India

Addressing Malnutrition in Jharkhand: Progress, Challenges, and the Path Forward

Addressing Malnutrition in Jharkhand: Progress, Challenges, and the Path Forward

Abstract: Malnutrition remains a significant public health concern in India, and the state of Jharkhand faces unique challenges in combating this issue. This academic article explores the prevalence of malnutrition in Jharkhand, explicitly focusing on chronic malnutrition in infants, healthcare infrastructure, government initiatives, and the Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anemia Reduction (SAAMAR) program. While progress has been[Read More…]

by 02/10/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Photo Credit -India Water Portal

For modernization and mechanization of sanitation work, Sanitary Workers must exert pressure

At present, the work of cleaning roads, drains and gutters in cities is mostly done manually by sanitation workers. In this, cleaning of roads, drains and gutters and dry latrines is done by hand. It is well known that almost all the employees engaged in this work come from the Dalit community. The salary of these people is very low,[Read More…]

by 02/10/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi  regime’s  double  standards

Modi  regime’s  double  standards

                                                 Our  foreign  minister  S. Jaishankar   has  earned  plaudits   both  within  India,  and  abroad  in  what  is  known  now  as  the  Global  South,  for  his  forthright  denunciation  of  the  `double  standards’  that  are  followed  by  the  Western [Read More…]

by 02/10/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The students took turns slapping their fellow student even as the teacher watched on. (Screengrab)

Let’s Stop Slapping! OR If India were a Classroom!

  That child getting slapped turning into a pulp woke me up again. I know, wake up to sleep again. But while I was in a briefly  awakened state, that scene literally broke me, like many of you might have shattered, seeing it and might have even cried. I did for sure. All the Aurangzebs  and the  Tipu Sultans were[Read More…]

by 02/10/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Lies about the Green Revolution Having Saved India from Hunger Can be Very Harmful for Policy

Lies about the Green Revolution Having Saved India from Hunger Can be Very Harmful for Policy

A lie repeated a hundred times will not turn a lie into a truth. The big media should realize this and stop perpetuating the lie of the green revolution saving India from hunger, long after the world has awakened to the reality of how harmful the green revolution has been from the point of nutrition, food safety, environment and climate[Read More…]

by 01/10/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur needs healing touch and Trust building – Not AFSPA

Manipur needs healing touch and Trust building – Not AFSPA

That the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been extended to the hill areas for more time, while the valley and a part of the state which has border with Assam has been left out of this draconian law is very disturbing. There is a lot of divide already among the people of Manipur. The geographical and demographic divide[Read More…]

by 30/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Clamour for Teachers Grows in Jharkhand – Parents Write to CM

Clamour for Teachers Grows in Jharkhand – Parents Write to CM

Hundreds of agitated parents, children and concerned citizens took out a rally and staged a dharna outside the Block office in Manika (Latehar district) today to protest against the rampant shortage of school teachers in the area. Almost half of all government primary schools in Manika Block have a single teacher, according to the Jharkhand government’s own data. The situation[Read More…]

by 29/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rifts in INDIA Alliance

Rifts in INDIA Alliance

Rahul Gandhi’s campaign to sew back the torn fabric of the country is in danger of coming unstuck with two senior leaders of the alliance suddenly breaking ranks and turning up in functions that celebrate BJP icons and causes.At the same time both continue to plead that they still belonged to the alliance and are not budging an inch from[Read More…]

by 29/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Ethnic Violence in Manipur, India, Explained

The Ethnic Violence in Manipur, India, Explained

The ethnoreligious violence in the Indian state of Manipur between Meiteis and Kukis has been ongoing since May, but it was only in July 2023 when a video went viral in India showing two women being paraded naked that the world began to pay attention to the situation in earnest. One of the women was reportedly sexually assaulted after the[Read More…]

by 29/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Union Health Ministry placing a cap on new medical colleges in States on the basis of the population criterion violates federalism

Union Health Ministry placing a cap on new medical colleges in States on the basis of the population criterion violates federalism

