I agree with Jan Oberg Dr. Jan Oberg, Co-Founder and leader of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, wrote a really excellent article on the question of who sabotaged Nordstream pipelines. In the article, he points out that Russia had no motive for sabotaging Nordstream pipelines. If the Russians had wanted to stop the flow of natural gas[Read More…]
Seven months after the Russian invasion started, the Ukraine crisis has become the biggest flashpoint which can endanger world peace. From the point of view of those who cherish world peace, the situation is fast becoming more perplexing, difficult and dangerous than before. It may sound alarmist to ask whether we are moving closer to a world war type situation[Read More…]
To Shri A K Bhalla Union Home Secretary Dear Shri Bhalla, The Dept of Telecommunications (DOT) had conducted 5G spectrum auctions recently, without fully appreciating the strategic implications of privatising the spectrum and without adequate preparatory steps to indigenise the 5G mobile technology so as to make sure that the country’s mobile services do not become captive to foreign agencies.[Read More…]
The world is sliding into a recession due to multiple overlapping crises, the head of the WTO said on Tuesday. Speaking at the opening of the WTO’s annual public forum in Geneva, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have both downgraded their global growth forecasts, and that trade indicators are “not looking too[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is a detailed synopsis of the video that doesn’t include all of the video’s material but that also contains much additional material not included in the video. While the first two[Read More…]
‘One day the hijab will no longer be compulsory in Iran, this is part of progress and development’ – Parvaneh Salashouri, reformist lawmaker, women’s faction in Iranian Parliament, 2018 ‘The hijab in the Quran is for women’s protection but what we’ve done is holding the hijab over women like a club’ – former President Hassan Rouhani, moderate cleric, January 2019.[Read More…]
According to a number of media reports, more than 200 Hindu vigilantes many of whom were from outside the area, ran through the streets of East Leicester, United Kingdom, shouting “Jai Sri Ram,” particularly in front of mosques, and hurling insults at the Pakistani community in celebration of India and Pakistan’s cricket match victory. As a result, violent conflicts between[Read More…]
To Shri Shaktikanta Das Governor RBI Dear Shri Shaktikanta Das, I had earlier written to you about excessive borrowings by certain corporate entities from the PSU banks and their over-leveraged operations (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/). In particular, I had suggested that RBI should be aware of the implications of corporates carrying out their operations, heavily dependent on PSU bank credit, instead of[Read More…]
In a significant development a delegation of 5 Muslim intellectuals namely former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi; former senior bureaucrat Najeeb Jung; former AMU vice-chancellor and Lt Gen (retd) Zameer U Shah; politician-cum-journalist Shahid Siddiqui (presently with RLD); and businessman Saeed Shervani [Samajvadi Party] met RSS Supremo, Mohan Bhagwat at RSS Delhi headquarters (The Indian Express, September 22, 2022).[Read More…]
Recently five eminent Indian Muslim intellectuals – former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y.Quraishi, former Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, former journalist-public figure Shahid Siddiqui and leading businessman Saeed Shervani, met the RSS Sarsanghchalak (supreme leader) Mohan Bhagwat. This meeting took place at their request in the wake of the Nupur Sharma[Read More…]
If ever there was a blatant statement of realpolitik masquerading as friendliness, the latest US-Pacific Island declaration must count as one of them. The Biden administration has been busy of late, wooing Pacific Island states in an effort to discourage increasingly sharp tilt towards China. It has been spurred on, in no small way, by Beijing’s failure in May to[Read More…]
Introduction to a Spurious Narrative Excessive attention to the 80 year old World War II Holocaust prompts questions: “Why have constant reminders of the World War II Holocaust failed to halt contemporary holocausts; has the attention distracted from careful watching of ongoing genocides, and has it enabled Israel’s destruction of the Palestinian community?” Public Broadcasting’s documentary, The U.S. and the[Read More…]
On the 28th of September 2022, Naujawan Bharat Sabha – Maharashtra and Stree Mukti League Maharashtra celebrated the 115th birth anniversary of the great revolutionary martyr Bhagat Singh in Mankhurd, Mumbai with great vigour and pomp… Around 50 persons participated in a demonstration and rally with a cultural programme .With intense attention people observed the proceedings in the basti area.[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Photo credit: UN We have spent the past week reading and listening to speeches by world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. Most of them condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter and a serious setback for the peaceful world order that is the UN’s[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is a synopsis that also contains additional material not included in the video. The first of the four elements of the Paradigm for Peace model involves an examination of the Roots of[Read More…]
Maharashtra’s progressive record has taken a beating in the last few years. But occasionally there are signs of hope. One of the best reprsentatives of the progressive tradition was Narhar Kurundkar. He was a real public intellectual, atheist, rationalist, outspoken critic whoquestioned almost ridiculed false,established notions. The orthodox told him he would go to hell but they could do not[Read More…]
In the recent past the book titled ‘RSS: Breadth and Depth’ by Kannada writer Devanur Mahadeva, has been in the news. This short book sold over a lakh copy within a brief period of its publication in Kannada. It was also translated to English, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Marathi. While many points made in the book has already been told[Read More…]
The PUCL is deeply concerned about the implications for democracy and the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and association in the light of the ongoing `Operation Octopus’ which is being carried out against the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates, across the country as a joint operation of the CRPF, the home ministry, ATS, NIA, ED, RAW,[Read More…]
Switzerland’s glaciers are melting like never before, found a study. Switzerland has the greatest volume of glaciers of any country in Europe. The study, released Wednesday, found with the glaciers’ ice volume declining by 6% this year amid rising concerns about global warming and a summer heat wave that swept across Europe. Media reports said: The Swiss Academy of Sciences[Read More…]
Flashing the anti-imperialist legacy and shimmering the torch of Shaheed Bhagat Singh the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) staged a 75,000 strong rally in Barnala grain market. It symbolized the wrath of the Punjabi farming community against it’s sheer victimization by the ruling class parties be it on issues of land, unemployment, price rise, waivers ,debts ,electricity,etc.The rally was also a[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I gather that the government has decided to scrap disinvestment of the Central Electronics Ltd (CEL), apparently on the ground that there were quasi-judicial proceedings pending against the bidder selected by DIPAM, a fact that the bidder had not disclosed. Thus, the blame seems to have been placed entirely on the[Read More…]
Imagine the tobacco producer who invests in smoke limitation programs, or the arms manufacturer who attends a conference proposing to ban weapons and seek a better future. Gautam Adani, one of India’s most ruthlessly adept billionaires, has added his name to the growing list of corporate transvestism, using ecological credentials as his camouflage for fossil fuel predation. The central feature[Read More…]
The arrest of a prominent Palestinian activist, Musab Shtayyeh, and another Palestinian activist, by Palestinian Authority police on September 20 was not the first time that the notorious PA’s Preventive Security Service (PSS) has arrested a Palestinian who is wanted by Israel. PSS is largely linked to the routine arrests and torture of anti-Israeli occupation activists. Several Palestinians have died[Read More…]
Australia was recently number one in the world for median per capita wealth. However, presently about 100,000 Australians die preventably each year from life-style choice and political choice reasons. Of these an estimated 23,000 die from poverty. Yet these horrible realities are effectively ignored by rich Australia that is blindly committed to neoliberalism that demands maximum freedom for the smart[Read More…]
Owl physiology can help advance technology to address noise pollution—and maybe even help the deaf hear. To the ancient Greeks, the owl symbolized wisdom, but the Romans saw it as an evil omen. Their myths tell of an owl-like strix that stalked the night and preyed on human flesh. Ovid’s poem Fasti describes how such a demon slipped into the nursery of the sleeping[Read More…]
Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the ruling clerics have strictly enforced the Islamic hijab on women in Iran. The clerics require women above puberty age to wear headscarves and avoid wearing tight clothing. On September 13, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-years-old woman, was arrested by Morality Police (Gashte Ershad) presumably for not having proper Islamic attire. Mahsa, who lived[Read More…]
At the end of apartheid in 1994, only 36 percent of households in South Africa were electrified, with almost all white households having electric power and most Black households having no access to electricity. Ten years later, more than 80 percent of households were electrified. This was an important achievement, albeit one that mostly left out the residents of the rapidly growing shantytowns across the country.[Read More…]
By every conceivable measure, South Sudan is a nation in acute crisis. According to the World Bank, eighty percent of the South Sudanese population lives below the international poverty line, only one percent of people have access to electricity, and this month a UN Security Council delegation warned that another full-fledged civil war could break out at any moment. What[Read More…]
In an important development with serious implication, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) along with Kherson Region (87%) and part of Zaporozhye Region (93%) in southern Ukraine have voted to join Russia in referendums that were held between September 23 and 27. Media reports said: In Lugansk, more than 98.42% of voters have supported the idea to[Read More…]
Introductory Review of ‘Aleek Manush Anirban Biswas’, a Frontier anthology Anirban Biswas, assistant editor of Frontier and one of the directors of Germinal Publications Pvt Ltd, passed away on April 4, 2021 at the age of 69, in his home in Birbhum district, West Bengal. He was also a regular contributor in the bilingual monthly Purbasha Ekhon, and editor of[Read More…]
It is said that if we can learn from our mistakes and not let them rob us of our boldness or hope, then we can grow. It was perhaps this sought of boldness which emboldened Dr B R Ambedkar to vigorously pursue the cause of real political representation of the depressed classes after the Poona-Pact debacle. On the 90th anniversary[Read More…]
October 5th is International Teachers Day. It is also Indian English Day. English language education has a history of 205 years in India. Incidentally October 5th is also my 70th birthday. My thirty years campaign for English medium education for poor children in the Government schools has come to a meaningful stage. William Carey and Raja Ramohan Roy started the[Read More…]
In a TV channel debate, BJP spokesperson and anchor shared and served a lie that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter in her letter to the Prime Minister has alleged that the Congress kept devaluing Netaji to further Gandhi’s non-violence; because Netaji had taken the path of liberating the country through violence mode by forming the Azad Hind Fauj (INA). They[Read More…]
A most unwarranted ban on democratic protests was imposed through enforcement of section 144 in Sangrur-Patiala.,by the administration. Valiantly 22 organisations organised a joint protest, defying the ban unflinchingly., embarrassing the rulers. It spoke volumes of the death defying spirit of the activists. At night the peaceful protestors were forced to disembark by the cops with the administration tightening it’s[Read More…]
A cycle of protests began in Haiti in July 2018, and—despite the pandemic—has carried on since then. The core reason for the protest in 2018 was that in March of that year the government of Venezuela—due to the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States—could no longer ship discounted oil to Haiti through the PetroCaribe scheme. Fuel prices soared by up to 50 percent. On August 14,[Read More…]
Capitalism has always had a chorus of sirens that have striven to allure Homo sapiens from thinking they had any chance to escape its clutches. Margaret Thatcher proclaimed ‘there is no alternative’ in 1980. In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, Francis Fukuyama declared the ‘End of History’ in 1992. Given the fall of the Soviet Union, the decline[Read More…]
Standing behind a large banner proclaiming “Permission Denied,” a coalition of activists from a broad spectrum of environmental groups demonstrated this morning at the U.S. Capitol, calling on both Houses to declare the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) a dead deal. Many held signs reading “Keep it in the Ground” regarding the extraction of fossil fuels and their effect on the[Read More…]
Paradigm for Peace is a model that I created in the autumn of 2001, following 9/11. The model has four elements: The Defensive and Aggressive Roots of Violence The Mental, Legal, and Physical Escalators of Violence Three Facets of Solutions Cooperative Dialogue A major purpose of this model is to promote understanding, truth, and caring. In this video, I use[Read More…]
Today on September 28 many, many people in Chattisgarh and other parts of India will be remembering Shankar Guha Niyogi on his death anniversary. It was on this day that he was assassinated at the peak of his efforts to mobilize workers for a big struggle. Niyogi, a labor leader who became a legend in his lifetime, led a very[Read More…]
