak Foundation Shoshit[Read More…]
According to recent reports which have caused widespread concern, authorities in New York, London and Jerusalem have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there and the source of this has been traced to the oral vaccine itself. According to data quoted in a recent AP report ( Polio in US, UK and Israel shows rare risk of oral vax), since[Read More…]
Corona had severe impact on handloom sector and weaver livelihoods. Most of them have slipped into poverty. Unfortunately, there is no change in the budget for handloom sector, from the previous interim budget. It is a mere Rs.495.32 crores. Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, a woman Union Finance Minister, who wears handloom sarees and has a good understanding of handloom products, failed[Read More…]
A group of Kenyan activists filed a case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday. Lawyers representing peoples forced off their land in Kenya’s Rift Valley argue the UK has violated the European Convention of Human Rights, to which it is a signatory, by consistently ignoring complaints lodged by the victims of colonial rule.[Read More…]
The short answer: No, not even close! Nations of the world are only too aware that fossil fuels need to be phased out for two reasons. First, oil is a finite commodity. It’ll run out in time. Secondly, fossil fuel emissions such as CO2 are destroying the planet’s climate system. However, a recent study puts a damper on the[Read More…]
by Balmurli Natrajan and Raghav Kaushik Dr. Balmurli Natrajan is Professor of Anthropology at William Paterson University of New Jersey, USA. He works at the intersections of the material and the symbolic, of the biocultural and political economy, and of culture, cognition and practice. His key research and teaching foci fall into three domains: group formation & inequalities (caste, race);[Read More…]
Most of the discussion on budgets in India is dominated by the discussion of union budget and hence adequate attention is not drawn to trends in state budgets. However this much is well-known that state governments have faced increasing pressure in recent years to meet the extra needs of people caused due to the adverse economic situation related to demonetization,[Read More…]
I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. —.Samuel Johnson Mother Tongue/Language is without any doubt the identity of any nation. It tells us where a particular person belongs to. It reflects the cultural ethos and social milieu of an individual. Every country holds its Mother Tongue dear, for it carries[Read More…]
Israel and Germany are prolonging their fuss over Mahmoud Abbas’ comment on the ‘holocausts’ committed by Israel on the Palestinian people. Abbas cannot reverse facts even if he pulls back his statement. Abbas is no political saint. But he has on this occasion spoken out with courage and truthfully. Germany cannot stomach it because the term sticks on them because[Read More…]
The seven hundred and odd pages long proposed constitution for the Hindu Rashtra,to emerge out of the ashes of our present constitution,has been dismissed as a joke by our secular media and enlightened public analysts.But are they being too complacent and a little rash,perhaps? The actual responses of the communally fired,divided masses cannot be predicted so confidently.Already we have some[Read More…]
Very recently, the CPIM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has moved the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court quashing the UAPA cases filed against alleged Maoist leader Roopesh. The entire sequence of events, as explained below, brings out once again the double standard adopted by the CPIM in questions of implementation of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).[Read More…]
Four years ago, on Independence Day, we were driving down the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway from Gurugram to our home in the afternoon. PM Modi had unfurled our National Flag on the ramparts of Red Fort, Delhi, in the morning. Suddenly, a man in his early twenties, on a motorcycle, in a tearing hurry, overtook us from the wrong side. A[Read More…]
In recent months leading dairies have been increasing the price of the packaged milk sold by them while GST on packaged milk products has also added to the woes of consumers. During the last six months or so, leading dairies like Mother Dairy and Amul have twice raised their price, each time by about Rs. 2 per litre, citing inctease[Read More…]
A new, freely downloadable, book I would like to announce the publication of a new book, entitled “Lives in Molecular Biology”. The pdf file of the book may be downloaded and circulated free of charge from the following link: https://eacpe.org/content/uploads/2022/08/Lives-in-Molecular-Biology-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf It is part of my series of books on cultural history. Human history as cultural history We need to reform[Read More…]
Politics in Pakistan is again creating turmoil. Media reports said: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s close aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Shahbaz Gill’s room at Parliament Lodges was raided by police contingents in the presence of Gill who was brought to the location amid strict security measures. The police team led by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) found[Read More…]
(This long article of 2013 was published in the form of a booklet in 2014. The same is reissued here for the benefit of new readers. Even those who have read it earlier may find some relevance in the present political context.) Against Forgetfulness The supporters of Narendra Modi have been insisting for some time now that what happened in[Read More…]
A new study details the disastrous consequences that would result for marine life across the world’s oceans if current levels of fossil fuel emissions are maintained, with up to 90% of ocean species facing extinction. Daniel Boyce, a research scientist at Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, Canada, led the study examining 35,000 species of marine flora and fauna as well as[Read More…]
Ayman al-Zawahiri is dead – or so we are told. Al-Qaida’s chief and successor to the slain Osama bin Laden, he was deemed the chief ideologue and mastermind behind the audacious September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. On July 31, he was supposedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, while standing on his balcony. Terrorism[Read More…]
With the horrors of the deadly virus still in the air, this would appear to be like a remarkable fairy tale in the post-Covid pandemic scenario, almost like a dream come true, almost like the Sound of Music multiplied many times over. It is quite unbelievable, but true. Across the dense forests and zigzag hilly terrain, full of water bodies,[Read More…]
The latest news on Ambani’s expanding empire might leave most readers slightly puzzled.The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition by wild life activists to cancel the government’s permission to Mukesh Ambani to open and manage a zoo covering an area of 168 acres.He has been collecting animals from different quarters including Black panthers from Assam and elephants courtesy forest department[Read More…]
India has a political system where the executive makes the laws, rules the country. There is judiciary to ensure that the executive walks the path of Indian Constitution. Judiciary’s major commitment is to Indian Constitution and has to protect the values of the same. Currently there are criticisms that judiciary seems to working under the pressure of the executive. To[Read More…]
The ‘West’ is not just a term, but also a concept that acquires new meanings with time. To its advocates, it can be analogous to civilization and benevolent power; to its detractors, mostly in the ‘East’ and ‘South’, it is associated with colonialism, unhinged violence, and underserved wealth. The current, seismic shifts in world affairs, however – namely, the Russia-Ukraine[Read More…]
“Government behaving irresponsibly towards citizens who are at risk from its fortified rice programs – Citizens’ entitlements jeopardized by unscientific, one-size-fits-all approach” : ASHA & Right to Food Campaign New Delhi, August 22, 2022: An RTI response[i] by the Ministry of Women and Child Development reveals knee-jerk and self-protecting measures in the form of a few circulars issued by the Ministry[Read More…]
The 14th Anniversary of Kandhamal Day is due on August 25, 2022. Though the violence continued for months, the main violence on the Christians took place during the last week of August, 2008. Justice for the genocide of the Dalit Christians and Adivasi Christians is still not provided. Several organizations in Odisha and outside the state worked hard for this cause. [Read More…]
To Shri Rajiv Gauba Union Cabinet Secretary Dear Shri Gauba, I have cautioned the government several times on the need to strengthen the CPSEs from the point of view of promoting the country’s self-reliance, rather than weaken and privatise them. The way the government has dealt with the Maharatna oil behemoth, the ONGC is a case in point. In particular,[Read More…]
Americans are divided dangerously, said a report by The Daily Beast (Americans Are Dangerously Divided (And Not Just Over Trump) citing a poll. The report said: A new Generation Lab poll (https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22140614/generation-lab-nbc-poll.pdf) of rising college sophomores conducted for NBC News confirms that young Americans are segregating themselves along partisan lines (Daily Beast, Pew Study: Americans Are Self-Segregating Amid Proliferating Partisan Media, https://www.thedailybeast.com/pew-study-americans-are-self-segregating-amid-proliferating-partisan-media(. And as Axios notes,[Read More…]
In March 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a “hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system” in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine. Guterres said food, fuel and fertiliser prices were skyrocketing with supply chains being disrupted and added this is hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the globe.[Read More…]
No, because the face of a little girl in Bangladesh, or a little boy in Cambodia, and the thought of a nuclear blast going off close enough to them for them to lose their life, is enough. Again, this is a love letter. This is a love letter to all the civilians of the planet. — Philipos Melaku-Bello, in response[Read More…]
The 3 day protest of Samyukta Kisan morcha at Lakhimpur Kheri concluded at 3.pm on 20th August.. By the 3rd day around 450000 farmers congregated the venue. Sadly the administration prohibited the march at Rajapur Mandi from being held .This illustrated how much the protest had embarrassed the authorities in their very backyard and their authoritarian nature. It violated civil liberties.[Read More…]
The movie ‘Darlings’ has recently received a lot of backlash and its storyline has been critiqued as a “pseudo-feminist” revenge of domestic violence. It has also been called vengeful and guilty of portraying men in the wrong light. The task that the movie leaves us with, however, is much more nuanced than the concerns of male representation. Underneath this basic[Read More…]
Many people were surprised and outraged when US President Biden recently fist bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After all, as a candidate, Biden pledged to make the Saudi kingdom a pariah since the Crown Prince had been directly linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In contrast, consider the relative lack of outrage to Biden’s statement after[Read More…]
Despite the extremely disheartening developments across the spectrum of worldly life, despair and defeat are –while understandable–not inevitable. That is the good news. We are never obliged to surrender the best of our humanity, even as things around us devolve. But in order to find our footing, it is important to begin by seeing the current reality without fear[Read More…]
The Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) condemns the murderous attack on Salman Rushdie in the strongest possible terms. There cannot be any doubt that the assault on the world-renowned writer is due to the Iranian fatwa in 1989 which pronounced that Rushdie should be killed for blaspheming against the prophet of Islam. Despite the apology tendered by Rushdie for[Read More…]
In the last few years, we have been witnessing erratic, unpredictable and unexpected changes in climate, which are more perceptible in the Himalayan region of the country. These changes are threatening agriculture productivity as well as livelihood security of rural communities. If ignored, climate variability and climate change can disrupt food supply chains, reduce access to food, and affect food[Read More…]
