Sarabha to Saibaba: an unending story of state repression
November 16 marks the 107th martyrdom day of a towering revolutionary of the Indian freedom struggle. Kartar Singh Sarabha was executed in 1915 in British India for waging a war…
2022
Bt cotton– Farmers Burdened With Expensive, Dependence Increasing, More Pest Susceptible Varieties
During the last two decades the experiences of over 7 million cotton growing farmers in India, the world’s highest producer of cotton, has changed drastically as a diversity of cotton…
Don’t kill the heritage forest in Greater Nicobar island
Diversion of 130.75 sq km of heritage forest land in Greater Nicobar island for a Mega Infrastructure Project violates every conceivable environmental norm To Shri Bhupender Yadav Union Minister for…
Understanding Nehru’s world vision from his first television appearance on BBC
Iawahar Lal Nehru’s life and world always fascinated me. He speaks like a ‘teacher’ and one would be glued to him when we watch old videos of his press conferences…
Commercialisation of football in India is not the solution
The discussion on football in India was so evasive about real issues at the Tata literature festival last Sunday in the context of the world cup football beginning this Sunday…
Alarming Data on Child Mental Health is a Wake-up Call for Honest Look at Social Malaise
If 1 out of 2 high school girls feel persistently sad or hopeless and one out of six students plan suicide in a year, isn’t it time for a society…
Taliban Bring Back Executions And Amputations In Afghanistan
Executions, stonings and amputations are possible punishments for crimes once more in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordered Afghan judges to impose Sharia-law punishments for certain crimes, according…
Istanbul Blast: PKK Rejects Involvement
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish militia group, which is banned in Turkey as a terrorist organization, said on Monday that it was not involved in the Sunday explosion…
COP27: Rainbow in the Dark — Alaa and Peaceful Dissenters!
It is the fall of 2022. Close to 33,000 delegates across the world are in Egypt. Not in Cairo, Giza, or Alexandria, but across the Gulf of Suez in Sharm…
Sapiens: Myth, Foraging and Agriculture
“On a hike in East Africa 2 million years ago, you might well have encountered a familiar cast of human characters: anxious mothers cuddling their babies and clutches of carefree…
Workers march in Delhi against anti-worker labour codes and privatization
Thousands of workers from every corner of the country swarmed to raise their voices in unison at the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, as part of Mazdoor Aakrosh Rally organized…
Amazon Rainforest Crisis Report at COP27
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued a new Living Amazon Report, 2022 at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The eye-opening report defines a horror story of human destruction of the…
Washington and the Destruction of ex-Yugoslavia
South-East Europe, and especially the Balkan Peninsula as the main part of it, have traditionally been the object of numerous geopolitical, geostrategic, and publicist analyses, as well as the subject…
Chinese Geopolitical Inroads Into Central Asia Are Coming at Russia’s Expense
The Ukraine war has revitalized the silent competition between China and Russia in Central Asia. Despite the steady shift in China’s favor since the Soviet collapse, Russia’s entrenched influence and…
(Un) Comfortably Numb
Kudos to Pink Floyd and their 1979 classic ' Comfortably Numb' for inspiring me to write this critique. With the news that it looks like the Democrats will continue to…
Las Vegas
The Gangsters were all waiting for me Their uninvited guest Their cigarettes were all lighted Their black ties were all straight I owed them without knowing And now had to…
Poise
Young with the wisdom Of an elder Unfair. No childhood. That’s your life Not allowed ever To be angry Not allowed to raise Your hands Smile through it…
Bharat Jodo Yatra: Churnings in Indian Society and Electoral Challenges
The humongous success of Bharat Jodo Yatra has brought forth many a dormant issues of Indian society and politics to the fore. While its title does hint to combat social…
Nehru and RSS
A day after the country became independent and Nehru was sworn-in as its first Prime Minister, he conveyed to the nation his undivided resolve in fighting communalism and separatism, with…
Delhi anganwadi workers boycott elections
22,000 Anganwadi workers pledge to boycott AAP and BJP in Delhi civic polls and set to ban entry of 'AAP' and 'BJP' candidates in their neighbourhoods | The Delhi…
Sajjan-The Thug
Some recent political developments in India remind me of a legend associated with the founder of Sikhism. Guru Nanak, whose birth anniversary was celebrated on November 8, is credited for…
World Population To Reach 8 Billion Tomorrow, Growth Rate Slows
Tomorrow, November 15, 2022, is predicted to be the day that the global population reaches eight billion. The projection is revealed in the UN’s World Population Prospects 2022 report, which…
The Secret Wars of the US Imperium