Today September 28 is the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, the revolutionary freedom fighter from India who could dare to think at a very young age of fighting imperialism all over the world! Although he was hanged by colonial rulers at the age of only 23 in 1931, he is still not only remembered with great affection and respect by[Read More…]
With the help of people like Steve Bannon, Meloni was able to rise like a toxic slime on the surface of a sea of contaminated waste. The Italian Parliamentary election has concluded and the neofascist Giorgia Meloni is ready to emerge as the new prime minister of a divided country with no clear mandate from around 60 percent of eligible voters,[Read More…]
The failure of the neoliberal order—which continues to ignore the needs and aspirations of the people—gives fuel to an ascendant far right that feeds on the despair and humiliation of the working class. Energy and food bills are soaring. Under the onslaught of inflation and prolonged wage stagnation, wages are in free fall. Billions of dollars are diverted by Western nations[Read More…]
Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. The Ukraine conflict is inflicting death, injury, displacement and destruction, exacerbating a global food crisis, driving Europe into recession, and creating shock waves across the world economy. The Taiwan conflict is threatening to escalate into outright[Read More…]
Europe is facing lower-than-expected economic growth as inflation continues to climb, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde revealed on Monday, explaining that the ECB had raised interest rates by 75 basis points in an attempt to control soaring prices. Speaking before the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on Monday, Lagarde admitted that “inflation remains far too high and[Read More…]
The UK pound plunged to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since the British currency went decimal in 1971. In early Asia-Pacific trade on Monday, the sterling fell by more than 4% to $1.0327 before it regained some ground to about $1.05, extending Friday’s 3.61% drop. Media reports said: Chris Weston, head of research at the brokerage firm Pepperstone,[Read More…]
India is quite young. Its population of 1.3 billion has an average age of 29 years. Much of the country’s focus, therefore, has been on its “youth bulge” and the “demographic dividend” this should potentially yield since the working age population is greater than the segment of dependents. While the country will be able to hold on to this advantage[Read More…]
Be careful who you praise and the degree of zeal you do it with. The slain Shinzo Abe, shot dead in Nara on July 8, towered over Japanese politics. In doing so, he cast a lengthy shadow. In death, this shadow continues to grow ever more darkly. The reaction from certain figures outside Japan left an impression of distorted admiration. [Read More…]
The basic need of people accommodate food, clothing and shelter. These three are important for the existence and survival of human beings, but presently, survival is not the only segment which the human beings look at. The aspects like dignity, self respect, freedom, justice also plays a very crucial role in leading a respectful and meaningful life. By this analyses,[Read More…]
In a popular quote from his speech “The Ballot or The Bullet” , American activist Malcolm X says “…you don’t have a revolution in which you are begging the system of exploitation to integrate you into it. Revolutions overturn systems. Revolutions destroy systems.” In abstraction, this quote only half describes what a revolution is because indeed , revolutions do destroy[Read More…]
Every year, thousands of wild horses and burros are chased by helicopters and ripped from their native land in terrifyingly brutal, and often deadly, roundups. After capture, they are corralled in crowded dry lot holding pens, where many contract diseases or injuries and some then die or are killed. Some of the captured wild horses and burros are adopted out or sold[Read More…]
I actually come into contact with many of you folks all the time. When I get car repairs, need a plumber or handyman, or go to a store, most of those I run into are MAGA supporters. On a personal basis you folks are usually nice, decent people. Yet, you support a political group who really don’t have your best[Read More…]
In a world haunted by the specter of nuclear war, needlessly aggressive competition among nations could lead to an apocalyptic catastrophe. Yet, from January 1st to August 30th of 2022, 92 “close encounters” occurred between the military forces of the United States and China, both heavily armed nuclear powers. What is driving this conflict and how can we de-escalate it?[Read More…]
There are ominous signs that the Indian diaspora community is asserting the aggressive brand of Hindutva identity in the countries of their wellbeing. The Hindus- Muslim communal clashes in Leicester, UK, Hindu -Sikhs clash in Melbourne Australia, and the bulldozer march in New Jersey, US are some of the disturbing developments. These events signify that the Indian diaspora community wants[Read More…]
Why criticism of religion should now come on the agenda ? There are some ‘unnatural deaths’ which remain a mystery forever. Whether death of Mahant Narendra Giri, of the Baghambari Math, Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) last year – who was found hanging in his room, merely a day after he had a meeting with a senior minister of the state government,[Read More…]
With the passage of time, not only has distress and destruction associated with the Ukraine war increased, in addition the possibility of peace has become more distant and difficult. As in the case of many wars that drag on, more unfortunate incidents and statements become the cause of increasing bitterness on both sides and this itself then becomes the reason[Read More…]
States, opposition parties clueless even after four years of Section 57 of Aadhaar Act being declared unconstitutional. Five years after Supreme Court’s verdict, no right to privacy law in sight, audit of UIDAI & Aadhaar schemes by CAG reveals Aadhaar Act as Black law 26 September 2022: Disregarding the ten fathom deep burial of the notorious majority opinion of the Supreme Court[Read More…]
Addressing the September 23, 2022, National Conference of Environment Ministers, PM Modi said:“Urban Naxals and anti-development elements having political backing had stalled the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam by running a campaign that the project will harm the environment. Huge amount of money was wasted because of this delay. Now, when the dam is complete, you can very well[Read More…]
Former EC member SY Qureshi has made the context of the meeting of four eminent Muslims with RSS supremo Mohan Bhagavat clear.The account of the meeting also makes one sigh with some relief that the usual constraint and strain of such exchanges seemed absent in it.Next we hear of Mohan Bhagavat himself visiting the chief of the Council of Imams,and[Read More…]
Iranians took to the streets for a 10th consecutive night Sunday, in defiance of a warning from the judiciary, to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. Images circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran, shouting “death to the dictator,” purportedly after nightfall on Sunday. Witnesses said that protests in several locations were[Read More…]
The introduction of an Israeli Mossad agent as the latest Marvel movie character crosses the line, even by Hollywood’s poor moral standards. However, the Israeli superhero, Sabra, must be understood within the rational progression of the Israelification of Hollywood, a phenomenon that is surprisingly new. Sabra is a relatively old character, dating back to Marvel comic The Incredible Hulk in 1980. On 10 September, however,[Read More…]
Our Human Culture and Our Problems Logic seeks truth – the principle and strategy of rational thinking. If the 21st century knowledge-based societal leaders would use the natural faculties of mind, vision and intellect, we could imagine having public institutions (systematic governance) to deal with issues of racial discrimination, inequality and social injustice, violence and societal degradation leading to mindless[Read More…]
I am of flowers. I came out from the butterfly. I came out from the bee, the dancing bee – the hummingbird’s feathered breast. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, the face of life was a flowers’ face. Flower perfume recited out song. Flower petals inscribed our naming across deserts and grasslands. At a time[Read More…]
A worrying aspect of Russia-EU relations is that certain creepiness has got the better of people’s senses. Things have gone so far that Europeans are proscribing even the ownership of Russian pets. Clearly, the western media seems to have gone overboard in demonizing ordinary Russian People. An attempt has been made here to bring flavour of Russia and its people,[Read More…]
At a time when the trend of trying to maximize profits has led to so many serious distortions in the health sector, the need for at least some efforts which have been consistently providing rationality based, low cost medical care with a special emphasis on trying to reach out to workers and peasants and to all weaker sections of society[Read More…]
Darshan Singh Canadian was martyred today 26 years ago on September 25th, at the hands of the Khalistani terrorists. His entire life was manifestation of relentless spirit to serve the downtrodden. Darshan Singh was a very warm personality, extremely well read, a versatile conservationist and resonating with wit and humour. In Canada In 1937, at the age of 19, Darshan[Read More…]
Europe could have criticized the Russian invasion as much as it wanted, it could have called Putin authoritarian as many times as it desired and of course it could (should) have provided even more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine refugees/displaced persons, but its more or less unquestioning acceptance of the role of the USA in Ukraine certainly raises several disturbing questions.[Read More…]
There has already been significant criticism of the Ukraine policy of the USA government from a perspective of world peace. The base of US policy is the concept of a proxy war that can bleed and weaken Russia as much as possible (at great cost to the people of Ukraine as well as the peace and stability of the rest[Read More…]
Someone I know very well has just completed his engineering course and joined an IT company. He was selected by the company after a rigorous online selection test. Many of his friends have also taken the selection test in other renowned companies. I have seen him taking online selection tests on behalf of his friends and all of his friends[Read More…]
Thousands of African activists and members of communities on the frontlines of the worsening climate emergency turned out Friday to call on world leaders—who will gather in Egypt in November for the United Nations Climate Summit—to urgently address a crisis that disproportionately impacts their lives. Demonstrators took to the streets, public spaces, and even waterways in countries across a continent that’s responsible for just 4%[Read More…]
Review of Ascension (2021) directed by Jessica Kingdon. Firstly, the prospect of an American documentary about China arouses too much speculation; additionally, it draws one’s interest to know how the director juxtaposes Chinese ideology with the American counterpart. Ascension by Jessica Kingdon is solely about China, and how China ascended into the top echelons of the world economy. One[Read More…]
Australia has a mixed relationship with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Irritation, dismissal and even the occasional openly hostile comment, have registered. But in 1994, the Toonen decision filtered through the Australian legal process, leading the federal government to remove archaically noxious provisions in the Tasmanian criminal code criminalising sodomy. The UNHRC has since found Australia’s compliance with the[Read More…]
Who is to be blamed for ongoing tension in Leicester (United Kingdom) between two groups of people? Given that recent history of this country has not witnessed communal tension of this nature on its own soil, one is prompted to raise questions as to who has failed, where? Understandably, the people responsible for participating in violence and trying to promote[Read More…]
Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils all over the world are very deeply concerned in relation to Sri Lanka’s past human rights violations including war crimes and the very minimal steps taken by Sri Lanka so far to uphold accountability and dispense justice to the victims which is long delayed and has been remaining in cold storage since the[Read More…]
On September 25th today ,we celebrate the 100 th birth anniversary of justice O.Chinnappa Reddy.His life is an illustration of relentless service to the cause of social justice. He is most relevant today when our judicial system has been completely defaced or fabric torn apart with the penetration of Hindutva fascism . At every juncture of his life he braved[Read More…]
It is a matter of shame for us as a society that Bilkis Bano’s rapists have been released by a District level committee of Gujarat Government. Some people in the Hindutva family are also justifying the act by claiming that a few of the rapists are Sanskari Brahmans. If rapists and murderers will be called Sanskari, then we as a[Read More…]
Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, in the very next month of March an important initiative was launched with the help of Turkish diplomats. Right through this month this initiative appears to have progressed well, and broad agreements for ceasefire were substantially reached, even though details remained to be worked out. Among other things, this is likely to[Read More…]
Sudheendra Kulkarni, ex-aide of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in his piece (‘Reach out for Bharat Jodo’, IE, September 12,) while welcoming the Yatra, is critical of the yatra for it not being based on Hindu Spiritualism. As per him Hindu Spiritualism is the basis of India’s unity. He also commends RSS for popularizing the same. He harps that[Read More…]
Ukraine has for long been a very productive food grain producing country with very favorable natural conditions for this role. In particular its role in producing surplus wheat has been very well-established. What is important for government policy is to establish the sustainability and equality aspects of these natural strengths. Unfortunately in recent years Ukraine has instead travelled in an[Read More…]
What do Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and Jackson, Mississippi, have in common? They’ve all recently experienced climate-related catastrophic rains and flooding, resulting in the loss of homes, electricity, and running water. But, even more importantly, they are all low-income regions inhabited by people of color—the prime victims of climate injustice. They face inaction from negligent governments and struggle to survive as[Read More…]