A few weeks ago, communication from a friend who, citing a few immediate reasons which were widely known, suggested that he was in depression. In the last several months, there have been other similar personal mails or sharings in private conversations. Let me confess that I too have not been free from this mood visiting me occasionally. And I can[Read More…]
The nature of communal virus plaguing India even in this era displays political “strategies” still being deliberately manufactured and propagated to spread communalism at cost of secularism. The saving grace lies in questions being raised from secular activists, politicians and certain sections of media criticizing such communal moves. Sadly, some right-winged extremists bear little remorse about spreading communal virus. Paradoxically,[Read More…]
Whether Remission of Sentences of her Perpetrators offers a template for Victims / Survivors How Justice Would End for them now onwards ? Who gets ‘Amrit’ , who gets ‘Vish’ ? Hindu mythology according to ‘Vishnu Purana’ talks about gods getting ‘Amrit’ (nectar) and asuras ( demons) getting Vish ( poison) after the Samudra Manthan of Kshirsagar. Well, in[Read More…]
India has now completed 75 years of its democratic journey, and we are busy in celebrations. This time perhaps, Indian people across communities and castes have celebrated Independence Day with deep commitments and enthusiasm. In this respect, the Har Ghar Tiranga Yatra campaign has been launched by the government (from 13th August to 15), as part of the Azadi ka[Read More…]
Days after the latest major Ukrainian attack on a Russian military base on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, the US is seeking to further escalate the war with Russia by providing $775 million in weapons and ammunition for Ukraine’s offensive. Speaking with POLITICO earlier this week, a senior Biden Administration openly endorsed the strikes and encouraged further attacks[Read More…]
India completed 75 years of independence on 15 August 2022! That ‘special day’ however, was one of the blackest days in the history of post-independent India. It was indeed a terrible day for Bilkis Yakub Rasool and for millions of other Indians, who cherish all that is sacred: justice, liberty, equality and fraternity! On that day, as Bilkis Bano (as[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4O. Fossil fuels and rivalry: US policymakers’ addiction to the “Great Game” leads to violence, wastefulness, death, and destruction False Bias #15. US Policymakers Are Mentally Balanced, Spiritually Healthy, Intelligent Individuals Far Removed from Dishonesty, Greed, and the Coveting of Others’ Natural Resources, Who Really Care[Read More…]
On the eve of the retirement of Chief Justice N. V. Ramana from the Supreme Court, it may be worthwhile to examine both his individual performance, and the functioning of the apex court under his supervision during his tenure of sixteen months from April, 2021 till the end of August, 2022, when he is due to retire. The issues being [Read More…]
No school year in the U.S. in nearly a decade saw as much gunfire as the 2021-2022 academic calendar, a report released Friday shows. The report (https://everytownsupportfund.org/press/new-everytown-report-finds-average-number-of-gunfire-on-school-grounds-incidents-nearly-quadrupled-during-last-school-year/?_gl=1*ifxwvo*_ga*ODUyMTMyNDc4LjE2NjA3NjgzMTU.*_ga_LT0FWV3EK3*MTY2MDkyMjczMC40LjEuMTY2MDkyMjc5My4wLjAuMA) was published by Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonpartisan group advocating against gun violence. The gun violence report shows the last school year, between Aug. 1 and May 31, saw 193 incidents of gunfire,[Read More…]
Scientists are working on a plan to go beyond the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) recently signed by President Biden, which is supposed to tackle global warming, which, in turn, is tearing the planet apart, piece-by-piece. There’s more info on this very important petition filed by scientists to follow below, including a request for supporting signatures. Meanwhile, even though IRA is[Read More…]
In Apartheid Israel’s latest unprovoked Gaza Massacre 49 Palestinians were killed and 460 wounded. However the racist West has merely reiterated the routine Orwellian excuse of Israel’s right to defend itself, while condemning bloodless Chinese military exercises near US-protected Taiwan that is recognized by all nations as part of China. The West rightly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but[Read More…]
Genocide is the deliberate and organized killing of a group or groups of people, with the intention of destroying their identity as an ethnic, cultural, or religious group. May 18th- A Day which can never be forgotten for generations to come in the lives of Tamil. This day of Gore at Mullivaikal will reverberate. The Cry of the lost souls[Read More…]
To Smt Droupadi Murmu President of India Rashtrapati Bhawan Respected Rashtrapati Ji, Delivering the 19th D P Kohli Memorial Lecture on ‘Democracy: Role and Responsibilities of Investigative Agencies’ in April this year, Chief Justice of India (CJI), Shri N V Ramana said, “our rich diversity cannot be sustained through dictatorial governance……with the passage of time, like every other institution of repute, the[Read More…]
Minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s still being a representative of the Union Cabinet, even 10 months after the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre, is a travesty on the law and order situation of the country. From the beginning, Samyukta Kisan Morcha has fought to the last tooth ensure justice to the farmers, and has been providing legal and other assistance to the families[Read More…]
The world may have come to a standstill due to the Covid epidemic, but it turns out human trafficking smugglers never stopped their work. They continued to prey on children and women. Yes, when Corona was at its peak, the smugglers slowed down for a while, as they were also afraid of getting infected. Now that the impact of the[Read More…]
Vimal Bhai breathed his last on 15 August at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. He was 60. He will be remembered for a long time for his contributions to many ecological and social movements, but perhaps most prominently for the movements against the excess of several ill-planned hydro-electricity projects in Uttarakhand. He was involved in this[Read More…]
Just a few weeks after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, aimed at shoring up relations with the murderous regime, his administration has approved two massive arms sales worth more than $5 billion to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It follows $650 million in air-to-air missiles sent to Riyadh in November 2021 for its criminal[Read More…]
Children who eke out a living on the tracks need better alternatives, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Puneet*, an 18-year-old adolescent looks purposeful but a little restless as he moves from one trash can to the next picking up empty plastic water bottles at New Delhi Railway Station. It is a sunny morning and his plans for the day are set. He[Read More…]
The recent death case of a 9 year old Dalit student, Indra Meghewal, in Rajasthan on the ground of untouchability practice in school must be seen as a national shame. Azadi Ki Amrut Mahostav to mark the 75 years of our freedom must seriously engage us to honestly introspect about the status of freedom from untouchability practice in our villages.[Read More…]
Freebies vs. Welfare Freebies are goods and services given free without any charge to the users. It is alleged that some state governments in India have confusion between ‘freebies and welfare. There is only a thin line between the two. Those who are against ‘freebies’ are generally against ‘welfare’ provisions too. The ‘freebies’ question has finally reached the Supreme Court[Read More…]
The controversial garlanding of the recently released 11 individuals by members allegedly belonging to the VHP on August 16, 2022, raises a pertinent question: why were these individuals released? Obviously, the fact that they had been in prison for well over the mandatory 14 years made them eligible for availing the remission policy of the state government. It is a[Read More…]
India recently celebrated 75 years of Independence. While there are many reasons of happiness and pride while observing this important anniversary, perhaps the most important feeling should be of the compelling need to stand up at this critical time for saving and protecting democracy in India. The reason is that during the last 8 years of the NDA/BJP regime democracy[Read More…]
Letter to the Chief Ministers Respected Chief Minister Kindly refer to my letter dated 8-8-2022 (https://countercurrents.org/2022/08/two-electricity-bills-tabled-in-the-parliament-without-consulting-the-states-letter-to-the-chief-ministers-of-states/) in which I cited the unilateral manner in which the Centre had tabled two Bills in the Parliament, one introducing several regressive amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003 and another for amending the Energy Conservation Act, also imposing undue obligations on the State power[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4N. US “experts” omit truth about Russia’s actions in Georgia to paint a good vs. evil scenario that ignores ethnic conflict, NATO, and fossil fuels False Bias #14. Russia’s Government and Military Actions Are Motivated by Desires for Conquest, Empire, and Status, But US Government and Military[Read More…]
In East Africa, millions of people are facing starvation due to drought. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that millions of people in East Africa face the threat of starvation. Speaking at a media briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that drought, climate change, rising prices and an ongoing civil war in northern Ethiopia are all[Read More…]
by Vijay Prashad and Taroa Zúñiga Silva In late July, a large sinkhole appeared near the town of Tierra Amarilla in Chile’s Copiapó province in the Atacama salt flat. The crater, which has a diameter of more than 100 feet, emerged in one of Chile’s most lucrative regions for copper and lithium extraction. The nearby Candelaria mining complex—80 percent of the property is owned by Canada’s Lundin Mining Corporation and[Read More…]
Here’s the big question in Jock Culture these days: Is the Kingdom of Golf being used to sportswash the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Or is it the other way around? After all, what other major sport could use a sandstorm of Middle Eastern murder and human-rights abuses to obscure its own history of bigotry and greed? In fact, not since the 1936 Berlin Olympics was used[Read More…]
Citing the Russian Defense Ministry media reports said: Ukraine plans to carry out artillery strikes on the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Friday, and then accuse Russia of causing a disaster at the site. The predicted attack will be timed to coincide with the ongoing visit to Ukraine by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The Russian ministry said it[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4M. “Experts” who advocate the expansion of NATO and capitalist privatization dismiss Putin’s accusations and instead falsely claim that Putin craves empire and emulates Peter the Great False Bias #13. Putin Does Not Recognize Ukraine’s Borders or Sovereignty and He Longs to Be an Emperor, like[Read More…]
“I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other.” — Intro, Village of Madison NY, Facebook Page In May of 2016, I gave a talk as part of Madison, NY’s Bicentennial celebration, a talk to honor Madison’s foremothers. I began by speaking about my own Madison foremother, Caroline[Read More…]
Peoples Union for Civil Liberties condemns the release on remission of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case on August 15, 2022. 11 convicts charged with charges of gang rape of a pregnant woman and multiple murders walked out free. The release of the 11 convicts, even as many others accused of less serious offences remain in jail is[Read More…]
Stigmatising the women’s life after 30 is not a new strategy in the market, especially when it comes to the cosmeceutical industries which have been selling some anti-aging promises since ages. Marketing the fear of ageing is the by-product of the constant social pressure of being young, the desired age characterized by beauty, energy, and strength. The advertising industry is[Read More…]
He has survived death threats and attempts on his life since February 1989. But Salman Rushdie’s luck just about ran out at the Chautauqua Institution, southwest of Buffalo in New York State. On August 12, at a venue historically celebrated for bringing education to all, the writer was stabbed incessantly by a fanatic who felt little sense of guilt or[Read More…]