To Respected Chief Ministers Dear Respected Chief Minister, Kindly refer to my earlier letter of August 24-8-2021 on how some States lose out on delimitation for Parliamentary constituencies as a result of the revised population base year (copy enclosed for your reference). It appears that the Centre, along with its institutions, are using the population criterion indiscriminately to impose its[Read More…]

by 28/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur: a statement of concern and suggestions for peaceful resolution

Manipur: a statement of concern and suggestions for peaceful resolution

Vikalp Sangam Core Group’s response to the Manipur crisis is based on the fundamental principles of peace and of the wellbeing of all people and of the earth and all its life.   We, the undersigned members of Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) Core Group, consisting of over 80 organisations and networks across India, are shocked and outraged to witness the ongoing[Read More…]

by 28/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
An open letter to JNU VC – Your association with RSS defies humanism, anti-colonial struggle Indian democracy!

An open letter to JNU VC – Your association with RSS defies humanism, anti-colonial struggle Indian democracy!

Respected VC of JNU, Santishree Pandit Madam, Namaskaar! I hope the following report in one of the leading English dailies of India did not misreport you when it stated that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice-Chancellor (VC), Santishree Pandit while speaking at a book launch function on September 17, 2023 at Pune where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was present on the[Read More…]

by 27/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rising Islamophobia and Communal Discord: An Alarming Trend in BJP-Ruled States

Rising Islamophobia and Communal Discord: An Alarming Trend in BJP-Ruled States

In recent years, India has witnessed a concerning surge in hate speech and Islamophobia, particularly within states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This unsettling trend, highlighted  In a report by Hindutva Watch based in Washington, sheds light on the distressing reality that a staggering 80% of recorded hate speech incidents in the country occurred in BJP-ruled states. The[Read More…]

by 27/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price!

Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price!

These are critical times in India’s history: in fact, whether we would like to accept it or not, it is a break or make moment! At stake is the future of Indian democracy based on the visionary Constitution of India, rooted in the four non-negotiables of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity; at the stake is the sanctity of the pluralistic[Read More…]

by 27/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project

Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project

To Shri Ganeshi Lal The Hon’ble Governor Raj Bhavan, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha Email: govodisha@nic.in Sub: Appeal to immediately withdraw the notification for the public hearing on 16.10.2023 for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project in Rayagada and Kalahandi district, given the tense atmosphere of fear and persecution of local communities and organizations Respected Hon’ble Governor Shri Ganeshi Lal ji On 13[Read More…]

by 25/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs?

Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs?

Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA): India has launched a Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA) at the recent G20 meeting in Delhi. The official declaration of it, as reported, reads as follows: “The Alliance intends to expedite the global uptake of biofuel through facilitating technology advancements, intensifying utilisation of sustainable biofuels, shaping robust standard setting and certification through the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders.[Read More…]

by 25/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities

Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities

PIL Watch Group is watching with concern serious developments in Canada in recent months and the statements of Union Ministers and even opposition MPs; also the corporate press which is working overtime to damn India-Canada relations. The Indian government has expressed concern over violent incidents which have taken place in the recent past in Canada. The Union External Affairs Minister[Read More…]

by 25/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency

Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency

Hidden behind the dark, despotic aura oozing over India is a racial minority that holds power who defines the norm by imposing the social slavish mentality over the nation’s religious majority. Redefining the State as a racist, discriminatory’ money-machine’ facilitating transfer of wealth to the privileged elites – the 10% who now own more than 42% of India’s total wealth. [Read More…]

by 25/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy

Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy

It is not too long ago that a prolonged farmers’ movement in India to resist three new laws aimed at increasing corporate control over Indian farming had captured the imagination of the country. The widespread support and sympathy for this movement eventually led to the three controversial farm laws being scrapped by the government, a move that was appreciated. It[Read More…]

by 24/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya

Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya

Hindutva ideologue Golwalker had outlined the place of the minorities in the country in his much talked about book, We, or Our Nationhood Defined (1939),             There are only two courses open to these foreign elements (Muslims and Christians),          either to merge themselves into the national race and adopt its culture or live at its mercy    so long[Read More…]