Libya’s competing domestic actors are being exploited by foreign powers seeking to downplay their role in the fragile country. After leading a military coup in 1969, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi cemented his rule over Libya for more than 40 years. A variety of different political ideologies—Pan-Arabism, Pan-Africanism, socialism, Islamic leftism, and others—characterized his leadership, which were further reinforced by a cult of personality.[Read More…]
Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) strongly condemns the Iranian State’s obscurantist, authoritarian laws and their murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens’ right to protest. In this third decade of the 21st century it’s inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head. At the same time, we question the hypocrisy[Read More…]
New York, 23 September 2022 – Seven years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals – almost halfway to the 2030 deadline – the visionary promise of social justice and a rights-based, equitable and ecologically just world for all appears to be a distant dream. 1300 participants from groups who have historically been marginalized and excluded as well as civil society[Read More…]
Norway-based, Iran Human Rights Organization says that they can confirm that at least 31 protesters have been killed in the on-going anti-government, anti-hijab protest across Iran. Iran’s state-run media acknowledged on Thursday that at least 17 people have been killed in anti-hijab protests which have spread across the country. The protests have spread to more than 80 cities and towns across[Read More…]
Do they have a choice — all these unfledged young hands that crumble under the weight of guns— not to fight a war that is not theirs? Could his army choose to disobey Sauron? The world watches as they decimate towns, cities, humans in the name of a cause that grew out of a debt-ridden soul, a[Read More…]
A Big Carbon Bootprint and a Giant Sucking Sound in the National Budget On October 1st, the U.S. military will start spending the more than $800 billion Congress is going to provide it with in fiscal year 2023. And that whopping sum will just be the beginning. According to the calculations of Pentagon expert William Hartung, funding for various intelligence agencies, the[Read More…]
Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg has been in the environmental news again, this time throwing a large judicial spanner in the works of Santos and its drilling efforts in the Timor Sea. On this occasion, the Federal Court found that the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority should never have approved the Barossa Gas Project off the Tiwi[Read More…]
This being Banned Books Week, one should first ask why in a free society such a declaration is even necessary. All citizens should be free to read any book they choose without others enforcing their ideals or will upon them. The freedom of choice to read any book offers us exposure to alternative views and experiences of their authors to[Read More…]
In his anticipated speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to, once more, make a passionate plea for the recognition of Palestine as a full member. Abbas’ ‘landmark speech’ would not be the first time that the President of the Palestinian Authority has lobbied for such a status. In September 2011,[Read More…]
The Arc of a Covenant – The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. Walter Russell Mead. Alfred A Knopf, New York, 2022. In today’s world a clear understanding of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is important – this is not the work to clear it up. Walter Mead’s hypothesis is that Israel does not[Read More…]
The departure of Ross Longhurst (aka Harry Powell), on 28th September 2020.was an inconsolable loss to the Communist Movement. Ross till his last breath unfurled the flag of Communism and proletarian internationalism when many others rejected it it in favour of tailing nationalism of all kinds. One of the finest students of Marxism-Leninism in Imperialist countries, who in many junctures resisted[Read More…]
On September 22, 1995, a SLAF aircraft bombed the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam schoolyard crammed with 750 children on their lunch break, killing more than 30 – of whom 12 were six or seven-year-olds – and injuring 150 others. The overall death toll from the raids reached 71. The bombing occurred just hours after the Sri Lankan government imposed press censorship[Read More…]
One of the most widely discussed rural initiatives from India has been the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) which provides a guarantee of employment in various tasks of rural development. While it can provide very genuine benefits to workers and peasants while carrying out highly useful tasks ( like water conservation), in practice its implementation has been increasingly marred[Read More…]
Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons could trigger a cataclysmic nuclear exchange. During the first days of the Ukraine war, former Senator Sam Nunn warned that the Ukraine War was a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion. That warning was recently reiterated by senior analysts in Moscow during an off the record conversation. The war is about Ukraine and much more:[Read More…]
There is/was a hullabaloo among them who believe or rather portray her as more left than CPIM(Communist Party Of India – Marxist ) itself about Mamta Banerjee’s comment that all in RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha) are “not bad.” Is there anything to be shocked about? Mamata Banerjee became CM after the massive mandate of the 2011 assembly election. Thus ending[Read More…]
The Right to Food Campaign stands in solidarity with the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha’s national call for action across the country to revive the proper functioning of MGNREGA. The Right to Food Campaign is extremely concerned and anguished with the continued violation of MGNREGA across the country. MGNREGA is being implemented in a manner that is contrary to its spirit. Millions[Read More…]
The Sri Lankan government’s failure to establish an accountability mechanism for violations of International law means that referral to the International Criminal Court or the creation of another international mechanism “would be fully warranted,” said the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council. The primary reason for the call for referral to ICC[Read More…]
September 21 will be remembered in history as a day when the Ukraine crisis appeared to be escalating very sharply. Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine and backed a plan for territorial gains to make up for some recent reverses. In an address to his country he said, “If the territorial integrity of our[Read More…]
Russia is going to make a partial mobilization of its reservists. It is a mobilization of 300,000 reservists. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization during an address to the nation on Wednesday morning. He said the Defense Ministry had recommended drawing military reservists into active service as the country faces a protracted conflict in Ukraine and Donbass.[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4S. Obtuse US and UK “experts” issue libelous statements re: Putin’s concept of unity False Bias #19. When Putin Speaks of “Unity,” He Means That Ukrainians Aren’t Ukrainians but Russians and that Russia and Ukraine Should Merge into One Nation. Peter Dickinson, a member of the[Read More…]
The US Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe vs. Wade judgment which provided a constitutional right to abortion on June 24, 2022, triggered a spark of debates all over the globe. The altercations between advocates of abortion rights (preserving the right to patient choice and bodily autonomy) on one hand and the advocates of the anti-abortion movement (seeking to preserve[Read More…]
The right to protest, fragile and meekly protected by the judiciary in Britain’s common law tradition, did not really hold much force till European law confirmed it. In the UK, condemning other countries for suppressing rights to protest is standard fare. So it was with some discomforting surprise – at least to a number of talking heads – that people[Read More…]
Truth to the Powerless: An Investigation into Canada’s Foreign Policy is a six-part docuseries which takes a critical look at the role Canada’s foreign policy plays in the international arena. The docuseries features extensive interviews with academics such as Noam Chomsky, Tyler Shipley, and Justin Podur as well as extensive interviews with politicians such as Canadian defense ministers Bill Graham,[Read More…]
In the US, we proudly point to the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights that was adopted in 1791: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government[Read More…]
The Biden administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The document will no doubt trigger a renewed debate about how the United States should gear up for a new Cold War against Russia and China. But before we plunge into a global great-power competition, it’s worth recalling President Biden’s[Read More…]
As what is mainly a western caused climate disaster continues to hammer Africa, with tens of millions facing famine and starvation in the Horn of Africa, the small, underdeveloped country of Eritrea is leading the fight to prevent this from happening. Eritrea is doing this by aggressively carrying out water conservation by building water reservoirs, both small and large. Over[Read More…]
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 13, Azerbaijan launched an aggressive military assault along the borders of the Armenian Republic. Observers of politics in the post-Soviet space may be forgiven for thinking that the center of fighting was the disputed, Armenian-inhabited region of Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh by Armenians). In fact, however, the attack targeted several towns and villages[Read More…]
Did you ever get the strangest feeling while in a crowd of people… some who you actually know, that you are ‘ All Alone’? Before someone reading this dismisses such a feeling as obviously coming from a person suffering from a condition of actual depression, not necessarily folks. In reality, this is most likely the normal reaction from one who[Read More…]
One hopes the old idiomatic phrase is still understood by many. For nothing else can catch the frenzy the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ provoke among die-hard adherents of Hindutva.Our Prime Minister has re-affirmed his old links with them with a recent remark. Shedding his jovial neighbourly expression and putting on his portentuous mien and manner,he has reportedly declared that the[Read More…]
While inaugurating the statue of Netaji Subhash Bose on September 8 in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that had India embarked path shown by him, India would have progressed much better, that he has been forgotten, and now (with Modi’s rule) his vision is being brought back. Modi claims his governance is showing the imprint of Netaji’s policies.[Read More…]
Several peace activists in the USA recently observed a peace week during September 12-15 to mobilize more and more people for pressurizing US government policy towards peace-based solutions, instead of merely announcing weapon supply increases to an already deeply ravaged region. This effort was coordinated by Peace in Ukraine Coalition (PIUC) and spread to several parts of USA including Washington,[Read More…]
People everywhere appear to be wearied with the way things are in the world today. Present-day society is experiencing a profound breakdown and the minds of peoples of the world are in a state of utter confusion. From Black Sea to Korean peninsula to the Middle East to China Seas, from the Arctic to Indian Ocean, our planet is manifesting the signs of an “angry beast”. There is so much of violence and destruction everywhere. Age-old institutions are collapsing, traditional ways are[Read More…]
I would like to announce the publication of a new book, which may be downloaded and circulated free of charge from the following link; https://eacpe.org/content/uploads/2022/09/Steps-Towards-Avoiding-a-Climate-Catastrophe-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf The topics discussed in the book are listed below: Threats are becoming more severe There is clear evidence that climate-related threats are becoming more severe. One can think of the record-breaking heat waves in Europe[Read More…]
Those who believe in a world free of hegemonic ethno-nationalism, Racism, religious bigotry and hatred have rightly taken note of Zionism and its ally Christian Zionism, major perpetrators of ethnic cleansing of ‘Others’. However, the civilized world with its core belief in multi-culturalism and peaceful co-existence is oblivious to a no less dangerous threat to the present human civilization; the[Read More…]
As a new analysis revealed that the global ranks of the superrich soared to a record number, a coalition of charity groups said Tuesday that hundreds of millions of people around the world are hungry—and that someone starves to death every four seconds. At least 238 international and local charities from 75 countries signed an open letter noting that “a staggering 345 million[Read More…]
Mounting inequality is fueling protests around the globe. The global ruling class is determined to prevent these protests from employing the weapon that can bring them down—strikes. The ruling oligarchs are terrified that, for tens of millions of people, the economic dislocation caused by inflation, stagnant wages, austerity, the pandemic, and the energy crisis is becoming unendurable. They warn, as Kristalina Georgieva,[Read More…]
In mid-September 2022, the nine-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for its 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State. Because China, India, and Pakistan are members of the SCO, the organization represents about 40 percent of the world’s population; with the addition of Russia, the SCO countries make up 60 percent of the Eurasian territory (the other member states[Read More…]
At what stage can the USA’s increasing military assistance to Ukraine become like a direct conflict-or war- with Russia? This is one of the most significant questions facing humanity today, with very dangerous implications not just for these three countries but the entire humanity. Reuters reported on August 2 ( see news report titled ‘Russia says United States is directly[Read More…]
Tragically 2 NREGA workers namely Avatar Singh and Ram Lubhaya met with fatal accident on their return to Phillaur from Sangrur,after the conclusion of the 3 day dharna of the Sanjha Morcha.After disembarking from the train at Phillaur they began to walk on the tracks to reach the main road to get an auto rickshaw when they met their fate.[Read More…]