For years, Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have labored to redraw the battle lines. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on August 5, clearly manifested this reality. Throughout its military operation, Israel has repeatedly underscored the point that the war was targeting the Islamic Jihad Movement only, not Hamas or anyone else. A somewhat similar scenario had transpired in[Read More…]
Joshy Joseph’s “Laparoscopic Cinemascapes” featuring the veteran Aribam Syam Sharma – now in his 80’s – is actually a kind of a full encounter with the rich and complex dimensions of an oral culture, Manipuri to be specific, and a wise, enlightened soul nourished and nurtured by it emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. The mellow wisdom of an entire culture spreads[Read More…]
In 2019 the Government of India announced a reduction of corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, along with a further reduction to 15 per cent for new corporations. The Parliamentary Committee on Estimates has recently stated that this has led to a revenue loss of Rs. 1.84 lakh crore to the public exchequer in the[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s extent of compliance with the Recommendations of UNHRC Resolutions passed against it since 2012 particularly No. 30/1 of October 01, 2015 to 46/1 of March 23, 2021 raises concerns to the affected Tamils in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has abysmally failed to implement the core Recommendations and has ignored the pivotal Recommendations dealing with accountability, justice, reconciliation and[Read More…]
Members of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement at a gathering for Islamic Jihad commander Khaled Mansour, who was killed on the first day of “Operation Breaking Dawn”, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 8, 2022 (photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90) Palestinian armed struggle is so misunderstood that it may be described as[Read More…]
Five hundred years ago Francis Bacon,arguably a pioneer of what later became the European Enlightenment,had mooted the idea of four major sources of error and obstacles to clear thinking about truth.He called them idols.For instance ‘idols of the cave’ or ‘idols of the mind,on which we need not dwell at the moment.The ‘Idols of the marketplace’ with which we[Read More…]
The alarm bells had been ringing for some time in Sri Lanka. The island nation is strategically located at the center of the Indian Ocean on the busiest trade and Undersea Data Cables routes in the world and hence perpetually in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry. For those who missed the signs if not the red flags; ripples caused[Read More…]
On 5 September 1990. Sri Lanka army units arrested 158 Tamil civilians who sought shelter in the temporary refugee camp inside the premises of the Eastern University during military operations in the area. All of of them were tortured and killed, according to a one man commission that investigated the massacre three years later. Although the commission named several perpetrators[Read More…]
Souren Bose left us on the early morning of 17 August, exactly 25 years ago. One of the most dedicated torch bearers of the Indian Communist movement. His sudden death was an irreparable loss to the Indian Communist movement. His interview with Premier Zhou En lai in China in 1970 is an invaluable lesson for all Marxist cadre in grasping[Read More…]
Debiprosad Ghosh, the distinguished but undeservedly neglected Calcutta film scholar and historian, has painstakingly researched the life, times and achievements of an important but forgotten Bengali actress. The beautiful and gifted Begum Anwara Nahar had to take on the name of ‘Bonani Chaudhuri’ for the same reason that one Yousuf Khan of Peshawar had to transform himself into ‘Dilip Kumar’,[Read More…]
August 15, 2022 democratic-secular India completed 75 years of its eventful journey. It was a great occasion being celebrated as Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav [Nectar of grand celebration]. However, it was sad as well as shocking that our PM chose this very day to idolize VD Savarkar by elevating him to the pantheon of great martyrs and freedom fighters of[Read More…]
Iraqi finance minister Ali Allawi resigned during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to protest the political turmoil in the country. Iraq’s political impasse, now in its 10th month, is the longest in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion reset the political order. Nearly 10 months on from the last elections, Iraq still has no government, new prime minister or[Read More…]
On August 16 protests of apple growers resumed in Himachal Pradesh after a 10-day ultimatum to the government by the apple growers did not bring a satisfactory response. On August 5 following a a big agitation the protesting apple growers had given this ultimatum to the state government to resolve their problems within 10 days. Harish Chauhan, convener of Saunkta[Read More…]
The archeological remains of past civilizations, including those of the prehistoric Cahokia temple mound complex in Illinois, are sobering reminders of our fate. I am standing atop a 100-foot-high temple mound, the largest known earthwork in the Americas built by prehistoric peoples. The temperatures, in the high 80s, along with the oppressive humidity, have emptied the park of all but a[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4J. US “experts” falsely claim that a “pluralistic Ukraine” is supported by the US and opposed by Putin False Bias #10. Putin Feels Threatened by a “Pluralistic Ukraine.” Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment[Read More…]
The August Tree Festival will be held from 15th to 31st August, 2022 all over India. The participants of the festival will go outdoors and observe 166 common tree species. The festival has 2 challenges – to observe more than 200 trees and as many Ficus trees as possible during the 17 days of the festival. One school and one [Read More…]
At a time when the urgency of climate change and the wider environmental crisis has made international peace and cooperation more essential than ever before, there are all the signs of moving away further from this. Seldom have we seen the spectacle of the three biggest military powers the USA, Russia and China becoming more aggressive and defiant at the[Read More…]
Saibal Mitra’s film A Holy Conspiracy is a definitive document of some of the important ideas competing for India’s soul today. In a little town called Hillolganj, the science teacher in a church-run school is suspended from his job. The school/church management believes he had disobeyed a vital injunction: not to teach the biology class Darwin’s theory of Evolution[Read More…]
Recent episodes of purposeful and accidental truth-telling brought to my mind the latest verbal lapse by George W. Bush, the president who hustled this country into war in Afghanistan and Iraq after the 9/11 attacks. He clearly hadn’t planned to make a public confession about his own warmongering in Iraq when he gave a speech in Texas this spring. Still, asked to[Read More…]
More than 5 billion people could starve to death following a nuclear war between the US and Russia, finds a study published on recently in the journal Nature Food. Ash and soot from cities burning following the war would enter the atmosphere and block out sunlight, consequently leading to crop failure, etc., and death. The study findings should alert all the people[Read More…]
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched a second round of military drills near Taiwan to deter “political tricks” by the U.S. and the authorities in Taiwan, following a second trip by a group of U.S. lawmakers to the island, said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA. Shi said the PLA’s Eastern Theater[Read More…]
One species has transformed into a material backdrop for its tribulations the 10 million other species that constitute its extended family, its giving environment, and its daily cohabitants. More specifically, it is one small population of this species that has done so, the bearer of a merely historical and local culture. Making all other living beings invisible is a provincial[Read More…]
As China unleashed live-fire military exercises off the coast of Taiwan, simulating a real “reunification by force” operation in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ceremonial visit to the island last week, the bipartisan fervor for a new Cold War with China and Russia took greater hold in Washington. “Leaders in both parties,” Post columnist Josh Rogin reports, “understand that the United[Read More…]
The Bhartiya Janata Party government has issued a diktat – that every house should fly the national flag on this independence day when India is celebrating 75th year of independence. The government has taken the responsibility to make the flags available. The Uttar Pardesh government is spending Rs. 40 crores to procure 2 crores flags. Remaining 2.5 crores flags will[Read More…]
The lingering and fractured memories of three decades of CPM rule in Tripura are not so rosy anymore, even as the people today seem totally distraught and disgusted with the current regime of the BJP ruling the state. The latest source of discontent is what the tribal communities in the deep interiors call ‘Miking’ — announcements on a mike by[Read More…]
To Dr Suman Bery Vice-Chairmam Niti Ayog Dear Dr Bery, For quite some time, I have been requesting both Niti Ayog and the Jal Shakti Ministry to take a long-term view of groundwater management and its implications for electricity subsidies and food security. In particular, I invite your attention to my letter dated 15-9-2020 addressed to the Prime Minister and[Read More…]
Some on the far right have been calling for civil war since an FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home. Some experts say the warning signs for civil war have been emerging in the US in recent years. They say that such a conflict would look very different from the Civil War of the 1860s. A Business Insider report (The far[Read More…]
To Shri G C Murmu C&AG Dear Shri Murmu, I write this in continuation of my previous letter dated 13-8-2022 on the 5G spectrum auctions (https://countercurrents.org/2022/08/5g-spectrum-is-it-a-distress-sale-cag-may-look-at-it-carefully/) The DOT is about to resume 5G spectrum auctions and put more valuable spectrum bands on a distress sale (https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/dot-initiates-process-to-auction-more-5g-spectrum/articleshow/93564927.cms) I have already pointed out in detail how the earlier[Read More…]
My head, the Kanchanjodga, aches. My eyes shed tears as Yamuna Washing the feet of the Taj. Satpura, my chest, chokes. The saline breeze of Point Calimere Brings murmurs of pain. Satkoshaia’s solemn silence Froze into greater depths. The elephants of Silent Valley Suspended entwining their trunks. The extinguished Sabarmati Languishes in her grave. The Great Indian Hornbill chick Fears[Read More…]
Sale of talcum powder to be stopped globally by Johnson & Johnson, India yet to stop sale of asbestos laden talcum powder August 12, 2022: ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) and Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) welcome the announcement of Johnson & Johnson, a multinational company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA to stop the sale of baby talc powder[Read More…]
The Inflation Reduction Act is being hailed by the mainstream climate movement, Congress members, and the media as the most important climate bill in U.S. history. That’s a pretty low bar, and it says more about our government’s long record of failure on climate than it does about whether this law can prevent dangerous temperature increases in coming decades. The[Read More…]
The American military is now having trouble recruiting enough soldiers. According to the New York Times, its ranks are short thousands of entry-level troops and it’s on track to face the worst recruitment crisis since the Vietnam War ended, not long after the draft was eliminated. Mind you, it’s not that the military doesn’t have the resources for recruitment drives. Nearly every political figure[Read More…]
City council unanimously rescinds proclamation for Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh The City of Manteca, California made history on 3 August 2022 when it unanimously voted to rescind a proclamation it had issued to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) following controversy that erupted the previous month over HSS’s ties to India’s Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh paramilitary. The special meeting, which included[Read More…]
Freedom Colonized or European Systematic Terrorism European went to West Asia pretending to be businessmen and fostered political intrigues and treachery to become the ruler of the Sub-Continent. The conquest and looting of Moghul India in 1857 transformed Britain into “Great Britain.” British and French for a while competed for military and political influence to pave the way for ultimate[Read More…]