by 24/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government

What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government

Coincidentally after the opposition parties came together to form INDIA (Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance), the ruling BJP is desisting from the use of word India in official communiqués and its parent organizations RSS has issued a fatwa that only word Bharat should be used for our country. While inviting the representative’s participants of G 20, the President issued the invitation in[Read More…]

by 24/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low

Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low

Recently the BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri made a hate speech against Danish Ali MP from BSP in parliament. The words used against Danish Ali being a Muslim were urgrawaadi (militant), aatankwadi (terrorist), mulla (slur used against Muslims), bhadwa (pimp) and katwa (circumcised). Instead of a condemnation by the ruling party, what was witnessed were the senior BJP leaders Harsh Vardhan[Read More…]

by 24/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Criminal Justice And Freedom of Speech

Criminal Justice And Freedom of Speech

In our time and country the vital liberty of thought and speech,so crucial for health of democracy,has been under severe stress for the strangest of reasons.Such freedom is being curbed in the name of preserving peace and harmony in society.Consider the legions of criminal cases relating to hate-speech and ‘hurting the sentiments of communities.’. Now it is true that hate-speech[Read More…]

by 24/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
On the Dark Side of the Moon..

On the Dark Side of the Moon..

On 23rd August,  Indian space research organization led lunar mission successfully landed on the moon. The soft landing online live event by ISRO has been named as the most viewed live streaming session globally with more than 80 lakhs of Peak Concurrent Views (PCVs). It has even surpassed the online viewership of the most popular football match in the history[Read More…]

by 23/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
In The Name of Decolonization

In The Name of Decolonization

(1) A deeply disturbing,indeed ominous feature of our contemporary debates and struggles on the question of the state has been the increasing penetration and dominance of Hindutva ideas in them. It has not occurred abruptly and suddenly,but over years,incrementally and with increasing force and conviction,supported by well-planned popular movements at the ground level.The opposition,after having long ignored it as of[Read More…]

by 21/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bayer over-riding Bhartiya Krishi

Bayer over-riding Bhartiya Krishi

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Bayer multinational company has signed a MoU on 1st September 2023. The collaboration aims to create innovative solutions for crops, crop protection, weed management, and mechanization that are both resource-efficient and resilient to climate change. The partnership says that they are concentrating on developing regenerative agricultural models, with a primary focus on rice[Read More…]

by 21/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Pulwama Bombing 14th February 2019: Unanswered Questions

Pulwama Bombing 14th February 2019: Unanswered Questions

by Sanjiv K Sood & Feroze Mithiborwala  Military Personnel and Civil Society Demand an Inquiry into the Pulwama Tragedy A powerful high intensity blast occurred on February 14, 2019 at Ladoo crossing near Lethpora (Awantipur) in the Pulwama district of J&K blast was so powerful that 40 transients (CRPF Personnel) in the ill-fated Bus were martyred. The responsibility for the attack[Read More…]

by 21/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Himalayan Apple Growers Worried Over Increasing Threat from Imports

Himalayan Apple Growers Worried Over Increasing Threat from Imports

Recently several fruit growers from Himalayan states, particularly from Kashmir, expressed their serious concern and resentment at the slashing of additional duties on imports of apples, walnuts and almonds from the USA. As is well-known, the fruit growers in the USA have the benefit of several government subsidies and it is difficult to compete against them. Now these worries may[Read More…]

by 21/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why the Central Government Should Rush Special Aid Package for Himachal Pradesh

Why the Central Government Should Rush Special Aid Package for Himachal Pradesh

On September 18 the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made an announcement in the State Legislative Assembly that his government will be announcing a special aid package for all people who have suffered serious harm in the recent spate of landslides, floods and excessive rain. He said that the state had not yet received the expected help[Read More…]

by 20/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Special Session: Another Image-Boosting Move?

Special Session: Another Image-Boosting Move?