A mere category 1 hurricane dumped so much water on Puerto Rico so quickly that one of its rivers has swollen to 25 feet above normal, even more than it rose during Hurricane Maria in 2017, which was a Category 5 hurricane. The island is beset by flash floods, and is getting 16-30 inches of rain. The usual average amount of rainfall[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4R. The nature of a “US-led rules-based order” False Bias #18. Russia Is at Fault for Overturning the “US-Led Rules-Based Order,” Which Is a Benign, Just, Egalitarian, Democratic, Cooperative, and Peaceful Order to Spread Positive Political, Economic, and Cultural Values. The previous essay referred to the January[Read More…]
People migrate from one place to the other for different reasons though migrants generally seek better economic opportunities. People also migrate to join their kith and kin in other places, to escape conflicts or persecution, or to respond to adverse impacts on their current living environment. Some people migrate just for a change or for the fun of getting a[Read More…]
A Statement by Concerned Citizens and Representatives of Civil Liberties’ Organizations 20th Sep, 2022: More than 35 concerned citizens and representatives of civil liberties’ organisations in India have sought the urgent intervention of the authorities in Uttar Pradesh to ensure quality health care and medical bail for jailed student leader Atiq-ur-Rehman, struggling with partial paralysis and disorientation after a heart[Read More…]
Campaigners warn “tens of thousands” may die during the winter unless Prime Minister Liz Truss gets to grips with the cost-of-living crisis, as pressure mounts on the new PM to act following the Queen’s funeral. A Morning Star report said on September 19, 2022: The PM was told today that now the funeral for the Queen was over she needed[Read More…]
When the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF2022) winds up its 47th season on Sep 18, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical creation, ‘The Fabelmans’ has bagged the prestigious People’s Choice Award. Sunday morning has witnessed the wrapping up of the 11-day festival along with the award ceremony followed by a number of free screenings of the Spielberg movie for the City of Toronto at various screening[Read More…]
To Shri G C Murmu Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Dear Shri Murmu, The Ministry of Agriculture had introduced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) around 5 years ago for providing comprehensive crop insurance for farmers. Insurance under PMFBY is a precondition for farmers to take crop loans. From the website of PMFBY and[Read More…]
My father died in Delhi when I was barely 18. My mother was returning to Kerala. I told her that I would look after myself and there was no need for her to worry about me. The only skill I had was a bit of knowledge in typing. I got a job as a typist at the CPI Parliamentary office.[Read More…]
As Lebanon plunges into political chaos – banking corruption, power cuts and exploding prices, the Palestinian refugees, already marginalised without rights and unable to climb out of poverty, have fallen deeper into despair. Walking through the camps one sees tangles of bare electric cable, dripped on by corroded air conditioning units, hanging dangerously low in the narrow, dark passages that[Read More…]
When it was revealed that former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had not only shown contempt for his own government in secretly appointing himself, via the Governor-General’s approval, to five portfolios, the depths of deception seemed to be boundless. His tenure had already been marked by a spectacular, habitual tendency to conceal matters. What else would come out? The latest[Read More…]
In recent years, governments have been demonstrating their subservience to their billionaire masters in Big Finance, the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, BlackRock and the entire gamut of forces in the military-financial-industrial complex behind the ‘Great Reset’, ‘New Normal’ or whichever other benign-sounding term is used to disguise the crisis and current restructuring of capitalism and the brutal impacts on ordinary people. In[Read More…]
In his classic “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” Karl Marx amends Hegel’s quip on history repeating itself, first as tragedy and then as farce (1986 97). With the former Philippine dictator Marcos’s son in office, will farcical acts be the spectacle for the next six years?. Imagine the sons of Somoza, Trujillo or Batista returning to their banana[Read More…]
by Harshavardhan Purandare and Sandeep Pandey The Congress party declared Bharat Chhodo (Quit India) movement against the British regime in 1942. The Congress party is now launching a movement Bharat Jodo (Connecting and Uniting India) against the Modi regime in 2022. Indian people have had a journey of 80 years since Mahatma Gandhi gave that Quit India call to the[Read More…]
by Andre Damon & Joseph Kishore A staggering recklessness has overtaken the American ruling class. It is treating the prospect of nuclear war, which would mean the deaths of millions and the potential annihilation of life on the planet, as a real possibility that must not be allowed to deter its geopolitical objectives in waging war against Russia over Ukraine.[Read More…]
The U.S. is falling behind its developed-nation peers in checking the boxes of progress, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office of Sustainable Development. The U.S. last year ranked 32nd out of 193 UN member states has dropped 11 places in a single year and now trails even Ukraine and Cuba on the list, coming in just[Read More…]
Though Washington insists that it is not interested in a direct military conflict with Moscow, the latter claims that the US is, in fact, directly involved. But who is telling the truth? On September 8, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. He carried with him pledges of yet another military and financial package[Read More…]
by Yevgeny Ivanov & Ashish Singh The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seriously affected Europe. In August 2022, annual inflation in the EU exceeded 10%[1]. Political leaders are looking for solutions to the looming energy crisis[2]. However, the consequences of events in Ukraine affect other parts of the world too. African countries depend heavily on Russian and Ukrainian[Read More…]
The release of eight cheetahs into the Kuno National Park ( Madhya Pradesh) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, although accompanied by a media blitz, has raised several questions. The animals were flown from Namibia to Gwalior and from there they were taken to the release site in a helicopter. Official sources have stated that this is the[Read More…]
Fariba Dalir and Sakin Behjati’ prison sentence has just begun. It was in the month of April that the Iranian courts finally convicted these two women – recent converts to Christianity – for their ‘attempts to put national security in danger’. One among them has been sent to a much dreaded jail near Tehran. (https://www.en-hrana.org/tag/fariba-dalir/) Interestingly neither Fariba nor Sakin[Read More…]
The democratic community of Europe expressed its heartfelt condolences to the fascist repression unleashed on the Indian people, particularly on the untimely demise of Comrade Pandu Naroti, an Adivasi who stood by the working class, peasants and all oppressed and exploited people of India. It expressed its condolences to his family and friends in Mureweda village, a poor Adivasi community[Read More…]
To Shri Ajay Seth Secretary (DEA) Ministry of Finance Govt of India Dear Shri Seth I refer to the revised overseas investment rules issued by the Union Finance Ministry vide GSR 646(E) dated 22-8-2022 on overseas direct investment (ODI). Apparently, these rules were notified on the basis of a draft notification placed in the public domain about a year[Read More…]
Most countries of South Asia have suffered excessive flood losses this year, peaking in Pakistan. In the last week of August Pakistan, overwhelmed by surging waters, declared an emergency. Nearly 1500 human lives have already been claimed by the disaster. With excessive rains affecting almost half the country and a third of the country submerged during the peak of the[Read More…]
Queen Elizabeth II has died, and there is immense public affection for the Queen for her dignified but warm conduct in 70 years of dedicated service as a constitutional monarch. That affection is most marked among her British, Australian , Canadian and New Zealand Subjects, as well as among some British Commonwealth loyalists. However resolutely ignored is the Royal heading[Read More…]
Introduction In almost all myths, the low-born non-Aryan characters, from Bali to Barbareek to Eklavya to Karna, are presented as generous to the extent that none of them cry foul at being robbed of their life. In fact they willingly give it away. What does their lack of protest say? What kind of consciousness does it reflect? The essence of[Read More…]
The developing world will not forget the leading role that industrialized economies have played in permanently altering the climate and making catastrophic events more likely. Around the world, 2022 has been a year of climate catastrophes, including droughts, floods, mega-fires, typhoons, and more. Among the hardest-hit countries is Pakistan. With torrential monsoon rainfall almost 190% above its 30-year average, extraordinary flooding[Read More…]
One-third of Pakistan is under water. Record heat waves blanket the globe driving up temperatures beyond what humans can survive. Polar glaciers are melting much faster than scientists predicted. Droughts, fires and floods are ravaging the planet, forcing the displacement of tens of millions of people. And this is just the beginning. It’s time to tell the truth. We can’t afford[Read More…]
In Kolawalpur village of Banda District (state of Uttar Pradesh), many farmers complained bitterly that the miners of river sand had destroyed their farms and standing crops. What is more, threat of floods in the rainy season and the river drying up in the dry season had increased due to the excessive extraction of sand from the river using heavy[Read More…]
When Congress directs the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) to coordinate with other relevant federal agencies to research a five-year scientific assessment of solar and other rapid climate interventions, it’s only too apparent that the highest levels of government have gotten the internal memo that the climate is in trouble. Even so, they are still fashionably late[Read More…]
Identifying the GDP’s limitations help find the losses the working people have to make, untold yet, due to climate crisis, although it’s the working people that bear the most. The reason that works to put the working people in this position is, in briefest way, they are chained by capital. Nothing, but GDP? No. Yet, to fathom performance in economic[Read More…]
There is no good reason to allow the evil empire to retain any legitimacy as the British royal family papers over the pillage it continues to benefit from. The death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch of British royalty, has sparked global fascination and spawned thousands of clickbait reports of the details of her funeral. Americans, who centuries ago[Read More…]
In Vienna, China’s permanent mission to the United Nations has been rather exercised of late. Members of the mission have been particularly irate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Rafael Grossi, who addressed the IAEA’s Board of Governors on September 12. Grossi was building on a confidential report by the IAEA which had been circulated the[Read More…]
“This is not a regular airport,” Margaretta D’Arcy said to me as we heard a C-130T Hercules prepare to take off from Shannon Airport in Ireland after 3 p.m. on September 11, 2022. That enormous U.S. Navy aircraft (registration number 16-4762) had flown in from Sigonella, a U.S. Naval Air Station in Italy. A few minutes earlier, a U.S. Navy[Read More…]
US Policy Makers Must Listen to Gerry Condon Gerry Condon, former President of Veterans of Peace, a USA-based global organization of Military Veterans and allies with 140 chapters worldwide whose collective efforts are to build a culture for peace and end all wars, has very recently written a letter to President Biden which needs to be widely read by all[Read More…]
In the November 1937, an article titled “Rashtrapatiji” was published in a Calcutta-based monthly journal “Modern Review”. Founded by Ramanand Chatterjee in 1907, the journal had good readership among the Indian intelligentsia with a diversity of writers contributing essays, informing or analysing the debates and issues around the country’s freedom movement. The paper “Rashtrapatiji”, written by one Chanankya, drew considerable[Read More…]
Barbara Ehrenreich died at the age of 81 on September 1. The American author had reached a worldwide readership with her over 20 books which are best known for their strong voice of justice and dignity for the weakest sections as well as for opposing hypocrisy and social deceit at several levels. Her brilliant reportage, social commentary and book reviews[Read More…]
For over a year, the agitation of contracted employees of two campuses under the leadership of Jadavpur University contracted employees union is intensifying in resisting various companies and contractors. For the past almost one year, contracted workers of Jadavpur University have been relentlessly protesting to quickly resolve various other issues including fair salaries, regularization of EPF and ESI. The minimum[Read More…]
Caption: At a joint in California where customers leave notes in the cracks of a brick wall. Note says: “الله اكبر –Free Palestine, assholes.” It’s not wishful thinking; it’s really happening! To use Bob Dylan’s words, the Israeli order is “rapidly fadin’ and the first one now will later be last, for the times they are a-changin’.” You’ve probably heard[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I have come across a report today (https://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/lic-exploring-all-options-on-dematerialisation-of-insurance-policies-122091500928_1.html) that the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) has proposed to “dematerialise” all insurance policies, including life insurance policies. As a follow up measure, LIC seems to be considering to set up its own repository, in view of the large number of[Read More…]
Let it be clear at the outset that when the road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate was named Rajpath, it was not a literal translation of the King’s Way. In the same sense, Janpath was not the translated name for its old name, the Queen’s Way. In the Rajpath nomenclature, the symbolism of independent and sovereign India’s democratic statehood[Read More…]