To get to where they are, imperial powers will deceive, dissimulate and distort. The US imperium, that most awesome of devilish powers, has tentacled itself across the globe, often unbeknownst…
Our Global (Dis)Order and Climate Change
Washington’s vaunted “rules-based international order” has undergone a stress test following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and here’s the news so far: it hasn’t held up well. In fact, the disparate…
Congressional Amendment Opens Floodgates for War Profiteers and a Major Ground War on Russia
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Senators Inhofe and Reed from the Senate Armed Services Committee Photo credit: AP If the powerful leaders of the Senate…
For Lula’s Victory to Matter: A Proposal for a Unified Palestinian Foreign Policy
Palestinians and their supporters are justified in celebrating the election victory of the leftist presidential candidate, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brazil’s runoff elections on October 30. But Lula's…
Millions Suffer as Junk Food Industry Rakes in Profit
Increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019. That is the finding of a new peer-reviewed study in the American…
In Memory of Leonard Cohen
Do you think that love is waiting Do you think that someone's there There are only the hounds retreating There is only a ghost going up the stairs Now all…
Jeremy Seabrook Has Brought Deep Sympathy and Brilliant Insights to Writings on the Unprivileged
There are few writers who have displayed such consistency and continuity in their writings on justice and concerns of the unprivileged as Jeremy Seabrook. His writings on these and other…
November 11: The Command of the Donkeys Continues
It’s a grotesque, ceremonial observance, marked by a degree of unpardonable acceptance. The First World War, which killed millions, extirpated classes in Europe, and destroyed monarchies, established a mawkish ritual…
Challenges on ‘World Day of the Poor’!
On 17 October 2022, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), released its annual Global Multidimensional Poverty Index(GMPI) report ‘Unpacking deprivation bundles to…
India to be “a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25”- Winners and Losers
In 2019, Prime Minister Modi envisioned “to make India a USD 5-trillion economy and global powerhouse by 2024-25” (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/each-state-must-define-a-target-to-make-india-5-trillion-economy-pm-modi/articleshow/92288178.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst). More recently, he said. “BJP’s double-engine governments see India’s need for…
Climate Change Discourse—the Meaning of Changing Economy and Society
In the discourse on climate change, as the inadequacy of incremental change is increasingly realized, we are now beginning to hear those much needed words more frequently—that much wider changes…
COP27 Ignores Carbon Price, Climate Costs, Carbon Debt, Full Reparations & Global South
The COP27 Climate Change Conference is underway in Egypt but failure born of neoliberal greed is already apparent. COP27 is ignoring the fundamental realities of Carbon Price, Carbon Debt, and…
Covid Protections- Not War!
Presentation at the People’s Public Health Conference, November 4, 2022 Introduction: This talk will define imperialism and apply it to Russia and the US, identify the material and political causes…
Moving towards an unfree internet: The amended IT Rules, 2021
The amended IT Rules, 2021 were notified in end-October this year by MeitY, the electronics and IT ministry of the Indian government. They were withdrawn in June this year after…
Airport in Azamgarh – Development or Destruction?
by Rajeev Yadav, Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey Azamgarh is a lively district of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Because of the entrepreneurial nature of people here Azamgarh is described as Kerala…
Janhasatakshep discussion on ‘Threat to Democracy”
A well-attended and qualitative discussion on “The Threat to Democracy” was organized by Janhastakshep on the 8th of November, 2022 in the Conference Hall at the Press Club of India.…
Reservations on Reservation
While not entirely unexpected, the SC verdict on reservation for economically weaker sections has caused dismay and disappointment among those already enjoying reservation.It is not envy of the newly reserved…
SC Verdict on EWS: A Paradigm Shift in Reservation and a Strategic Manuvadi Leap Towards Hindurashtra
Supreme Court’s split verdict on EWS that upholds the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act of January 2019 brought out by Modi government providing 10% economic reservation to the economically backward upper…
A rejoinder to Dr Ram Puniyani’s article on Kashmir
This is a rejoinder to Dr Ram Puniyani’s article “Kashmir: Blatant Distortions of History, an obstacle to Peace" Please allow me to state right at the outset that I have…
Killing Sharks for Fin Soup
Worldwide, eleven thousand (11,000) sharks will be killed within the next 60 minutes. That’s 180 sharks per minute; it’s a bloody affair. One hundred million (100,000,000) are killed per year,…
What Was Humanity’s First Cultural Revolution?