(This is the English translation of the Hindi article titled ‘Tirange Par Kabze Ki Ladai’ which had been published in ‘Yuva Samvad’ and Hastakshep.com in 2011. Since then, the business of the country’s national flag Tricolour has increased manifold in the corridors of power. One can note that anti-corruption movement which was held under the aegis of “India Against Corruption”,[Read More…]
“I always thought that we are the root cause of the pollution and climate change we are experiencing, now more than ever these days”, words of 17-year-old Poonam from Karauli district in Rajasthan. Poonam is one of the girl leaders of Rajasthan Rising, a young movement led by girls who primarily belong to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and minority[Read More…]
How easy it is to be a patriot All I need is a pic of a flag and a frame given free on FB and when I go out to wear white or ethnic and pin on a flag put it in front of my house for all to see and on my car or scooter/bike Say Bharat Mata ki[Read More…]
Taliban fighters violently dispersed dozens of female protesters in Kabul. About 40 Afghan women marched through the capital city demanding rights, before the Taliban broke the protest march up by firing into the air. This women’s protest march occurred almost a year after the Taliban seized power. The protesters chanted demands for “bread, work and freedom”, carrying a banner reading[Read More…]
What India Achieved, What It Could Not and What it Lost After Achieving India achieved independence in 1947 and is now celebrating the completion of 75 years of its independence. In 1947 the life expectancy in India was a little less than 32 years. Now it is 69.6 years. This would appear to be a big achievement, but if you[Read More…]
The latest Bollywood film brings a breeze of fresh air at a time when India faces a growing threat of Hindu extremism, under which space for pluralism and diversity is constantly shrinking. Laal Singh Chaddha is the story of an autistic Sikh man who is in love with a Christian woman. The two become friends at a school where Laal[Read More…]
Scenes and pictures have been circulating of broken earth, lacking moisture, cracked and yearning. But these are not from traditional drought-stricken parts of the planet, where the animal carcass assumes near totemic power amidst dry riverbeds or desert expanses. Neither Australia nor Africa feature on these occasions – at least in a prominent way. Europe, continent of historical arable sustainability,[Read More…]
We the People The execution of Sepoy Mangal Pandey on April 8, 1857, by the officers of the Bengal Army of the British East India Company sparked our Independence movement. The rebellion among Indian soldiers that followed, caused the ruling British monarch Queen Victoria to proclaim in 1858, that India would be governed by and in the name of “the[Read More…]
Pension entitlement of retiring low-wage employees of public and private sectors under the EPS Scheme not consistent with human dignity To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Kindly refer to my letters dated 22-9-2020 & 11-3-2021 addressed to you seeking revision of pension under EPS-95 scheme to bring it in line with the necessity of enabling the[Read More…]
Hindu Right, Communal Riots and Demolitions: Emerging Pattern of Communal Riots in India- Fact-Finding Report of Himmatnagar and Khambhat Riots in Gujarat Introduction: On 10th April, communal riots broke out in different parts of India including West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat on the occasion of Ram Navami. The occasion saw Hindu right wing organizations organize processions in[Read More…]
The official propaganda states that, “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of it’s people, culture and achievements. This Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India who have not only been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey but[Read More…]
India is the second largest food producing country in the world and ranks first in the production of milk, pulses, rice, fish, vegetables and wheat. Despite this, a large population of the country is suffering from malnutrition. According to the United Nations’ ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022’ report, people’s struggle for survival has increased[Read More…]
The Modi government’s publicity blitzkrieg around the 75th anniversary of independence masks a steadily worsening hunger and livelihood crisis. Recent research has revealed growing numbers of severely malnourished children – the majority of them Dalit or tribal – which calls for urgent intervention. Yet, the government is perversely placing fresh hurdles before India’s severely malnourished children and the rations that[Read More…]
I am deeply shocked to know about such a brutal attack on the globally renowned writer Salman Rushdie in New York by forces that have been planning to kill him for a long time. As a writer and columnist myself I cannot sit silent without condemning such a brutal attack on fellow writers. He was an Indian born writer with[Read More…]
Ideas are hard to curb even if voices are silenced. Ideas will float in the air, waft on a sunbeam till they embed themselves in more minds. Ideas will find wedges in time and ride over tides of violence, intolerance forced silences and crimes. They will invade dreams till the magic of stardust blows sandstorms of love. [Read More…]
Increasing night-time heat could have high toll on human health, finds a new research. According to models, by the year 2100, the world could see an up to 60 percent spike in mortality due to rising temperatures at night. Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, data from Japan, South Korea and China show hotter night-time temperatures could lead to a 60[Read More…]
[This article is based on the discussions with activists of the Janatha Aragalaya and concerned Sri Lankan citizens. It is a humble contribution towards ongoing debates within the movement. As the French proverb goes: “De choc des opinions jaillit la vérité” – Truth arises from a conflict of opinions.] With the deepening crisis of the world capitalist system, we[Read More…]
To Shri G C Murmu C&AG Dear Shri Murmu, The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) in the Ministry of Communications has just finalized 5G spectrum auctions. According to the Ministry’s statements, out of the 72,098 MHz of spectrum put on sale, the government has realised Rs 150,173 Crores from the sale of 51,236 MHz of spectrum that could be sold. Most[Read More…]
We are vessels of very limited content. Not all men can read all books; it is only in a chosen few that any man can find his appointed food. R.L Stevenson Technological advancement has sharpened the potential of modern and has also beautified his world with unique, awe-inspiring and novel gadgets like mobile phone, computer and other smart paraphernalia of[Read More…]
Hundreds of Tamil mothers on August 12 took out a rally in Sri Lanka’s northern Kilinochchi district to mark 2,000 days of their relentless struggle, seeking truth and justice for their loved ones forcibly disappeared during and after the civil war. A whole bunch of Tamil moms rallied in Sri Lanka’s northern Kilinochchi district on Friday to mark a 2,000-day[Read More…]
Could somebody please get an extension ladder to help Senator Schumer down from the ceiling? He’s stuck in the rafters in a high-pitched note of self-congratulation whilst spraining his elbow as he awkwardly and repeatedly tries to pat his own back, screaming over and over again “the greatest climate legislation of all time!” Compared to what? Still, one signal that[Read More…]
Crucial to understanding the present day world is an understanding of its two major crises and their close inter-connection. The first crisis is the survival crisis. It consists of a number of ways in which the basic life-nurturing conditions of our planet are threatened by human made factors. One important factor is the emergence of about a dozen very serious[Read More…]
Sarmishtha, a mother of two is a homemaker in the Cachar area of Assam. She says that though none in her family were infected during the second Covid wave in mid-2021, life has become tough since then. “I am not at all able to cope with the workload, because life has changed” she laments. “The children, who are studying in[Read More…]
Our current ruling dispensation led by BJP-RSS is working overtime to make India Congress-free and opposition-free and to change the basic tenets of the country’s constitution to make the country a Hindu Rashtra. And as a part of that strategy, founders of our nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are being ignored while celebrating the 75th Anniversary of[Read More…]
In August 1947,India was now self-governed or politically independent and a was established as a republic with universal suffrage, fully fledged constitution, a functioning parliament, regular elections contested by a wide range of parties and considerable level of freedom of speech and press. Although not a fully fledged bourgeois democracy, it had strong semblances to one. Still India remains to[Read More…]
“History has become a catechism. You are given a question; you are given the answer. You stick with that question and you stick with that answer. Don’t ask another question and don’t look for another answer”, said Historian Romila Thapar in an interview about contemporary India. I should admit that while attending an online seminar organized by the Visva Bharati[Read More…]
14th August “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” – Another Strategy to Fuel the Politics of Hate & Division! A day of mourning and introspection is being transformed into a day of further spawning hatred and division – India must Resist It! Even as the entire country unites to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of our Independence on the 15th of August, yet[Read More…]
Europe is facing its worst drought in 500 years. More than 60% of the EU and U.K.’s combined lands are now under drought warnings or alerts. Media including Reuters’ reports said: The source of the River Thames has dried up further downstream than ever before, as England looks set to enter a drought that some experts say the country is[Read More…]
The Trump-shelter-search incident is a new political occurrence in the US. Then, the interview came. Donald Trump, former US president, during an almost day-long interview with the New York attorney general, answered only a single question, and that was about his name. The interview was from about 9:30 a.m. to about 3 p.m., with a few breaks. That was an[Read More…]
‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’ – French critic, journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) AIIMS, the premier medical institute in the country is in the news again albeit for wrong reasons. The Parliamentary Panel headed by Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, which looks into issues of caste discrimination in specific institutions has come out with a[Read More…]
The British left us 75 years ago, with India now self-governed and politically independent. with a secular and democratic constitution. However it was not a triumph of people’s liberation, with transfer of power not accomplished as a result of an anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolution. Even after independence there was inadequate space to democratically organise and imperialist capital continued to penetrate[Read More…]
It is becoming clear that U.S. neoconservatives have succeeded in creating a warmongering, anti-Russian mood in Europe through an unprecedented information war, the consequences of which will take some time to assess. It is, however, possible to identify the signs of what is to come. Losers: We do not yet know who will win this war (or if anyone will win[Read More…]
We have seen the startling images provided by the $10 billion James Webb telescope, images relentlessly hyped as an incredible scientific breakthrough by those involved in the research–but of no conceivable relevance or benefit to humanity as a whole. I would venture to say that, in a moral-humanistic[Read More…]
“(T)he technological and institutional status quo is a precarious predicament from which societies need to escape….If we act wisely, the coming century will be defined by the recognition of what we owe the future, and our grandchildren will look back at us with gratitude and pride. If we mess up, they might never see the light of day.” William MacAskill[Read More…]
I find nothing strange in Joe Biden, at 79 (going on 80), being the oldest president in our history and possibly planning to run again in 2024. After all, who wouldn’t want to end up in the record books? Were he to be nominated and then beat the also-aging Donald Trump, or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, or even Fox News’s eternally popular Tucker Carlson, he would[Read More…]