As is known, GDP, dating back to the 1930s, and innovated by Simon Kuznets, appraises the value of goods and services produced in an economy in a given period. At the same time, it’s now well-accepted that GDP, a Bretton Woods tool, doesn’t tell the whole fact. John Smith discusses the issue: “The ‘GDP Illusion’ is a fault in perception[Read More…]
The rail strike that threatened to shut down freight traffic across the U.S. has been temporarily averted, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday. A draft agreement by the industry and union reps reached after 20 hours of negotiations will be sent to workers for ratification after several weeks’ “cooling off” period. “The rail workers will get better pay, improved[Read More…]
Once the fixated adoration with the late Queen Elizabeth II starts cooling, the accountants of public welfare and decency will be stunned to realise the costs and wealth associated with the royal institution. Her successor, Charles III, is continuing in that vein, a jarring note of wealth and pomp even as prices rise and the hefty bills for citizens (should[Read More…]
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest serving monarch of British empire died on September 8th, at the age of 96 and since then the crazy 24×7 channels including BBC and CNN are minutely reporting every event related to her death. The funeral will take place on September 19th but till then people will watch various events and engagements of the Royal[Read More…]
There have been frequent demands in recent times for increasing the budgetary allocations for weaker sections as many of their priority needs are not being met properly. Instead of responding sympathetically to these demands, if some of these allocations are cut in arbitrary and indiscriminate ways, then this is bound to increase the distress of weaker sections by midway jeopardizing[Read More…]
According to legend, Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China, when asked what he thought was the impact of the French Revolution of 1789, is supposed to have quipped, “It’s too early to tell”. For quite a while, I took it as just another witty repartee from Comrade Zhou, with no special significance. Nowadays, I can see[Read More…]
The so-called electricity markets were created to help private capital, not people. It is time that we wind up such bogus electricity markets and return all such public services to the people, to be run cooperatively for their benefit. The price of electricity has risen astronomically in Europe over the last two years: by four times over the previous year and 10 times over the last[Read More…]
Indigenous women and girls in Canada continue to face disproportionate levels of violence and insecurity rooted in colonialism. Violence against Indigenous women is “escalating like never before,” the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) has warned. A series of tragedies have rocked the city of Vancouver (unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh lands) in recent months, including the discovery of the body of a 14-year-old[Read More…]
In the American ethos, sacrifice is often hailed as the chief ingredient for overcoming hardship and seizing opportunity. To be successful, we’re assured, college students must make personal sacrifices by going deep into debt for a future degree and the earnings that may come with it. Small business owners must sacrifice their paychecks so that their companies will continue to[Read More…]
Would it be fair to assume that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has embarked on a politically correct path by deciding to undertake his “Bharat Jodo Yatra”? Against endless political problems encountered by Rahul and his party, perhaps it was imperative for him to take such a step. There is no doubt that he has eyes set on forthcoming parliamentary polls.[Read More…]
The population of elderly (60 years plus) citizens in India is around 140 million. The union ( central) government pays annual pensions worth around Rs. 180,000 crore ( one crore=10 million) to its former employees numbering between 6 to 7 million. For the remaining elderly it provides about Rs. 9700 crore ( inclusive of some other welfare spending). During recent[Read More…]
Writers, Artists, Human Rights Activists and Well-known Personalities. Demand Protection of Human Rights and Livelihood of the Local Villagers of Dhinkia, Odisha The South Korean Company POSCO backed out from Odisha due to a long struggle of the local communities. However, the Odisha state Government is allowing Jindal to take over the lands and livelihood of the same local villagers. The struggle for[Read More…]
Climate crisis takes its costs from gross domestic product. A recent study1 finds about a quarter of the countries studied are sensitive to such impact. Climate crisis, negatively affecting economy in countries, takes toll; and it’s peoples that pay the toll while capitals, the dominant force creating climate crisis, reaps profit. “[A] critical and still unresolved empirical question is”, the[Read More…]
From a September 13th, 2022 Artsakh Press article headlined “Azerbaijan had pre-planned the attack”: [The Criminal Prosecution of Armenia] says its criminal investigation into Azerbaijan’s attack – a violation of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement and several international treaties prohibiting the use of force or the threat to use force and invading the territory of another country gathered information[Read More…]
Nearly 115,000 U.S. rail workers are poised to go on strike on Thursday at midnight, shutting down 40% of long-distance trade, after negotiations between rail unions and carriers failed to bear fruit. If a deal is not reached by Friday, a strike will begin, shutting down freight rails across the U.S. While the leaders of 10 of the 12 unions[Read More…]
by Florence Foo, Si Cheng, Taciana Santiago and Brittany Michelson Zoos are often viewed as places of entertainment where humans can appreciate the beauty of the various species that can be found in different ecosystems on the planet. Many parents take their children to visit these facilities to let them experience being close to animals, educate them about the species,[Read More…]
Whatever your feelings about former President Trump, there are reasons to be skeptical when government officials say it was necessary to raid his Florida home to recover classified documents that threatened national security. Like the former president, I was once accused by the government of mishandling classified information connected to my representation of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. There was[Read More…]
September 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of around 3,000 Palestinians at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army. Four decades have passed, yet no measure of justice has been received by the survivors of the massacre. Many of them have died, and others are aging[Read More…]
The article documents that, for the first time, life expectancy in Cuba exceeds that in the US by almost three years. It explores intertwined reasons behind this occurrence, including responses to Covid, health care systems, racism, poverty, misinformation campaigns, the embargo, international solidarity efforts, and resilience to climate change. Recent data shows that between 2019 and 2021, life expectancy (LE)[Read More…]
Review of Hitler’s Girl by Lauren Young Historians and lay-people alike have for decades posed the counter-factual question, “How could Hitler have been stopped?” The answer, shocking to those at play in the fields of elision, is that the easiest way to contain him and therefore to halt the growth of Nazism and the save the world from murderous peril[Read More…]
Landowning farmers ( kisans) present the most visible face of India’s villages, and most of the discussion is in their context. However a very important aspect of rural India seldom emphasized is that there are more landless peasants and workers ( bhumiheen) in villages of India than landowning farmers. Several landless farm workers have belonged traditionally to the most marginalized[Read More…]
At the time of independence, more than 500 princely states agreed to join the union of India under a common constitution which safeguarded the fundamental rights of its citizens, gave freedom to practice their religious, cultural and linguistic diversities and ensured the integration of a liberal political democracy. An integrated India has not only survived but thrived over the span[Read More…]
The Ministry of External Affairs has done the right thing by explaining its taciturn press release on September 8 Thursday in a single sentence regarding the disengagement of troops in the area of Gogra-Hotsprings along the LAC in the Western Sector of India-China border areas. The Official Spokesman Arindam Bagchi shared on Friday more details. Broadly, a consensus reached at the 16th round of[Read More…]
Communal propagandists who want to disrupt inter-faith harmony often distort and misrepresent history to peddle their lies. While this can be shown in the context of many instances, the times of Dara Shikoh are particularly relevant in this context. As is well known , Dara Shikoh (1615-59) was the favorite son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the buider of[Read More…]
Ten agricultural labourer unions of Punjab — under the umbrella of Sanjha Punjab Morcha — swarmed in like a huge army in front of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur’s Dreamland Colony on Monday. They heroically defied the imposition of Section 144 orders and notices issued to them. to launch on a 72-hour dharna fron 12-14th September. The[Read More…]
Europe will spiral into a severe recession, as the shortage in energy supplies is set to spike inflation even higher and weigh heavily on Europe’s GDP, BlackRock said in a note on Monday. Media reports said: “The energy crunch will drive a recession in Europe, as we’ve argued since March. The crisis has worsened since then as Russia has halted gas supplies,”[Read More…]
Temperatures are rising, and so is communal hate. Rainfall is drying up, and so is employment. A war is being waged on the working masses by the corporates and ruling classes on every front. A war in which the people are losing one battle after another. But when the corporates and their henchmen in the seats of power thought that[Read More…]
Here we go again, playing God and toying with Promethean fire. Having done a comprehensively brutal job of killing off the thylacine, known in popular parlance as the Tasmanian Tiger, along with a growing number of other species, there is interest in reviving and ultimately returning them to the wild. And, as with any deity, the choice resides in the[Read More…]
by Bharat Dogra, Anupam Bhandari & Tristan Partridge Perhaps the most widespread and persistent cause of human distress has been relationships based on dominance, whether across differences in class, gender, caste, race, or other imposed social categories. These tendencies are clear and undeniable, yet very difficult to change at a fundamental or societal level – as reflected in the ongoing[Read More…]
In Washington, wide agreement exists that the Russian army’s performance in the Kremlin’s ongoing Ukraine “special military operation” ranks somewhere between lousy and truly abysmal. The question is: Why? The answer in American policy circles, both civilian and military, appears all but self-evident. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has stubbornly insisted on ignoring the principles, practices, and methods identified as necessary for[Read More…]
September is supposed to be a very critical month for the nearly 5.5 million people of Tigray region of Ethiopia affected by very severe food shortages, almost half of them on brink of starvation. If the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara are included then as many as 13 million people face a very difficult situation. The United Nations officials[Read More…]
The popularity of Bhojpuri music has grown to reach a wide audience, both in terms of listeners and watchers. Songs, in a sense, are a means through which cultural identities may be asserted. Bhojpuri songs promote certain prejudiced natures and settings in terms of gender, caste, class, and regions, among other categories. Some of the key aspects that are prevalent[Read More…]
Here is a sad news that Godard is no more.Veteran critic Vidyarthy Chatterjee wrote a letter to Godard after listening to an interview, where the master confessed that he doesn’t get any Indian films to watch.After Fifty years of pedestrian writing, Vidyarthy Chatterjee wrote his first book and he had sent it across by courier to Switzerland,only to hear back[Read More…]
China is willing to work with Russia to take the global order “in a more just and reasonable direction,” Beijing’s top diplomat said, underscoring the depth of the two nations’ ties. A Bloomberg report said: Under the guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, “the relationship between the two countries has always been on the right track, and[Read More…]
Zionism as frankly espoused by its most prominent advocates for 130 years is genocidal racism, and Nazism without gas chambers but now with 90 nuclear weapons and 6 German-supplied submarines to carry nuclear missiles for scores of nuclear holocausts. Yet defenceless Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been falsely and hysterically vilified by the Zionist-subverted West for describing the ongoing Palestinian[Read More…]
Turn on the television. Move to the screen. Switch on the device – if you ever left it off. Queen Elizabeth II may have passed, but she is everywhere in very lively fashion, a spectral manifestation that has utterly controlled large chunks of a transfixed global media system. It helps that she has captured the media mecca that is the[Read More…]
In an address to the Trondheim World Festival in Norway, John Pilger charts the history of power propaganda and describes how it appropriates journalism in a ‘profound imperialism’ and is likely to entrap us all, if we allow it. In the 1970s, I met one of Hitler’s leading propagandists, Leni Riefenstahl, whose epic films glorified the Nazis. We happened to[Read More…]
The USA is without doubt the most powerful country in the world. It was endowed with an exceptionally plentiful natural resource base. Despite this the bottom half of the population of the USA has been facing increasing difficulties in meeting its basic needs. One of the most important reasons for this relates to increase of inequalities. The USA poverty level[Read More…]
Recent polls suggest that the bonkers, even barbaric, rhetoric coming from far-right MAGA candidates could be undermining Republicans’ chances of capturing both chambers of Congress in November. Now, the greater danger may lie down-ballot. If extremists win key offices in swing-state governments in 2022, they might manage to award their states’ Electoral College votes to the MAGA presidential candidate, against[Read More…]
