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Mr Mohan Bhagwat,RSS chief in his speech preceding Pranab Mukherjee’s in the RSS headquarters made a reference which seems very questionable but has attracted little notice.In quoting a Sanskrit subhashit, a saying, he virtually ridiculed intellectual debate. Those who use learning for debate are wicked., he said. This was in keeping with the current dumbing down of knowledge and[Read More…]
Kiran Nagarkar, well-known novelist, floated the idea during his recent interaction with activists that some kind of a rasta roko agitation could be held to check the growing congestion caused by cars, to assert people’s right to the road and to help increase the speed of BEST buses. The car lobby , the traffic police and the whole establishment will[Read More…]
Imagine losing dear, tender teenage daughters in violence and still seeking not revenge but fighting for a new society built on justice and seeking peace. It was inspiring to listen to two peace activists, an Israeli and a Palestinian , in Mumbai last Sunday talk about how they have come to terms with their personal grief. Rami Elhanan’s daughter Smaddar,[Read More…]
When it comes to plundering of public spaces for the benefit the builder lobby, there is not much to choose in Mahrashtra between the Shiv Sena-BJP combine or the Congress parties. In the year 2005 during the Congress rule, Ganesh Naik, environment and forest minister, openly talked of the need to sell public spaces. That these were very scarce in[Read More…]
The spectacular red flag , disciplined march of farmers spearheaded by the kisan wing of the Communist party of India (M), and other Left organizations in Maharashtra has galvanized public opinion. The week-long march which reached Mumbai on March 12 is a great morale booster for the Left. The images of sore feet of women and men trudging nearly 180[Read More…]
This beats even Hema Malini’s absurd observation in the wake of the fire in the Kamala mill compound in Mumbai last December in which 14 people mainly from affluent families were killed. She blamed it on the influx of people from outside for the city’s problems. That was bad enough for a BJP MP and popular film actor. But at[Read More…]
One can understand the BJP suppressing the involvement of its drunken leader in the killing of nine school children and injuring 20 other children in broad daylight in Bihar last week. But why did a large section of the media join in suppressing the news while it gave saturation coverage to the death of film star Sridevi ?. We are[Read More…]
Pity the rich, wrote American popular comedian Will Durst recently in a satirical vein. They face too many problems. No body robs the poor but the rich are always afraid of robbers. But actually the rich rob the poor. He then went on to refer to the rich as open cancer sores on the face of society. One was reminded[Read More…]
This luxury 24 storey high rise building represents an assault on the heart of Mumbai. This is in Mahim geographically the heart of the metropolis as Mahim connects the island city with the suburbs. The skyscraper is an eyesore amidst low-rise housing but more than that it has come up on the bus depot of the BEST Undertaking .[Read More…]
I was impressed by the pleasant ambience of the Trivandrum railway station and the bus depot for long distance travel which is just across the road. This is how public transport should be but this has become so rare due to the callousness of our politicians and bureaucrats. The whole area is clean. And travel is really seamless. I[Read More…]
Vineeta Bal, a former member of the Prime Minister’s task force for science, narrated a humorous poem by the Marathi poet Sopandev Chaudhari last week to underscore the importance of scientific temper. The poem points out that Newton could think of the law of gravity when he saw the apple fall to the ground while some of us can[Read More…]
Some times creative writers give insighs into problems better than experts. During the wave of the Theatre of the Absurd Achyut Vaze wrote a play in the 1970s in which the characters wait for a bus which never arrives like Godot in Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. One is reminded of Vaze’s play Chal Re Bhopalya by the[Read More…]
One can understand the annoyance Maharashtra’s director general of police Satish Mathur faced last Monday when he was stuck in traffic for half an hour in the central business district CBD Belapur. Four policemen were transferred for failing not to clear the way for him. Mr Mathur would feel much less annoyed if he realized that his discomfort is nothing[Read More…]
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s announcement last week to set up an urban arts commission for Mumbai is well intentioned. But it comes at an odd time. Several leaders of his party, the BJP, at the national level have shown little respect for some of the finest monuments of the country and now party MLA Sangeet Som calls the Taj[Read More…]
The implications of the stampede which killed 23 people and injured 39 at Elphinstone road railway station in Mumbai on September 29, are larger than we have seen so far. I visited the station and surrounding area three days in the last one week and noticed that the treatment of commuters is far more inhuman than we thought. Two[Read More…]