Here’s what cracks me up on right wing European leaders’ anger over refugees flooding their nations. Recently, the fascist head of Hungary, Viktor Orban, gave his address to the CPAC neo fascist conference, you know, the one that Trump and cabal love so much. Orban doesn’t like all those refugees from the Middle East and North Africa inundating his beloved[Read More…]
After years of calling Venezuela’s economy a dismal failure that demonstrates the dangers of socialism, Western media is now lauding its recovery for ’embracing capitalism’ — but this is not accurate, argues Francisco Dominguez In its intensely biased coverage of Venezuela during the hard years of 2014-21 the mainstream media wheeled in every imaginable academic pundit to “demonstrate” that the[Read More…]
Great speeches are those which address the most urgent issues of the time in such such a way as to bring out real solutions while exposing falsehoods. Greatest speeches are those which achieve this in such a way that their relevance increases with the passage of time and years later, even decades later, we can refer to them to improve[Read More…]
Today, there are believed to be approximately 200 Tamil political prisoners, some of whom have been detained for over a decade. These arrests were under the widely criticized PTA which facilitates detentions without charge. Sri Lanka had vowed to repeal the draconian legislation as part of the GSP+ agreement and the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1. However, the Sri[Read More…]
Indians are going to unfurl the tricolour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence on 15th of August 2022. Indian freedom struggle has not only shaped India as a modern constitutional democracy but also shaped the nature of state, society and citizenship. The anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist struggle were the four pillars of Indian freedom struggle that laid[Read More…]
After taking the oath of office of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu said: “My election is proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too.” Her speech at the oath taking ceremony was a moving narrative, recalling her past struggles from humble origins and her daily toil during her childhood. She described [Read More…]
It is cynical to use war as a way of beefing up chances of winning an election. This is exactly what Israel’s leader Lapid did in Israel’s latest aggression on the besieged Gaza strip. Two hard facts define what this war sought to achieve. First, it wanted to tug at the unity of the Palestinian resistance. Second, and equally disparaging,[Read More…]
Water is more than a commodity to the Indigenous peoples in the U.S. Tribes say water is life itself for the people, plants, animal life and the land itself. But many tribes people in Arizona are facing water crisis. A report by AZCentral | The Arizona Republic — Arizona tribal water settlements stall in courtrooms, agency offices (Aug. 10, 2022,[Read More…]
The outbreak of Cholera in Kashipur block of Rayagada and other 7 districts has resulted in the death of more than 17 people and unrelieved suffering of hundreds is reported by the Health minister in Assembly. For the last three decades , this has not been a new one to Kashipur and other tribal populous areas of the[Read More…]
Cambodia has often featured in the Western imagination as a place of plunder and pilfering. Temples and artefacts of exquisite beauty have exercised the interest of adventurers and buccaneers who looted with almost kleptocratic tendency. In 1924, the French novelist and future statesman André Malraux, proved himself one of Europe’s greatest adventurers in making off with a ton of sacred[Read More…]
by Vijay Prashad and Manolo De Los Santos On August 5, a major oil storage facility in Matanzas, Cuba, 65 miles east of Havana, was hit by lightning. A tank that contained 25,000 cubic meters of crude oil caught fire after being struck. Since then, an enormous fire has been raging in Matanzas. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ávalos Jorge, deputy head of Cuba’s[Read More…]
On August 2nd, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the highest-level U.S. official to visit Taiwan since 1997, against all warnings from China and from American officials, who said it could lead to more aggressive military posturing. The objective of the visit was not clear, besides making a stand against China with the usual “democracy” rhetoric. What will America gain by[Read More…]
It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed. Not so fast. Many events continue to demonstrate the opposite.[Read More…]
How will you feel if someone promises to remove an injustice you have suffered for years, but in the end leaves you suffering even more than before? Something similar appears to be happening to tribal communities in India in the context of the Forest Rights Act 2006. They were promised by the government that the historic injustice caused to them[Read More…]
It was Sunday, July 31, when some of us gathered outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey, BC. The occasion was the martyrdom day of Indian revolutionary Udham Singh. Singh was executed on July 31, 1940 in London for assassinating the former Lt. Governor of Punjab, Michael O’ Dwyer, who was instrumental behind the circumstances leading to[Read More…]
The Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union of Delhi in recent times have waged a relentless struggle against the barbaric conditions of termination enforced. It recently launched a 38 day strike embarrassing the rulers in their backyard. The Delhi police mercilessly ripped through the peaceful gathering. Anganwadi workers and helpers in Delhi waged a sustained agitation against the illegal terminations after[Read More…]
As another ‘Ninth August’ slips into history and perhaps into oblivion (as some would certainly like it to be), it is important that we bask in the significance of the day and what it holds in store for all and particularly for the journey ahead! This reflection therefore is about the past, present and future – three tenses all encapsulated[Read More…]
by Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan and Medea Benjamin By now, the images of the oil explosion that erupted in the Cuban province of Matanzas on Friday, August 5 and continues blazing have become international news. When lightning struck an oil tank in Cuba’s largest oil storage facility, it quickly exploded and began to spread to nearby tanks. As of now,[Read More…]
No, this is not about baseball, though this writer as a youth participated in many squeeze plays. Sometimes they were actually ‘ Suicide Squeezes’, so apropos to this current political climate. No, this is about millions of us working stiffs who consider ourselves Socialists or Socialist thinkers. Some in the sadly corrupt Democratic Party call themselves ‘ Progressives’ , but…[Read More…]
Fearing loss of chief ministerial berth and being pushed into political sidelines has apparently prompted Nitish Kumar to break his party (Janata Dal-United)’s alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and once again shake hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). His key concern has for the moment been taken care of, with his remaining Bihar’s chief minister. To a degree, his[Read More…]
Amid the military standoff in the Taiwan Strait triggered by the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last week, the US is planning to send warships through the Taiwan Strait “in the coming days,” the publication of the United States Naval Institute reported Tuesday. On Monday, the Pentagon confirmed earlier statements by the White House that the[Read More…]
Malthus’ “Essay on The Principle of Population” T.R. Malthus’ “Essay on The Principle of Population”, the first edition of which was published in 1798, was one of the the first systematic studies of the problem of population in relation to resources. Earlier discussions of the problem had been published by Boterro in Italy, Robert Wallace in England, and Benjamin Franklin[Read More…]
The massive debt crisis has affected the lives of nearly all classes in the society, specially the poor and middle, in Sri Lanka is not new. The loans given lead to a debt trap which is the root cause of our situation. Sri Lanka’s foreign debt has reached US$ 52 billion and debt servicing last year was six billion dollars[Read More…]
When you read a book with which you profoundly disagree, I guess it’s usually best just to shrug, put it back on the shelf and get on with your work. The hatchet job review is a popular but ignoble genre. Having been the object of one myself I can attest the outcomes are rarely positive, apart perhaps from a warm[Read More…]
Xenophobia is a global crisis, but in South Africa, it takes a particularly violent form. The day-to-day accumulation of insult and harassment from within the state and society periodically mutates into open-street violence in which people are beaten, hacked and burned to death. If there is a useful point of global comparison, it may be with the communal riots that[Read More…]
A vigil was held this evening at the Museum of the Palestinian People to honor the 16 children killed in the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip. The attack on 140 sites in the crowded strip killed 44 people and wounded hundreds of others including children ranging in age from four to sixteen. Museum Curator and Direct Ahmed Mansour[Read More…]
On the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki during WWII was cause for a small group of anti-war activists to demonstrate at the White House to draw attention to both that disaster and the ongoing legacy of nuclear war that continues to threaten the world. The setting was appropriate as nearby on the sidewalk in a tent at Lafayette[Read More…]
The Independence Day is always a proud day for all citizens of India. This year it is all the more so as this is the 75th Independence Day. However at the same time there is growing concern about the increasing erosion of some essential precepts of the freedom movement during the last eight years or so of the NDA/BJP regime.[Read More…]
Today, on 10th of August, we are celebrating the 59th Birth anniversary of Phoolan Devi, who was a former member of parliament and fearless leader of marginalized. She was born on 10th August 1963 at Ghura ka Purwa village of Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh in a mallah caste which is considered as extremely backward caste and scheduled caste in[Read More…]
On Sunday, August 7th –the day that Jews around the world celebrated Tisha bAv, the traditional day of mourning for the disasters that have occurred throughout Jewish history—the state of Israel brutally slaughtered at least 44 people, including 15 children in the besieged Gaza Strip. Beyond the horrible irony of this massacre, it is difficult for me not to see[Read More…]
Suddenly the country is abuzz with freebies.The media resounding with high-minded denunciation of them.Experts,opinion makers,op-ed writers are homing in on them.The Supreme Court is shaking its head.Now a committee of taxpayers are to decide if parties can promise freebies before elections.That too at a time when prices of gas cylinders etc are hurtling through the roof.One question continues to[Read More…]
The Association for Democratic Rights Punjab launched a protest in Sangrur on August 8th, comprising around 50 persons, condemning the state sponsored blacklaws.A march was led upto the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Swaranjeet Singh spoke about how the rulers were intruding in all independent areas to seize power and trod on the people’s rights.The manner the organs of democracy[Read More…]
Over the past three days, relentless Israeli airstrikes killed at least 45 Palestinians, including 16 children, and caused extensive devastation. At least 400 were wounded, many severely, and the handful of barely functioning hospitals and clinics were overwhelmed. Some 2.3 million Palestinians live in Gaza, confined by Israeli and Egyptian military cordons and fences. Hundreds of powerful bombs and missiles[Read More…]
It has been Forty years since Revolutionary poet Cherabanda Raju left us. Thinking of him is reminiscent of a lotus blooming in full. Chera was an epitome of creativity of revolutionary poetry, transcending realms few revolutionary poets did in his era. The VIRASAM staged a meeting in his memory on July 3rd, this year in Hyderabad in Sundaraya Vigyan hall,[Read More…]
Statement issued by HIV activists and civil society organisations Civil Society organisations and activists working on the HIV response in India are putting out this statement in utter distress and in strong solidarity with people living with and affected by HIV whose simple and basic demand for uninterrupted flow of life saving anti-retroviral drugs is being ignored by the Government[Read More…]