The unveiling of the Subhash Chandra Bose statute by the Prime Minister of India marking the inauguration of the ‘Kartavya Path,’ the revamped Central Vista Avenue, has at least three objectives attached to it. One, it allows the BJP to add some momentum for the 2024 elections by staging the arrival of a ‘refreshed’ India. Second, it provides it with[Read More…]
In a recent lecture on the war in the Ukraine, John Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, noted that “nationalism” is the strongest ideology in the world today. Having lived through the Cold War era, anything having to do with Russia, formerly the major part of the Soviet Union, was framed in the ideological context of “the[Read More…]
Mikhail Gorbachev has been eulogised by sections for bringing end to cold war, giving Socialism new perspective an formulating Glasnost and Persetroika.At the time it caused great confusion within the International Communist camp and gave an impression that Gorbachev was creating another revolution. Gorbachev did everything under the sun to undo any remnants of the soviet socialist system and de-construction[Read More…]
The sudden realisation in elite circles of the need to wear seat belts for passengers in rear seats of cars in the wake of the death of Mr Cyrus Mistry, former Tata group chief, on September 4 is important. But it misses a vital point. It shows all the concern for the safety of car occupants, the rich, while there[Read More…]
The tragic death of a young entrepreneur in a road accident has created ripples in social media about the safety of a luxury car which may run at a higher speed but with satisfactory control over the vehicle in case of an emergency. The debate also touched on the mandatory use of seatbelts in rear seats by the passengers, necessary[Read More…]
Few recall these days the furore on the Mandal Commission report.At that time I found to my dismay even some progressive academics at the Delhi University campus wavering on the question of reservation.(I had been there for some reason I do not remeber now,but vividly remember the vehemence of passion against the policy of reservation in the campus.)Some well-known professors[Read More…]
As rich countries switch on their firefighting mode to tame soaring inflation, developing countries are feeling the heat. Higher interest rates mean increased debt servicing costs. Hawkish interest rate hikes are also triggering net capital outflows and currency depreciations, adding to the woes caused by commodity price volatilities and US-led trade disruptions. Thus, an increasing number of developing countries are[Read More…]
While scientists and activists have done well to establish the urgency of checking climate change before it is too late, it is increasingly clear that the current paradigm of checking climate change is not working. Briefly, it has to be changed in ways which will link it very closely to checking militarism and inequalities while promoting peace and justice, preventing[Read More…]
Europe is in energy turmoil with uncertainty in the coming winter and measures to counter Russia. The EU finds consensus is elusive and solidarity is in short supply. A Bloomberg report said: European ministers sounded defiant as they met in Brussels to deliberate plans aimed at halting the spiral in energy prices. “We will prevail,” European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri[Read More…]
by Julia Gledhill & William D. Hartung Congress has spoken when it comes to next year’s Pentagon budget and the results, if they weren’t so in line with past practices, should astonish us all. The House of Representatives voted to add $37 billion and the Senate $45 billion to the administration’s already humongous request for “national defense,” a staggering figure that includes both the[Read More…]
Today , a public meeting was organized by the Education Promotion Council ( henceforth EPC)at the Nobel Senior Secondary School, Dillar Nagar, Ghazipur, UP. At the outset, let me remind that long ago a great educationist and social reformer like Sir Syed Ahmad khan had founded Scientific Society in Ghazipur to spread education , social reform and scientific temper among[Read More…]
The Nizam being sworn in as the Raj pramukh (Governor) of Hyderabd province in 1948. Sep17 is being celebrated by BJP as Hyderabad Liberation Day, and Home Minister Amit Shah is to address a rally at Hyderabad on that day. It was Liberation of Nizam from people, not the other way round. BJP is using the occasion to[Read More…]
In yet another act of criminal negligence, the prison authorities of Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra, have delayed medical treatment to Vernon Gonsalves, a prominent activist and one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case. Gonsalves, who is 65 years old, fell ill with fever on August 30th, and even though his condition was steadily deteriorating, he[Read More…]
On 8th September Vernon Gonsalves, one of the 16 undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central Jail, was diagnosed with dengue and likely pneumonia. Gonsalves age 65, had been suffering from fever since 30th August, but it took an appeal from his lawyer and the intervention of the Court for the Taloja Jail[Read More…]
Statement by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy – a campaign of 40+ civil society groups MRSD is distressed to learn about the health situation of 65 year old activist, poet, and writer Vernon Gonsalves, incarcerated since 2018 in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case. Gonsalves started developing several symptoms, such as fever, cough, dizziness, and nausea starting on August 30, as[Read More…]
Siddique Kappan got bail from the Supreme Court. This is so good and relaxing. I met Siddique Kappan many years ago. He is a very honest person. Sending them to jail was and is a crime in itself. Yogi Adityanath’s government disobeyed the law and completely engaged in hatred towards Muslims. But why has Kappan suddenly got this vine? About[Read More…]
Unprecedented flooding—arising from and demonstrably tied to climate change— continues to ravage Pakistan, with the official death toll rising by more than 250 since last week. 1,391 people are now reported as having perished due to the floods, which have inundated a third of the impoverished South Asian country. A further 12,700 have been injured. On Friday, Pakistan’s National Disaster[Read More…]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Vemband Wetland in Kerala is a Ramsar Site, and also a Critically Vulnerable Coastal Area (CVCA). One of the three meeting points of the lake’s waters and the Lakshadweep Sea is at Thottappally in Purakkad Panchayat of Alapuzha. It is a Marma Point. About 600,000 cubic meters of mineral sand has been dredged out from the River[Read More…]
In recent weeks the Jharkand Jan Sangharsh Morcha, waged a sustained campaign against the arrest of journalists like Rupesh Singh, Socialist activists and Shamru Khadia. It is also valiantly confronting the burning issues of the day to day lives of people, like corruption ,unemployment etc. Mazdoor Sanghatna Samiti convenor Baccha Singh is the convenor of The Jharkhand Sangharsh Morcha ,playing[Read More…]
Havoc and misery caused by recent floods in Bengaluru, Pakistan and Assam are not only natural disasters but are man made and due to climate change. Over exploitation of urban land and water resources by greedy private real estate developers perhaps the chief cause of floods. Media relentlessly focused on flooded upscale villas, their swanky automobiles of super rich in[Read More…]
Where do we stand in 2022? A lot could be found on the web, when someone searches for ‘Suicide Statistics’ or a similar keyword. There have been detailed reports published by various departments and NGOs on the figures (numbers) and the stated reasons behind a person dying by suicide. I pick a few from those, as I move towards my[Read More…]
Crop stubble burning has so far attracted concern mainly in the context of Punjab and nearby areas. Its most widely discussed impact has related to increase in air pollution in Delhi and some other nearby cities. However what is not often realized is that in a more quiet way this is also spreading in several other parts of the country[Read More…]
It is often said that RSS follows Mussolini, Hitler. To what extend it is true? Hitler and Mussolini were individuals. RSS is a collective, an organisation created by a caste. That was not the case with Hitler or Mussolni. The basic difference between Nazism, Fascism and RSS is that RSS ideology is based on caste system and is not simply[Read More…]
This is part II of an essay in two parts on modern technology and its demise. Part I deals with the history of modern technology starting from the Industrial Revolution (1760-1830) and ending in 2008 with the financial meltdown and the birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In Part II we will show how this latest industrial revolution is bound[Read More…]
To Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw Union Railway Minister Dear Shri Vaishnaw, I have come across a news report recently that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a steep reduction in the annual rental for land leased to third parties by the Railways from the existing 6% to 1.5% of the market value of the land, annual step-up[Read More…]
The ecosystems of the world that support life like Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have an incompatible relationship with far right governments, like the United States under Trump, who took a baseball bat to the EPA. According to Christine Todd Whitman, who headed EPA under George W. Bush: “I’ve never seen such an orchestrated war on the environment or science.” (How Trump[Read More…]
The greater part of the Horn of Africa region is seeing a steady worsening of hunger and starvation, as four years of rain failure have tasted the limits of the coping mechanisms of people. In Somalia, a country of around 16 million people, nearly 260,000 people are reported to have died in the famine of 2010-11. The international community was[Read More…]
by Taroa Zúñiga Silva and Vijay Prashad On September 4, 2022, more than 13 million Chileans—out of a voting-eligible population of approximately 15 million—voted on a proposal to introduce a new constitution in the country. As early as March, polls began to suggest that the constitution would not be able to pass. However, polls had hinted for months at a narrowing of the lead[Read More…]
The recent visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Algeria is an attempt by Paris to hold on to the economic and cultural control it once had over its former colonies. On August 25, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Algeria on a three-day visit to begin mending bilateral relations with the country. Ties between France and Algeria have historically been erratic,[Read More…]
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a new book about how we might strengthen the United Nations and make it more effective in the great tasks that are facing the organization. The book may be downloaded and circulated free of charge from the following link; https://eacpe.org/content/uploads/2022/09/Reforming-the-United-Nations-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf Strengthening the United Nations It is becoming[Read More…]
In most dramatic thrillers they love to use the term of ‘ The 11th hour’ for whatever suspenseful endeavor is reaching its deadline. Detectives or surgeons are running ragged to stop the oncoming negative conclusion from happening. Well, so it is for this American Military Industrial Empire… the end is near. This may not mean the end of human existence,[Read More…]
As we mark the United Nations International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on September 7 and raise demands for better air pollution management, we also stare at the crop residue burning and approaching winter season when air quality levels in large parts of the country touch hazardous limits. Central and state governments spring into action with various measures as pollution[Read More…]
On September 5-6th we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the killing of Israeli hostages in the 1972 Olympic Games . 50 years ago in September5th-6th in 1972 a tiny unit of Palestinian fighters sensationally took 11 Israeli athletes hostage just ahead of the Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany. All the hostages were executed during a botched rescue attempt by[Read More…]
We lived in Shillong in Meghalaya for two years when my father was posted there with the Indian Air Force. That is where we learnt so much about India’s rare orchids which grew quite happily in the jungles around. In Fact there was a beautiful Orchidarian which was close to our home off Laitumkhrah in the busy downtown area. The[Read More…]
It’s been one year now and there is still no response from her. Not even an acknowledgement for all those messages I have been sending her way. I am even losing interest in her Instagram posts. Often I prefer to take a break for days from social media, to overcome frustration caused by her indifference towards me. Earlier, I used[Read More…]
On September 9, 1990, the men, women and children from Saththurukondan and surrounding villages, on the outskirts of Batticaloa, were taken to an army camp by Sri Lankan soldiers, where 185 Tamil men, women and children from Sathurukondan and surrounding villages were slaughtered by Sri Lankan soldiers. The mass killings, which were carried out during the presidency of the UNP’s[Read More…]
Indian National Congress (INC), the oldest party of the country is planning a Bharat Jodo Yatra from 7th September, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, a distance of 3500 KM, passing through 12 states and two union territories. The yatra is being undertaken by an electoral outfit, still on 20th August nearly 200 social activists, who generally have no direct interest in[Read More…]
One of the most important initiatives to be taken by any political parties in recent times, the 3570 km. Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, passing through 12 states and 2 union territories and spread over around 5 months, covering on average 22 km. in 6.5 hours every day, has raised high hopes at a time of increasing problems.[Read More…]
Rahul Gandhi’s bold new initiative has the potential to electrify the aggrieved and oppressed masses of India.Provided it is not a rehash of the ‘Karwain Mohabbat’ type march for spreading the gospel of love.In this divided and frustrated country where beneath the surface of patient suffering there is smouldering anger and resentment.From time to time there are explosions of fratricidal[Read More…]
To Shri K Rajaraman Secretary (Telecommunications) Govt of India Dear Shri Rajaraman, I had earlier addressed the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) to scrutinise the recent 5G spectrum auctions, keeping in view the absence of any worthwhile competition, which diluted its credibility, as also the post-tender relaxations allowed, that had the effect of vitiating the sanctity of[Read More…]