I saw an interesting French comedy film Boss’s Daughter recently. It was also remarkable because of the intelligent use of the concept of ergonomics which involves right use of technology for the human body at the workplace, home or travel. In his film the boss’s daughter uses the science of ergonomics to see how work in her father’s factory is[Read More…]
Considering its huge budget, it is perhaps not surprising that there has been so much orchestrated praise in the media for the film Bahubali 2 with its record box office collections. It is disturbing enough but more questionable is the RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya championing the film as an ideal expression of Hindu values . One can give any spin[Read More…]
Beijing, the Chinese capital could well be a model for India’s Swachh Bharat mission of cleanliness. Toilets are everywhere in the city, I noticed during my two-week visit to Beijing last month. It could also be a model for us in public transport. I experienced this through my constant walks in different parts of the city and travel by[Read More…]
All media focus currently is on whether the BJP or the Shiv Sena will have its Mayor in Mumbai following a hung house after the recent civic election. Real issues usually remain buried, unexplored. Look at the neglect of public spaces despite the increasingly poisonous air . Mumbai city’s deterioration can be understood in the context of the concern[Read More…]
One has to be really affluent or be in rich surroundings to walk with ease in India, it seems. I was in a very upmarket gated colony of bungalows in Bangalore last week. There were footpaths on both sides, lined with palm trees, there was little traffic and one could enjoy the walking. This is a highly protected environment. The[Read More…]
The money crisis is more painful because of is suddenness. But the government has been causing hardships to citizens for years through various ways. One is the anti-people policy on transport. The pain is spread over a long time and we do not feel it so intensely. The government has inflicted motorization on the country without any safeguards to vulnerable[Read More…]
Gandhinagar, 13 November, 2016: This turned out to be quite a travesty of Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings in the land of his birth. This was in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat . The occasion was the inauguration of an official government of India conference on urban transport on November 8 but the inauguration proved to be a well-planned[Read More…]
Mumbai: Despite advances in technology, life is getting worse for users of public transport . This is at least partly because of the callous way the technology is being handled. The seats in the big brand new coaches in the local Western railway trains in Mumbai are clearly uncomfortable. I tried out both in first and second class. I[Read More…]
The Maharashtra government is back to its policy of privatizing open public spaces in Mumbai. Ordinary people are the losers because of this policy declared on July 27. . The upper class is not bothered because it has created its own spaces for recreation when it is not grabbing public space. I got a glimpse recently when I attended a[Read More…]
Bombay Gymkhana Mumbai: The 140-year-old Bombay Gymkhana asserted its elite and exclusive character earlier this month. It voted after much debate not to admit senior government officers as members. But then how come this class, so keen to preserve its privilege , has for years so openly intruded upon public space just outside its premises for almost 20 years ?.[Read More…]
Mumbai: A man murdered a woman in Mumbai recently because he was afraid she was going to deprive him of his job as a temporary watchman. This shows the crisis of employment in Mumbai. And this is a city which among all places in India is supposed to provide the maximum employment opportunity. And the watchman security industry is one[Read More…]
Published Posthumously 
America Targets Yemen’s Children for Death by Starvation 
“A Watershed Moment in Palestinian History”: Interview with Jamal Juma’ 
The more plausible and reasonable history of Palestine and Israel 
Rocking the G7: Trump Stomps His Allies 
Foreign interference in Australia 2. British devastation, perversion & subversion of Australia 
North Korea: What Price Peace? 
North Korea Can Never Trust the U.S.A. 
Science In Vernacular Languages – Beneficial? 
Bangladesh’s World Cup Frenzy Dribbling Beyond the Obvious 
In Love With The World 
The West Is Spreading Sick, Racist, Anti-Chinese Nihilism 
Five die fleeing US immigration police as children spend Father’s Day in jail 
Three Dalit Boys Stripped, Beaten And Paraded Naked For Swimming In Village Well In Maharashtra 
Protect Immigrants’ Rights; End The Crises That Drive Migration 
Before We Are All Crippled Beyond Recognition 
An Empire of Exploitation, A World of Misery, And the Revolution Humanity Cries Out For 
Is Indian Democracy Dying? 
Possibility Of Global Nuclear Disarmament? 
The AAP Dharna: Congress Party’s Silence Is Disturbing 
Over sixty organizations have released a poster demanding the release of Dalit activist and Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ who is incarcerated in Saharanpur jail. Azad is in prison since June 2017, put away as a threat to ‘national security’ for championing the cause of India’s Dalits – a community repeatedly subjected to racist violence, rape, inhumane untouchability practices,[Read More…]
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