Ukrainian forces have threatened civilians by setting up bases and operating weapons systems in populated areas, including schools and hospitals, as they battled the Russian intervention that began in February, Amnesty International said in a statement. “Such a tactic violates international humanitarian law and endangers civilians, as it turns civilian objects into military targets. The Russian strikes that followed in[Read More…]
The United Nations prides itself on exposing, monitoring and noting the travails and vicissitudes to be found on this troubled planet. It also prides itself on being the premier international institution that protects, or at the very least keeps an eye out for, the principles of the Charter that underpin its existence. But as with all bodies with mighty aspirations[Read More…]
Sri Lankans had been protesting for months over the country’s economic crisis that has led to a severe shortage of many essential imported items like medicines, fuel and cooking gas. Wickremesinghe’s predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after protesters stormed his official residence and occupied many key state buildings including the president’s office and prime minister’s office and official residence.[Read More…]
by Stacy Jupiter, Teri Tuxson, Caroline Ferguson & Sangeeta Mangubhai Strong social networks foster resilience to food system shocks, both within and between Pacific Island communities. Pacific Islanders are no strangers to disasters. For millennia, island peoples have coped with and adapted to disasters like tropical cyclones and tsunamis, as well as unpredictable shifts in precipitation patterns, leading to droughts and floods.[Read More…]
Scientific advances are not always linear; they zigzag in unexpected ways. This is particularly true of genetics, which has a dark history of being coopted into eugenics and race science. In July, the world celebrated 200 years since the birth of Gregor Mendel, who is widely accepted as the “father of modern genetics” for his discovery of the laws of inheritance.[Read More…]
Sculpture mistakenly identified as a Hindu deity is originally “Buddha”, declares Madras High Court In a Writ Petition challenging the identity of the statue at Thalaivetti Muniyappan Temple, Periyeri Village, Salem, Tamil Nadu, the Madras High court after considering the detailed report of Archaeological Department declared the statue to be the depiction of “Buddha”. The Petitioners, one Mr.P.Ranganathan and a[Read More…]
Recently someone asked me to pen down a few thoughts on why I thought that the welfarist approach to development is wrong and why I advocate a Rights-based Approach to Development. The conclusion is not totally correct as I believe there is a place for welfare-oriented activities, particularly where they would otherwise be left out completely. Or when a new[Read More…]
For three days, Israel has bombarded the densely and impoverished coastal enclave of Gaza, targeting leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), civilians and their property in the worst flare up since May 2021. As of Sunday evening, Israel’s “surgical” air strikes have killed at least 43 Palestinians, including Taysir al-Jabari and Khalid Mansour, senior PIJ military leaders in northern and[Read More…]
(This is the English translation of my article in Hindi written in 2012 to mark the 70th anniversary of Quit India Movement or August Revolution. The article was published in ‘Yuva Samvad’ and ‘Hastakshep.com’. In it an attempt was made to delineate the inspiration and facts behind the movement, and the sentiments of the Indian people and leaders who participated[Read More…]
There is a river inside all of us, a free flow of ideas, thoughts, borne out of our active minds, everyday attempts to catch the liminal spaces we inhabit. In the souls more attuned to inner life this river bellows, tumbles wildly, splaying tendrils, tasting forbidden fruits, unabated. Yet, in fertile minds this river becomes a source: of life-force, beauty,[Read More…]
Respected Chief Minister, At the recent Niti Ayog meeting, the Prime Minister (PM) is reported to have said that “India’s federal structure and cooperative federalism emerged as a model for the world during Covid crisis” (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indias-federal-structure-became-role-model-covid-19-pm-modi-niti-aayog-meeting-101659873302169.html). While the sentiment underlying the statement is commendable, it is important that it is translated into tangible action in all respects. In the past,[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic and political crisis has created new kinds of solidarities among citizens, as they try and help each other ride through fuel and food shortages in the absence of assistance or information from the government. Take the fuel queues that stretch for a kilometer or more outside petrol pumps in every direction, for example. Vehicles have to[Read More…]
Our journey with food had a tumultuous start with our progenitors being banished from paradise for eating the forbidden fruit. Since then, food has been predominant in our existence, evolving with the evolution of humanity. The biological progression of human bodies and the development of our brains commenced with the discovery of food and progressed with the gradual expansion of[Read More…]
The Indian women cricket team was on the verge of clinching the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, but just missed out on this much coveted goal. Till the last over the result could have gone either way, but being more experienced, the Australian team could win. It does not matter. A T20 match result can go either way within[Read More…]
On 4 August 2006 17 Action Against Hunger staff were murdered in Muttur, Sri Lanka. They were assisting communities suffering the impact of the 2004 tsunami, as well as the ravages of war, when they were shot dead. Still now their killers have never been brought to justice. During the three days following the killings, from 4th to 7th August,[Read More…]
A Great Upsurge of People Which Warned Colonial Powers that Their Rule Must End It was on August 8 1942, 80 years ago, that Mahatma Gandhi gave his great call to the people of India to ‘do or die’ for independence and thereby served notice to the colonial rulers. Even though all the leading Congress rulers were arrested almost immediately,[Read More…]
Regional alliances should, for the most part, remain regional. Areas of the globe can count on a number of such bodies and associations with varying degrees of heft: the Organization of American States; the Organisation of African Unity; and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Only one has decided to move beyond its natural, subscribed limits, citing security and a[Read More…]
The issue of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine highlights the decades-long reluctance of today’s major military powers to support the International Criminal Court. In 1998, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established by an international treaty, the Rome Statute. Coming into force in 2002 and with 123 nations now parties to it, the treaty provides that the ICC, headquartered[Read More…]
You must see or revisit Norman Jewison’s 1975 film Rollerball, starring James Caan as superstar player Jonathan E. In it, we see a world no longer made up of countries, but of corporations that control every bit of life for the people. There are no longer wars, just a complacent populace who ‘go along to get[Read More…]
Israel’s bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip entered its second day on Saturday with no sign of de-escalation as the United States, European Union and other Western countries gave Tel Aviv a green light to continue its campaign of killing and destruction. By late evening on Saturday, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza had killed at least five more people. The health ministry in[Read More…]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent tour in Africa was meant to be a game changer, not only in terms of Russia’s relations with the continent, but in the global power struggle involving the US, Europe, China, India, Turkey and others. Many media reports and analyses placed Lavrov’s visit to Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia within the[Read More…]
To quote Ahilan Kadirgamar, a political economist at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the uprising is “a revolt and not yet a revolution, because it doesn’t want to change fundamental social relations… or property relations.”1 As was the case with the massive upheaval in Egypt in 2011 (https://multiracialunity.org/2021/02/24/revolt-in-india-does-a-seismic-struggle-guarantee-systemic-change/, https://multiracialunity.org/2021/03/18/revolt-in-burma-does-a-seismic-struggle-guarantee-systemic-change/), without a program to challenge capitalism or an organization to[Read More…]
Handlooms Day ( August 7 ) is a good time to assert the need for a strong protective policy towards not just handlooms ( hand-woven cloth) but also towards cloth which is hand-spun as well as hand-woven ( called khadi in India). In this context we also need to make the wider point, as emphasized by Mahatma Gandhi repeatedly ,that[Read More…]
In the context of the ongoing debate on the Agnipath scheme, one of the factors that has been mentioned sometimes in its favor relates to the need for reducing the pension burden. However this is not relevant due to the reasons given below. Firstly the amount of civilian defense personnel pensions is often included in the armed forces pension bill.[Read More…]
The reckless and provocative trip by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has strained relations between the United States and China to breaking point. The Chinese government has reacted with Pelosi’s visit by ending dialogue with Washington in key areas, including military-to-military talks, climate change, cross-border crime and drug trafficking, and the repatriation of illegal migrants. Beijing has also imposed unspecified[Read More…]
“Four Seasons in Rome” by Anthony Doerr is an absorbing account of a year spent in Rome in 2004-2005 by a young American couple and their new-born twins. This book touches on WW2 Normandy, victims of the 2004 Tsunami, the wounding of an Italian journalist in Iraq, and death of the Pope, but it avoids mentioning any of the huge Iraqi[Read More…]
Ever too clever by half, he believes common decency is beneath him. In the event, common sense has taken leave of him. When, in July, 2021 Father Stan Swamy succumbed to the combined depredations of a venal State machine and a depraved judicial system, Jaithirth Rao wrote a column in an online newsmagazine which bore a title that to[Read More…]
The Indian parliament passed the J&K Re-‐organisation Act on August 5, 2019, de-‐operationalising Article 370, ending Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and partitioning the erstwhile state into two Union Territories of Ladakh and J&K. Soon after, Jammu & Kashmir’s political and geographical status was changed by imposing massive restrictions on the people of Jammu & Kashmir with several months under[Read More…]
Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead is dangerously close to dead pool status for the first time since construction in the mid 1930s. A vicious hammering drought sequence for over two decades throughout the West threatens to bring America’s biggest water reservoir to its knees. In a word, the implications are unspeakable. America’s monuments, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Lincoln[Read More…]
August 5 witnessed the biggest protest of apple growers in Himachal Pradesh in recent decades as a very large number of them joined a march in Shimla, following the getting together of nearly 27 of their organizations under the Sanyukta Kisan Manch ( SKM or Joint Farmers’ Front).This was the biggest protest of apple growers since 1990. Incidentally then too[Read More…]
“Why Do You Fear Me So Much-Poems and Letters from Prison” by Professor G.N.Saibaba portrays the sheer inhumanity prevailing within prison walls in India, illustrating the barbaric jail practices. It is the best illustration of how genuine activists are falsely fabricated in India today ,with the judiciary virtually a tool or completely subservient to the ruling classes
In the month of June-July, fruit-wise still a month of Mangoes, allegedly some fellows at the behest of Adani Power company and emboldened by administration of WB started destructing mango and lichi orchards in some villages near Farakka (the place famous for barrage) for the purpose of clearing way for constructing transmission towers for carrying electricity from Adani’s power plant in Jharkhand to neighbouring Bangladesh. When villagers protested many were beaten by police and many were arrested. A team of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that went to inspect the area was virtually detained by the administration and was prevented from going to the spot, a press statement of SKM said.