“As soon as I left prison, I went to Nael’s grave. It is adorned with the colors of the Palestinian flag and verses from the Holy Quran. I told my little brother how much I loved and appreciated him, and that, one day, we would meet again in paradise.” The above is part of a testimony given to me by[Read More…]
Part 4q. US and NATO policymakers blame Putin, and not themselves, for violating the post-cold war settlement False Bias #17. This Confrontation Is Not America’s or NATO’s Fault. Russia Is to Blame for “Rolling Back” the Post-Cold War Settlement. In his January 29, 2019 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Senate Hearing of the National Defense[Read More…]
Facebook’s algorithm is considering two sponsored posts that feature the same chicken. In the first post, she is alive and struggling, confined in a tiny cage, on her way to her premature death. In the second, she is dead, beheaded, and roasted. Can you guess which post was approved? It turns out that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is[Read More…]
Give a thought, if Rishi Sunak had not chosen to resign from cabinet, Boris Johnson may have still remained Prime Minister of United Kingdom. With political turns favoring her, Mary Elizabeth Truss, better known as Liz Truss, is now the third female Prime Minister of United Kingdom. She shares an interesting political bonding with the other two of fairer gender.[Read More…]
The French theologian Simone Weil wrote, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” On the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, Hawakal Publishers released The Well-Earned, a poetry anthology edited by Kiriti Sengupta. This collection sought the nearly impossible: poems defining liberty. Freedom of expression is the artist’s bedrock. However, there seems to be a lack of poetry anthologies[Read More…]
The culture of impunity has matured and has become endemic among the police and the security forces of Sri Lanka. Increasing Militarisation in the North and East of Sri Lanka and A Culture of Impunity in Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan military enjoys total impunity for human rights violations. To this day, almost no one has been held accountable for[Read More…]
An Indian comedian did an experiment recently that tells us tales about people and their vituperations. The experiment was brilliant: Prime Minister Modi tweeted a standard-world-leader note of sorrow to those affected by the floods in Pakistan. The comedian tweeted largely the same thing under his own name. And? You guessed it. He got a torrent of hateful responses from[Read More…]
A pukka Morcha has been planned outside the office of the chief minister Bhagwant Mann on September 12th by a set of agricultural labour organizations. A most significant event in light of the mass political movement of the dalit agricultural community of Punjab. A meeting was convened by Zameen Prapt Sangharsh commitee leader Mukesh Mulaudh,where leaders of all agricultural labour[Read More…]
62% of voters in Chile rejected the proposed constitution last Sunday. It may seem paradoxical. How could they reject a constitution that would guarantee 50% reservation for women; Education, Health and Social Security and care for all are state responsibility; and also Rights of Indigenous communities or nations or tribes (by whatever name they be called) would be documented for[Read More…]
Europe is struggling with energy crisis. Reports by media including AP and ABC News said: Europe is struggling to contain an energy crisis that could lead to rolling blackouts, shuttered factories and a deep recession. The primary cause: Russia has choked off the supplies of cheap natural gas that the continent depended on for years to run factories, generate electricity[Read More…]
A team of activists launched a demonstration on Sunday on September 4th, to oppose the construction of a Metro car shed in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony and raised slogans against the Maharashtra government’s decision to undertake the project. Around 100 persons 100 comprising Students, Dalits, Adivasis and activists of many NGOs, Political Parties. and social organisations.,participated. Heartening to witness involvement of[Read More…]
This is an essay in two parts on modern technology and its demise. Part I deals with the history of modern technology starting from the Industrial Revolution (1760-1830) and ending with the 2008 financial meltdown and the birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In Part II we will show how this latest industrial revolution is bound to fail. Part I:[Read More…]
Part 4P. Proxy wars for fur and fossil fuels: Obsessions for resources are the cause and effect of mental, spiritual, physical, economic, and environmental imbalance False Bias #16. Oil Is a Vital Resource, and US Policymakers Are Smart and Psychologically Balanced in Their Pursuit of Fossil Fuels. The night of February 8, 1690, some 200 French troops with their Native[Read More…]
Has the Trump Supreme Court gone rogue? The evidence mounts. Certainly, its recent judicial blitzkrieg has run roughshod over a century’s worth of settled law. A woman’s right to get an abortion? Gone (at least as a constitutionally protected civil right). Meanwhile, voting rights are barely hanging on, along with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that gave them life. State legislatures, so the court ruled, may[Read More…]
I am in a dilemma about how to address you. We may leave it behind. You all three are quite aware that the world is now going through the most dangerous crisis since the end of World War 11 mainly because of you. A single misstep can ignite apocalyptical consequences. That may lead the planet to the threshold of an[Read More…]
It was expressed long before the parliamentary elections of 2014 that India will soon be made free from the dynastic congress party that has been responsible for declaring the country a secular republic soon after its independence in 1947. Appeasing the minorities for securing the vote bank was another accusation against the party. The slogan ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ (Congress-free India)[Read More…]
1. We lost Gauri Lankesh, journalist, activist and very passionate human being, exactly five years back It is now history how she was assasinated by rightwing Hindutva fanatics outside her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on 5 September 2017. A killing which shocked not only the people of Karnataka but everyone who believed in a just and equitable society elsewhere.[Read More…]
While evictions of the poor from their huts and small houses should be avoided as far as possible in all circumstances, the situation since the pandemic appeared has been all the more difficult for the weaker sections as they suffered very big losses in earnings and employment. What is more weather conditions have also been becoming more adverse in these[Read More…]
“ The struggles of the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad state against colonialism, feudalism and autocracy are a symbol of national integration rather than merely a case of “liberation” of a piece of land,” Asaduddin Owaisi wrote in a letter to Amit Shah. AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sep 3 wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah[Read More…]
To Shri Anil Kumar Jha Union Tribal Affairs Secretary Shri Alok Tandon Union Mines Secretary Shri Amitabh Jain Chief Secretary Chhattisgarh Dear S/Shri Jha, Tandon and Jain, I understand that NMDC’s steel plant near Nagarnar in Bastar district of Chattisgarh has been demerged from NMDC and the Centre is fast-tracking its privatisation. There are some important[Read More…]
Skyrocketing prices of tomatoes, potatoes and onions are putting food out of reach in flood-ravaged Pakistan, raising the specter of inflation hitting 30% that may spur more monetary tightening, said a report. The Bloomberg report said: The South Asian nation already reeling from dwindling currency reserves and the fastest inflation in almost five decades faces a food shortage after torrential[Read More…]
The recent passing of Mikhail Gorbachev triggered memories from the mid-eighties, when as a young communist party activist, I would be constantly confronted with the question, ‘Why are you still fighting for communism? The Soviet Union is being reformed by Gorbachev.’ My retort would be, “In India or elsewhere, we first need to carry out the Russian Revolution. We will[Read More…]
10 Downing Street is set to be bathed in social media guff with the victory of Liz Truss. Confirmed as Boris Johnson’s successor, the new British Prime Minister won by a slimmer margin over rival contender Rishi Sunak than anticipated. Nonetheless, 81,326 votes to 60,399 was sufficient to guarantee her a secure margin – for the moment. (The turnout had[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Six months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States, NATO and the European Union (EU) wrapped themselves in the Ukrainian flag, shelled out billions for arms shipments, and imposed draconian sanctions intended to severely punish Russia for its aggression. Since then, the people of Ukraine have been paying a price for this war[Read More…]
Today the world commemorates the 25th death anniversary of Mother Teresa. Whatever her gross flaws, she rendered service to humanity in regions almost untranscended, resembling the relentless spirit of the waves of an Ocean. Irrespective of community or religion. she offered her service. Even those not drawn by sainthood revere the role of Mother Teresa. For 68 years, she had[Read More…]
The birth anniversary of second President of India, Dr. Surepalli Radhakrishnan ( who was born in brahmin family) is used to be celebrated as a teacher’s day on 5th september every year in our country with enthusiasm and dedications in schools and colleges across the nation. Dr. Radhakrishnan was also first Vice-President of our country and his contributions in education,[Read More…]
The sad death of former Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry in a road crash in Maharashtra on September 4 should create more awareness about the need for road safety. It is for the first time that such a high profile corporate figure has met with a road crash in recent years. This is mainly because corporates travel more by air[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Over the last few months, I have addressed the government more than once, expressing my concern at the undue haste in which the government has resorted to privatising CPSEs and their valuable assets. For ready reference, some of those letters may be accessed at the following web-links. https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/ https://www.moneylife.in/article/lic-ipo-gross-underestimated-valuation-put-it-on-hold-says-eas-sarma/66146.html https://countercurrents.org/2022/01/cpse-disinvestment-valuation-approach-flawed/ https://countercurrents.org/2022/07/privatisation-of-psu-banks-legal-and-other-implications/[Read More…]
Citing a leaked national strategy paper the Sunday Times reports: UK police fear a sharp rise in certain categories of crime and a risk of civil unrest this winter amid a cost of living and energy crisis. The document compiled by police chiefs warns that “economic turmoil and financial instability” may lead to an increase in offenses such as shoplifting,[Read More…]
As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. As a journalist, having access to only one side of the Russia-Ukraine[Read More…]
Donald Trump’s illegal retention of classified U.S. government records reminded me that I have been reading these kinds of sensitive official files after their declassification―and learning from them―for decades. The reason is that I am a scholar of international history and, in this connection, have drawn upon such material in my research. Governments keep secrets, and to understand the full[Read More…]
Global Leaders lack Understanding of the Nature, Peace and Human Security To manifest global peace and human security, We, the People of conscience ask for a reasoned dialogue for peace between the warring parties. There is no place for complicity to maintain ignorance to atrocities and emerging calamities or acrimonious spell of violence and madness on the other side. Superiority[Read More…]
Nomadic communities have suffered from increasing marginalization in recent times as both their needs and potential have not received the due attention and understanding. On the one hand their rights are trodden upon and violated by powerful forces, on the other hand whatever development work is initiated for them fails to take account of their real and considerable potential, their[Read More…]
Last month, there were celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. August 1947 is indeed a month of celebration in India for liberation from British colonial rule (on 15th August) and in Pakistan for the birth of a new nation (14th August). However, for Punjab and Bengal, this memory of celebration is mixed with the one of pain caused[Read More…]
Khaled Barakat and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network international coordinator Charlotte Kates attending the conference of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle Toronto, Canada 2013 (courtesy: Khaled Barakat) Palestinian writer and researcher Khaled Barakat, whose activism and writing aims to expand the pro-Palestinian movement at a mass level by educating young Palestinians outside Palestine, is being subjected to a smear[Read More…]
There has been an increasing, welcome trend in many parts of world for seeking a better, unbiased and more comprehensive understanding of real-life impacts of large dams. This is to a substantial part driven by the actual experience of several leading and highly publicized dam projects which turned out to be very different from the rosy promises made earlier. The[Read More…]
Background It is high time to unravel the myth of the Kerala model, which as a State is actually bankrupt and highly unstable. In the following I aim to underscore this reality which is sought to be glossed over by ideological irrelevancies propagated[Read More…]
Looking inward Found arrows Shot to forestall my growth. Trying to dismantle the chain, Threw back the arrows, Culminating in a painful war, Where the loved one Stood amidst. Looking outside, Found number of errors, Where a woman is mocked for her irrationality, Labelled as “immature” for her actions and being Questioned of her whole existence, Conditioned and crushed for[Read More…]
The union government has often voiced its support for natural farming but this is not yet seen in real change in government’s commitments. The government’s subsidies in favor of agriculture are still heavily biased in favor of chemical fertilizers or overall agro-chemical intensive farming or ‘green revolution’ type farming. This farming also tends to use water and power in greater[Read More…]