We live in a fast-moving, technology-dominated era. Happiness is fleeting, and everything is replaceable or disposable. It is understandable that people are drawn to a utopian vision. Many find refuge…
Attack on rationalists in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur, condemned
On 8th November,22 ,a group of self-styled Hindu extremists attacked the on going in-house meet of the Rationalists at Lohia Academy in Bhubaneswar as well as in Berhampur town of…
Red Alert on 19 Hunger Hot-Spots Issued, But Will Help Reach in Time?
The Global Report on Food Crisis has been drawing attention to the people affected by acute hunger annually for seven years, and this year its recently presented estimates stated that…
Eternal Command
Stand at attention All you dogs And make fire for me Do not take the white branches From under the sea Leave me the Winter's song On my tired breast…
Biden nods to compromise in Ukraine
The midterm elections in the US witnessed razor-thin races as Senate and House control hangs in the balance. But that didn’t discourage President Biden from holding a press conference on Wednesday to…
Memorial meeting for late civil liberties activist Japa Lakshma Reddy
Paying homage to stalwart and martyr of Civil Liberties Movement, Japa Lakshma Reddy, a public meeting under the supervision of Civil Rights Association Joint Karimnagar District Committee, was held on…
Working Conditions Of Workers In China
Real wage growth indices in G20 countries, 2008-13, (2008=100) Source: Estimates based on NBS: National Data; and ILO: Global Wage Database. *** *** Media across the world and India is…
Carbon Emissions From Fossil Fuels Will Hit Record Levels This Year
Figure 1Surface average atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppm). Since 1980, monthly data are from NOAA/GML (Dlugokencky and Tans, 2022) and are based on an average of direct atmospheric CO2 measurements from multiple stations in…
Kashmir: Blatant Distortions of History, an obstacle to Peace
The abrogation of Article 370 was done with the claims that this step will restore peace and give security for the hapless Kashmiri Pundit community. Three years down the line…
Why does the U.S. Government support nazis all around the world?
On November 7th, I headlined “U.S. and Allies Vote For Nazism at U.N.”, and opened: Annually, each year, since 2005, the U.S. Government has been one of only from 1…
Lula Must Save Brazil From Savage Capitalism, Says Federal Deputy Juliana Cardoso
by Vijay Prashad and Zoe Alexandra Juliana Cardoso is sitting in her office in front of a lavender, orange, and yellow mandala that was made for her. She has been…
The Intolerable Price You Pay – A Civilian Addresses American Veterans on Veterans Day
[Denton-Borhaug will give a version of this talk virtually to Veterans for Peace Chapter 102 at a Reclaim Armistice Day meeting at the Milwaukee City Hall Rotunda this Veteran’s Day.]…
Who Knew: We’re Here Because We’re Here Because We’re Here Because We’re Here
My title comes from a song sung by soldiers as they marched to hell in the trenches of World War I and the same song my sisters and I sang in the…
Night of the Golden Butterfly: An Intense Political Elegy
The novel Night of the Golden Butterfly (2010) by eminent Marxist intellectual and author, Tariq Ali, is a narrative which paints a dystopian vision of what political authoritarianism looks like.…
As Hunger Situation Aggravates, African Farmers Speak Strongly for Agro-Ecology
The World Food Organization and the World Food Program recently released a joint review of the world-level acute hunger situation for the period October 2022—January 2023. This review starts by…
No Poet
I'm not really a poet I'm anti-gravity I'm stale mashed potatoes and gravy I'm what's left out After your last pay check I'm the last words your wife says Before…
Allama Iqbal: Religion and Revolution
November 9, 2022, was the 145th birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal – a globally renowned South Asian Muslim poet, and philosopher. The contemporary period of renewed cultural atavisms has…
In 2 Years, Justice Chandrachud Will Either Be A Hero Or Eternally Infamous
When Justice Ranjan Gogoi took over as Chief Justice of India (CJI), there was much expectation that he would reign in the systematic undermining of the Constitution of India and…
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