Sanitary workers are not like other workers of any occupation but they are also one of the most vulnerable communities among scheduled castes in India. Scavenging or sanitary work is still prevalent as a customarily caste based occupation in India. As per 2011 census the population of Hadi community in Odisha was 2.5 lakh who are largely engaged in sanitary work. They are also called by different local names such as Mehenter, Behera, sweeper and scavengers.
While the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MG-NREGA or simply NREGA)has certainly provided an important means of improving rural livelihood prospects, it is increasingly clear that its implementation problems are increasing, and this is particularly true this year.
This year has been extremely threatening in terms of the rise of big power rivalry and tensions. First, the escalation of the Ukraine crisis with Ukraine becoming a proxy country in the real conflict between the USA and Russia has led to tensions worsening steadily. What is most worrying is that unlike in the case of most recent wars, no[Read More…]
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS VISITED UPON ALL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS It has taken 500 years for the fallacies of the European ‘Age of Discovery’ in the New World to finally become more truthfully revealed for its true genocidal history towards First Nation peoples and their cultures. This truth has now been affirmed by Pope Francis, the head of[Read More…]
It is a universally accepted principle that people living in a democratic land should be treated as equals, irrespective of language, ethnic or religious differences. But in Sri Lanka democracy is being crushed by the tyranny of the majority – the Sinhala Buddhist representatives – in Parliament… Sri Lankan military has been building Buddhist statues and temples illegally on private[Read More…]
Can you train a man( or a woman) to kill in 6 months? Definitely yes. In fact, our crime records would indicate that a majority of killers in India; don’t require any training at all. When the time comes and the need occurs, the trigger is pulled or the dagger is thrust in, quite effortlessly. But in the armed forces,[Read More…]
I feel for American basketball player Brittney Griner. Did she break the law? Yes, she did, and she pled guilty at trial. But a sentence of nine years — to be spent in what the New York Times calls a “penal colony” — for bringing hashish into Russia for self-treatment (assuming this is true) seems overly harsh. But the law[Read More…]
U.S. Navy ships and planes will transit the Taiwan strait in the next two weeks. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned Chinese military drills in the area and said the Pentagon had ordered the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and her escorts to remain near Taiwan to “monitor the situation.” The USS Reagan and her accompanying ships are[Read More…]
Russia and the West have signaled their intent to commit to a long-term confrontation over Ukraine. While Russia has clearly felt the effect of sanctions, the EU remains vulnerable to Russian attempts to use energy to divide member states. Having declared victory over the “economic blitzkrieg” of Western sanctions in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin must contend with continued Western[Read More…]
The pending massive climate legislation to reduce U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 40 percent by 2030 as outlined by President Biden is still being held hostage in the Senate. The $369 billion package that is thicker than a New York phonebook contains 725 pages of text. Like any well-made sausage, the bill includes a myriad of bits and pieces of[Read More…]
The “Vote Yes” side screamed at us that we wanted to kill babies. Their skillfully branded mother-and-child logo and cynical three-word slogan “Value Them Both” were everywhere here in Salina, Kansas. Always the same cozy white-on-purple image and soothing words on yard signs and banners, as if they were My Pillow or Hobby Lobby. On weekends, they would occupy street[Read More…]
In various streams of the freedom movement, we meet Yogendra Shukla ( 1896-1960) in different roles: what is common to all these roles is that he always worked with the highest commitment. If at an early stage of his life we find him living as an inmate of Sabarmati Ashram attracting the admiration of none other than Mahatma Gandhi, at[Read More…]
[In Part One of this article, we examined the restrictions in extending Rs.50 lakh compensation to the next of kin of Covid-19 frontline warriors who died after contracting Covid-19 while on duty. In this second and concluding part, we will try to summarize the first-person accounts of some women health workers—mainly nurses and ASHA workers—on the extreme exploitative working conditions[Read More…]
“Whatever the government kept claiming, our income has not increased. Poverty has increased after the Covid pandemic. Yes, it is true that cheap food grains are still available from the government, but if you use up all the food, then you will not be able to pay the rent for the house, books for the children’s education and other expenses.[Read More…]
Tragedy of Hundreds of Children Dying in Pond and Well Accidents Can Be Avoided In a very tragic accident in Una ( Himachal Pradesh) on August 1, 7 teenagers and youths from Punjab drowned in Govindsagar lake. 4 of them were from a single family. In a joyful mood they had gone for a routine bath in the lake but[Read More…]
Joint military exercises around the island of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continued Wednesday with a joint blockade, sea assault and land and air combat trainings, involving the use of advanced weapons including J-20 stealth fighter jets and DF-17 hypersonic missiles after the drills started on Tuesday evening, when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the[Read More…]
Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, US House of Representatives, had a play in Taiwan, which in its initial phase was not dignified. The play’s initial phase was like a Hide-and-Seek game: no public announcement about Taiwan visit and the planned visit’s time schedule; none definitely knew the Taiwan trip-plan, and then, her plane made an adventure like detour to the east[Read More…]
The most important support needed by elderly persons is for regular and adequate pensions. Only about 10 per cent of senior citizens in India have access to regular and reasonable pensions. They are mostly those who have served in the civil government, armed forces and related parts of the formal sector. For the remaining over 90 per cent of senior[Read More…]
On the eve of 80th anniversary of the glorious Quit India Movement 1942 [QIM], we must evaluate the anti-national role of the Hindutva flag-bearers (who shamelessly claim to be the original nationalists) in India’s anti-colonial freedom struggle. QIM also known as ‘August Kranti’ (August Revolution) was a nation-wide Civil Disobedience Movement for which a call was given on August 7,[Read More…]
The World Health Organization has been one of the easier bodies to abuse. For parochial types, populist moaners and critics of international institutions, the WHO bore the brunt of criticisms from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro. Being a key institution in identifying public health risks, it took time assessing the threat posed by SARS-CoV-2 and its disease, COVID-19. Little time[Read More…]
Seven people including veterans and their supporters were arrested this morning while staging a sit-in on the street in front of the U.S. Capitol when calling for action on the military’s massive contribution to climate change. Veterans For Peace (VFP), the organization that sponsored the action, made known their demands to bring about a reduction in the environmental damage[Read More…]
The overthrow of Yanukovych in Ukraine in February 2014 was a U.S. coup, and definitely not a democratic revolution there. The U.S. Government and its ‘news’-media lied — didn’t merely “err” — to deceive the U.S. public to believe the “Saddam’s WMD” falsehoods that were used to ‘justify’ criminally invading Iraq on 20 March 2003. The U.S. Government[Read More…]
Just one bomb releases a slew of toxic heavy metals into Ukraine’s soil and groundwater. Now multiply this by thousands. In the U.S., proponents supporting military expansion and increasing defense spending have prevailed despite the more pressing need to divert all available resources to fight the impending disaster being faced by humanity: climate change. While ignoring the climate disaster, the[Read More…]
“….Human nature is at least in part wicked and in part foolish, how can human beings be prevented from suffering from the results of their wickedness and folly? ….Men simply do not see that war is foolish and useless and wicked. They think on occasion that it is necessary and wise and honourable, for war is not the work of[Read More…]
Until recently, Israeli politics did not matter to Palestinians. Though the Palestinian people maintained their political agency under the most demoralizing conditions, their collective action rarely influenced outcomes in Israel, partly due to the massive discrepancy of power between the two sides. Now that Israelis are embarking on their fifth election in less than four years, it is important to[Read More…]
The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act of 1987. The Peace Accord[Read More…]
“Is beemari se bachne ke liye jo hamare dhaal hain jaise hamare doctor, swasthyakarmi, safai karmachari aur police aadi, unka samman karen, unhen sahyog den. In yoddhaon ki karo dekhbhaal to desh jeetega corona se har haal” [Translation: To save ourselves from this disease, those who are our armours…like our doctors, health workers, sanitation workers and police etc., respect them[Read More…]
To Shri Rajiv Kumar CEC Shri Anup Chandra Pandey EC Dear S/Shri Rajiv Kumar and Pandey, I understand that a PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking a direction to stop political parties from promising and distributing “irrational freebies” during election campaigns. Any undue inducement by a political party in power to woo the voters at the cost[Read More…]
Tuesday’s protest in Taiwan. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/Global Times Civic groups, politicians, and business and industry representatives on the island of Taiwan on Tuesday protested against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, amid China’s missile drill. Protest Media reports said: The Taipei-based Chinese Patriotic Concentric Association took to the street at a site near the Grand Hyatt hotel in the Xinyi[Read More…]
Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s visit to Sarajevo in 1914 was an instructive lesson on how the dumb do, at some point, ask for it. Bosnia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, was desired by the Kingdom of Serbia. With the Serbs also well represented in Bosnia, a visit by the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was always to be tricky, if[Read More…]
Many eminent persons, individually and in groups, have been trying to convince the world leadership to give much more attention to environment protection, particularly to checking climate change. This is very well justified by the seriousness of the environmental crisis. While fully supporting this, it must be asserted that peace and disarmament are even more important. One compelling reason is[Read More…]