Charkha Development Communication Network announces Sanjoy Ghose Media Awards 2022. These jury-based awards aim to celebrate the work of people committed to a new perspective on the media’s role in empowering young girls and women from rural communities. These awards are inspired by Charkha’s founder, Sanjoy Ghose, who worked towards the social and economic inclusion of marginalized rural communities[Read More…]
When the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on 2 August 2022, it predictably enraged China because the island is part of China. The visit was thus a condescending challenge to China especially when it was backed up by a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and military jets. Pentagon provided fighter jets as escorts for Pelosi’s congressional visit with[Read More…]
The Marxist Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) celebrated its 40th anniversary with a weekend of celebration from August 25-28 in town of Gelsenkirchen. The 1500 who attended were party members from across Germany, their families, residents of the local community, and international guests representing revolutionary parties and organizations from 31 countries across five continents. Andy Koch, the National Organizer of[Read More…]
Tamil Eelam is the historical homeland of the Tamil nation of the island of Ceylon (today known as Sri Lanka). In ancient Tamil literatures, the island was referred to as Eelam. Tamil Eelam is the modern collective name for the Tamil-speaking territories of the precolonial Tamil kingdoms and principalities that existed in the districts of Jaffna, Killinochi, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya,[Read More…]
Ghulam Nabi Azad’s decision to quit Congress party and apparently test his own political standing by forming his party has raised speculations in several political camps. Of course, Congress has a reason to be disturbed by a senior member parting ways and adding to doubts being circulated about this party’s leadership. Prospects of Azad’s “friendship” with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)[Read More…]
Rima Najjar I have just filled out the form of appeal to the Facebook and Instagram Oversight Board, which describes itself as “Ensuring respect for free expression, through independent judgment.” The form provides space just for 2000 characters, so I was not able to present my case fully. And the fact that the drop-down menu that asks which countries are[Read More…]
Letter to the Chief Ministers Respected Chief Ministers, Subject:- Increasing threat to federalism from Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs)– Need to form a Federal Front of the States to persuade the Centre not to proliferate CSSs, instead transfer existing CSSs with the associated fund allocations to the States I invite your attention to my letter dated March 2, 2022 addressed to[Read More…]
Eating food is not just a mechanical activity to fill our stomach. It has emotions, values, and beliefs shaped by our tradition, religion, and family associated with it. While we travel, we are often tempted by restaurants that claim to be serving ‘homely’ food. In Delhi, there is a restaurant named ‘Mother’s Kitchen’ which attracts a good crowd on weekends.[Read More…]
How bad can it (climate change) get? The sky’s the limit! No pun intended. Still, the general public is tired of negative articles about climate change. It turns them off. Climate change is impossible to deal with. It’s too much; it’s too negative! As a result, baffling emails come with loud and clear messages, some subtle but some not so[Read More…]
While Ukraine has received enormous aid from around the world since the Russian invasion began in February, open support for Russia should not be dismissed. On August 24, Ukraine’s independence day, the U.S. provided a $3 billion military aid package to the country. The additional assistance adds to more than $80 billion worth of support that Kyiv has already received between January[Read More…]
In recent years concern has been expressed that the number of homeless persons in the USA has ranged between 500,000 to 600,000, too high for such a rich country. However now the number of homeless people here appears likely to increase very rapidly in the near future. Why? Nearly one-third of the households, mostly in the lower-income groups and racial[Read More…]
In an editorial dated 01 Sep 2022 the New Indian Express has raised an important issue about the final aim of reservation – whether to remove social and educational backwardness or end untouchability. Because of the judicial mill grinding frustratingly slow; the fact that in the fast changing internet manipulations access to important materials already published is limited for various[Read More…]
CNN reports that satellite photos show that the overflowing Indus has created a new body of water in southern Pakistan some 62 miles (100km) wide. It will take days or weeks for the water to recede, and in the meantime millions are left homeless and over all, 33 million people have been affected by the worst monsoon floods in recorded history. CNN quotes Pakistan’s[Read More…]
On August 28, a Workers Convention of the North Indian region held by Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan (MASA) against the 4 new Labour Codes, anti-worker policies and privatization. The Convention, organized at Rajendra Bhawan in Delhi on 28th Aug i.e. the 6th foundation anniversary of MASA, witnessed the participation of delegates from Delhi, NCR (Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Meerut etc.),[Read More…]
Soon after the Second World War ended, the British government with its vast colonial empire made significant territorial concessions to the USA which could facilitate the rapid spread of USA military bases in many parts of the world. In addition of course the defeated Axis countries and their territories could provide another suitable place for the rapid proliferation of the[Read More…]
Citing anonymous sources CNN claimed on Thursday, U.S. officials helped prepare the Ukrainian military for its counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south of the country. In its article, CNN, one of largest US news organizations, alleged that this assistance included joint “war gaming” analytical exercises designed to help the Ukrainians get a clear picture of how much personnel and[Read More…]
The recent effort to indirectly acquire NDTV by Adani enterprises is an effort in the direction of creating another Godi media. Much of the mainstream national media is already a ‘Godi media’ and perhaps it is believed that this will put an end to independent media in the mainstream media space. Godi media can perhaps be described as an extension[Read More…]
The Zameen Prapt Sangharsh commitee on August 29th lodged a sustained protest outside the District Collectors office in Patiala, under the leadership of Zonal secretary Gurvinder and Dharamveer Harigadh. Around 50 persons participated. Mukesh Malaudh adressed a gathering, stating that the authorities in villages of Patiala reverted their decision to distribute Panchayat land for agricultural labourers and even in the[Read More…]
House: house made of wood is on fire. Fiery winds blow our ashes away. Burning forests and the grasslands. House: house made of clay. Raging waters wash towns away. Death by drowning the epic ooze. House of storms house of stars without a roof without foundation. Children of thirst frail with hunger. Dreamers not dreaming the haven of[Read More…]
Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed on May 11, 2022, while reporting from the West Bank during an Israeli military operation was honored last night at the National Press Club in Washington during the club’s 49th Annual National Press Club Journalism Awards Dinner. Al Jazeera DC Bureau Chief Abderahim Foukara noted that the shooting of his colleague[Read More…]
Incarcerations, brutality, and torture are common in the U.S. Activists claim that this amounts to a war waged against racially marginalized, poor, and working-class people. The very laws and government agencies created to protect the people in the United States are increasingly being weaponized against those who are often marginalized in society: people of color, the poor, and the working[Read More…]
Those who struggle to bring Israel to task for its crimes must reveal the nefarious use of the holocaust and spurious charges of anti-Semitism that attempt (and succeed) to shield Israel from criticism. Before the exposure is accomplished, nothing else will succeed in liberating the Palestinians from Israel’s genocidal actions. Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, demonstrated political naiveté when replying to[Read More…]
Gujarat Carnage (2002) was one of the major acts of anti Minority violence. It was a catastrophe which took the degree of violence, hate and ghettoization to higher degree. Much before the violence the term, “Gujarat: Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra” was well popularized. On the pretext of Godhra train burning; Gujarat carnage was unleashed in which over one thousand people[Read More…]
One thing is constant in India: violence. The perpetrators are the same; only the faces of those who encounter and resist the violence change. In India, or JatiIndia — my name for this nation of jatis/castes — the social hierarchical structure of jatiism/casteism and the inherent violence that goes with it stems from the country’s tree of systemic upper-caste supremacy[Read More…]
The state is featured among the top five states having more number of atrocity cases against SCs and STs. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its annual report Crime in India 2021 captures the trends of crime in our country. The report contains crime against vulnerable sections such as women, children, senior citizens and SC’s and ST’s and others. As[Read More…]
This is the birth centenary year of renowned playwright, director, actor Habib Tanvir. He was born on 1 September 1923 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Habib Tanvir’s father Hafiz Ahmed Khan was a resident of Peshawar (Pakistan). Habib Tanveer completed his schooling in Raipur. After this he graduated from Nagpur University in 1944 and MA from Aligarh Muslim University. After that he[Read More…]
The annual State of the Climate report ( https://ametsoc.net/sotc2021/StateoftheClimate2021_lowres.pdf) report published Wednesday in the U.S. shows that in 2021, greenhouse gas (GHG) levels, global sea levels, and ocean heat reached record highs. The international report was led by scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. “The data presented in this report are clear[Read More…]
Risks of nuclear weapons have become alarmingly high due to a number of factors. Giving one indication of this, the Union of Concerned Scientists, USA, has written recently that warheads on just one US nuclear armed submarine have SEVEN times the destructive power of ALL the bombs dropped during World War II including the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan.[Read More…]
Australians were astonished by the revelation in August that former Prime Minister Scott Morrison had secretly been appointed by the Governor General, General David Hurley, as a Minister for Health, Minister for Treasury, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Finance, and Minister for Resources and Water. These extraordinary and secret actions, while legal, have grossly violated the core principles of[Read More…]
Former Brazilian President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva (known as Lula) runs about on stage at the Latin America Memorial in São Paulo. He was there on August 22, 2022, speaking at a book launch featuring photographs by Ricardo Stuckert about Lula’s trips around the world when he was the president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. Lula is a[Read More…]
“There was no Massacre in Jenin” was the title of a Haaretz editorial on April 19, 2002, one week after Israel ended its deadly onslaught on the besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the northern West Bank. The unwarranted conclusion by Haaretz, other Israeli media and, ultimately, numerous western outlets was not the outcome of a thorough investigation carried out by[Read More…]
Gorbachev set out to reform the Soviet Union and make the entire world a less dangerous place to live in. If he had succeeded, the mad race for weapons of mass destruction would have not only slowed down but, assuming the best possible outcome, there was a real chance of their elimination or the elimination process at least starting. Much[Read More…]
Wildfire Smoke Chokes Eastern US 
Terracidal But Ignored Carbon Debt From Gas Exploitation By The World & Climate Criminal Australia 
China and Palestine: No To ‘Piecemeal Crisis Management’ 
Can China and the United States Establish Mutual Respect to Lessen Tensions? 
How Empire Fabricates Atrocities 
For Balanced Progress, Indian Railways Must Get Their Priorities Right 
Determining Scheduled Area: An Update 
The new Parliament house may be dangerously undemocratic 
Ranajit Guha: A duality of literature and history 
DIPAM’s hasty moves to disinvest the government’s residual share in HZL highly imprudent and against the public interest 
A Climate of Betrayal 
Deserving Each Other: The PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger 
The World Economy Is Changing—the People Know, but Their Leaders Don’t 
Tribute to Chris Hani on 30th martyrdom Anniversary 
Proper Treatment of Rail Accident Victims Demands Long-term Commitment and Support 
What the Kailasa Con Job Reveals About the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh 
Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case 
The writing is on the wall: Farmers warn Parliamentarians 
The End Stage of American Empire 
End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now 
Brasilia summit: Lula and Maduro reboot regional integration 
Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024 
Five years behind bars for five activists 
Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case 
Diluted Sovereignty: A Very Australian Example 
Conflict, Migration, and Demography in Russia and Its Border Regions 
Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase 
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
Looking for Home in an Overheating World – If Emissions Continue, Will We All Be Migrants Someday? 
From Ploughshares to Swords—Sudden Militarism of Those Who Once Stood for Peace 
Transreality 
Australia stands to benefit from India only if Indian democracy survives, not from rallies 
Whether Rhetoric or Serious, Arab Diplomacy Can’t Be Ignored! 
Unleashing the Power of Sports: How Sporting Events Drive Tourism Growth 
Black Panther and the need to dream for a better world 
Mexico’s Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on “the Verge of Civil War” 
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…]