Seventy-five year old Naveen Patnaik will be nearing 80 when Odisha heads for the next scheduled assembly elections in 2024. He is credited for his sharp political strategies which have helped him stay as state’s chief minister for the fifth consecutive term. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) founded by him on 26 December 1997 is recognized as the most successful and[Read More…]
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) rose to the very need of the hour by staging a protest meeting for release of political prisoners. Even if not such large numbers, an event of most qualitative significance in light of neo-fascism sharpening it’s fangs day by day. It was a stepping stone in dealing with the question of incarceration of[Read More…]
In the United States during 16 months in 2020 and 2021, vehicles rammed into groups of protesters at least 139 times, according to a Boston Globe analysis. Three victims died and at least 100 were injured. Consider that a new level of all-American barbarity, thanks to the growing toxicity of right-wing politics, empowered by its embrace of ever-larger, more menacing vehicles being cranked[Read More…]
Justice.M.Khanwilkar’s recent judgments have provoked much controversy.His retirement has become an occasion for acerbic reviews of his past orders and also the SC’s role.It has been suggested that he had been assigned cases where the government was in a tight spot and every time he came to the government’s rescue with a battery of arguments as well as a deeply[Read More…]
On June 7, 13 passengers were killed when a bus plying on Shainshar-Kullu road, in Sainj Valley of Himachal Pradesh, rolled down a hill. The high death toll was caused by at least two avoidable reasons which are often seen in hilly areas. Firstly, there was delay in relief and rescue. Secondly, a landslide had thrown boulders and stones on[Read More…]
The situation across the Taiwan Straits has drastically escalated as the military deployment from the Chinese mainland, U.S. and the island of Taiwan continues creeping up, after US and Taiwan-based media disclosed that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit the island on Tuesday night. Pelosi’s Taiwan visit is seen by China as a serious provocation and violation[Read More…]
We humans live on a planet which we have named Earth which, along with several other planets each of which we have named, revolves around a star which we have named Sun – all with different names in different cultures. More recently, we have recognized life on Earth ranging from micro-organisms to elephants and whales, and understand that in physical[Read More…]
Climate change is an extreme emergency There is ample evidence that if the international community does not act immediately and effectively to reduce greenhouse gas emmissions and to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, tipping points will be passed, after which feedback loops will take over, making human efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change useless. Some examples of feedback loops[Read More…]
Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastri (Raavi Sastri) (30 July 1922 – 10 November 1993), India’s Gorky, was a great Telugu writer whose birth centenary celebrations are presently going on in Telugu states. Reviewing the works of Ravishasri is like doing a social audit, said one judge. “Raa Vi Sastry gave a powerful narrative on India’s bureaucracy, police, legislature, parliament, apart from[Read More…]
In Mwanza, Tanzania, Nairukoki Leyian-Naisinyai tells me that here, “Corporations come with papers from the government claiming that they have the right to our land.” She points to the large corporations that have entered the lands of the Maasai people to mine rubies and tanzanite. The Maasai can neither assert their rights to the land nor benefit from the mining[Read More…]
In the border district of Chamoli in Uttarakhand a powerful action Smt Mandodari Devi to protect her meadows and grazing land has brought back the memories of Chipko resistance. Mandodari Devi fought with the CISF Jawans who tried to stop her accessing the village Charagah or what is termed as Common Property Resource and snatched her fodder which she had[Read More…]
“The Earth does not rest on the forehead of Sheshanaga. It is safe in the hands of the Dalits, the farmers and the workers.” (Annabhau Sathe) As we celebrate the birth centenary of Tukaram (Annabhau Sathe) we not only see the relevance of his writings at that time but even today. Here is a man who belonging to Maanag (Matang)[Read More…]
The arrogance of power is especially ominous and despicable when a government leader risks huge numbers of lives in order to make a provocative move on the world’s geopolitical chessboard. Nancy Pelosi’s plan to visit Taiwan is in that category. Thanks to her, the chances of a military confrontation between China and the United States have spiked upward. Long combustible over[Read More…]
One of my closest comrades Steve Otto, expired 4 days ago, while sitting on the porch of his house. Some months ago, he lost his wife Cammy.He ran blogs ‘Ottos War Room’ and ‘Idiot Factor.’ I may not have personally met him but I don’t have words to express my sense of loss at his demise and my gratitude for[Read More…]
(This is part of my memoir I published successively on the pages of Countercurrents on the Zionist invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the destruction of the Palestinian refugee camp and the jail experience in the Zionist jails.) They took us to a detention camp in the Megiddo area, not far from where we were. There we found the prison[Read More…]
The execution of four well-known democracy activists by the military junta in Myanmar in June 2022 has angered and incensed those who cherish freedom and justice all over the world. The four , Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw have become immortalised in the noble struggle of the Myanmar people for their dignity[Read More…]
Amidst escalating tension in Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said: “No matter how difficult it is, there will be no surrender, Serbia will win,” he stated. “We do not want conflict and we do not want war,” Vucic said in his speech. He said: We will pray for peace and seek peace, but let me tell you right away. If[Read More…]
The Zameen Prapt Sangharsh Committee tightened the noose around the neck of the authorities in Hardike village in Sangrur by undertaking a sustained 6 hour gherao. The protestors demanded scrapping of dummy land auction of panchayat land. The protestors deflated the tyres of the official’s vehicles in addition to locking all gates of the BDPO Office and locking the BDPO,[Read More…]
On Sunday, July 31, South Asian activists came together outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey, BC, to raise their voices for a detained journalist and human rights defender Teesta Setalvad was recently arrested on trumped up charges at the behest of the right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government in New Delhi for advocating for justice to[Read More…]
It’s time for Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) fans to get spoiled for their choice of movies after two years of pandemic-inflicted restrictions. While the 47th edition of the film festival is just a month away, the organisers have planned a wonderful line-up of events, making good of the lost festivities. TIFF 2022 will run from September 8 to 18 without any of the[Read More…]
Ever since the early morning hours of November 9, 2016, standing in a ballroom with red-hatted Trump election celebrants in the New York Hilton, I’ve been waiting for this moment. This eruption of misogyny, unlike any since perhaps the witch trials and the burnings of midwives at the stake, was only a matter of time. As shocking, as wildly insulting as that pussy-grabber winning[Read More…]
In Maharashtra, it was first the uncertainty of the weather. Then followed the hailstorm and now it is the heavy rains that have spoiled the calculations of the state’s farmers. They had just sowed the Kharif crop when heavy rains hit and destroyed their hard work in a matter of a few days. To the extent that they may have[Read More…]
People following the 2022 Sri Lanka political-economy crisis will be able to decipher that the two are closely linked. Political eruptions in Sri Lanka since April have usually followed intense periods of economic shortages. In March there were crippling 12-hour power cuts, resulting in small demonstrations that culminated on 9 April when thousands gathered at the Galle Face Greens. This[Read More…]
The Ghunghutipada slum in ward no.17 of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation is home to more than 200 households belonging to scheduled castes (SCs). About 400 years back the then king Rajabalaram Deo had engaged their forefathers to beat drums during temple rituals and also to maintain the cleanliness of the temple premises. Since then they have been staying over the land[Read More…]
Our Global Water Crisis 
3.5 Million March Across France Opposing Macron’s Pension Reform 
Election Commission of India must question the presence political nominees on BEL’s and ECIL’s Boards 
Ihan Omar Introduces Legislation to Combat Islamophobia 
Narendra Modi’s Cricket Coup 
The Big Picture And The Small 
Prophesies, Then and Now – My Life at World’s End 
How the Cuban Government and Its People Collaborated on the Family Code 
Stop Criminalizing Journalism and Human Rights Activism: Release Irfan Mehraj and Parvez Khurram 
Politics of Bhagat Singh’s trial 
The Tragedy of Footpaths: Impressions of a Pedestrian in Bangalore 
Altruism exists in nature, Reciprocal altruism in humans 
U.S. Trying To Cover Up Its Role In Nord Stream Sabotage, Says Seymour Hersh 
Open Letter To Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress Party 
Future Scenarios in Ukraine 
West Sends Depleted Uranium Weapons to Ukraine: MEP to Warmongers – “You Make Me Sick!” 
Sri Lanka’s unconvincing response to Universal Periodic Review’s forthright findings 
Kisan Mahapanchayat stages massive rally in Delhi 
The betrayers of Julian Assange 
The Truth About Our Failure to Curb Carbon Emissions 
They’re liars, Mexico’s President on U.S. 
Grameena Pedala Sangham, Telangana State conference, is an important mile-stone 
Imperial Visits: US Emissaries in the Pacific Enough is enough. Restore parliament 
Disgrace at the New York Times 
‘Israel is (Not) Back to Africa’: How African Countries are Challenging Israeli Plot on the Continent 
A Highway to Peace or a Highway to Hell? The Vast Power of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex 
Accelerating Change on United Nations World Water Day 2023 
Defence Daredevilry 
Selling One’s Soul – The betrayal of Christ and Constitution 
Climate Crisis Has Caused Increasingly Irreversible Losses, Says UN Report 
Yarrow Mamout Masjid Dedicated at Georgetown University 
Adolf Hitler, Carl Orff & Sophie Scholl 
Algeria’s Gas vs. Rightwing Ideology: Will Italy Change Its Position on Jerusalem? 
From Balloons to AUKUS: The War Drive Against China 
Paul Keating’s criticism of Australia’s AUKUS deal is damming but not “astonishing”, – in fact, timely! 
In memory of 20th anniversary of the Iraq War 
CBI investigation against Harsh Mandar’s NGO is nothing but travesty of justice 
Concept of Gram Swaraj (‘Village Self-Reliance’) and Its Increasing Relevance for Our Times Indian Democracy & Chaos in Parliament! 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