Notwithstanding the importance accorded to this special session of the Parliament, one is prompted to deliberate on what really is key purpose behind convening it? As per reports, the new Parliament was fully completed this year in May. Amid controversies, it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. Several opposition parties boycotted this function as they felt[Read More…]

by 20/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Photo/by P K Rajan

Eddelu ( Wake up)  Karnataka:  The Great Citizen’s Wall Against BJP

by Dr Purushothama Bilimale/AK Shiburaj A few civil society representatives came forward during the last assembly elections of Karnataka ( 2023 May)  to oust the BJP from power at a time when the Sangh Parivar was making violent interventions in Karnataka’s culture, politics, and governance. It was later evaluated that the popular interventions carried out by the group Eddelu (Wake up) Karnataka[Read More…]

by 19/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Linking Aadhaar With NPR Records: Is it Based on Informed Consent?

Linking Aadhaar With NPR Records: Is it Based on Informed Consent?

Part 1:  On September 5, 2023, a group of citizens convened online to discuss the issue of Aadhaar imposition and overreach in the context of seeding Aadhaar numbers with NPR records. This discussion was a continuation of similar sessions in which experts and activists like Usha Ramanathan and Harsh Mander had also participated. Economist, author, and professor Jean Dreze, and[Read More…]

by 19/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
In the debates before 2024 Elections in India, Agenda for Justice, Peace, Democracy and Environment Most Needed

In the debates before 2024 Elections in India, Agenda for Justice, Peace, Democracy and Environment Most Needed

Introduction  As debates leading up to 2024 union elections in India preceded by some important state assembly become intense, it is not enough to talk about election alignments among various political parties and their seat adjustments; the questions relating to the most important priorities and a future agenda based on justice, equality, peace, environment protection and democracy must get the[Read More…]

by 19/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Providing Schools for the Most Marginalized Children in Remote Villages

Providing Schools for the Most Marginalized Children in Remote Villages

Rajaram Ka Purva is a remote rural hamlet in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh inhabited by the poorest of the poor. Almost none of the children in this hamlet are able to go to school. The reasons relate to poverty, distance of the nearest school as well as the unsafe path to school. Till these difficulties can be sorted out[Read More…]

by 18/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Is it prudent for the SBI-led consortium of PSU banks to extend loan assistance to the Adani Group’s Mundra Petrochemical unit in Gujarat?

Is it prudent for the SBI-led consortium of PSU banks to extend loan assistance to the Adani Group’s Mundra Petrochemical unit in Gujarat?

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, It is reported (https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/sbi-led-consortium-to-fund-adani-groups-34000-crore-pvc-project-in-mundra/article67097877.ece) that an SBI-led consortium of PSU banks is considering extending loan assistance to cover a significant portion of the cost (Rs 34,000 Crores) of the petrochemical project to be set up by  Adani Group’s Mundra Petrochem Ltd (MPCL) in Gujarat. If the above-cited report is correct,[Read More…]

by 17/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian farmers interest has been surrendered to the US to ensure G20 success

Indian farmers interest has been surrendered to the US to ensure G20 success

As part of the ongoing discussion between India and US on the sideline of the G20 meetings in 2023, both countries agreed to resolve their outstanding  dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO). From June 2023 to September 8, 2023 , there was lot off meeting and agreements. There was no comment or statement from Indian side, but Katherine Tai,[Read More…]

by 16/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Assam CM’s Claim That Bajrang Dal Has No Link With RSS, Contradicts RSS Archives

Assam CM’s Claim That Bajrang Dal Has No Link With RSS, Contradicts RSS Archives

A leading RSS cadre who happens to be the chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma true to his training at the RSS ‘boudhik shivirs’ (ideological training camps) resorted to a Hindutva trade-mark lie that  “The Bajrang Dal is not associated in any way with the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.” [‘RSS, BJP don’t even have a[Read More…]

by 16/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Foisting A Bluff on the Nation!

Foisting A Bluff on the Nation!

On 31 August, the Government called for a special session of Parliament for five days beginning on 18 September. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted, “Special Session of Parliament (13th Session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from 18th to 22nd September having five sittings. Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to having[Read More…]

by 16/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Message From Sudhir Vombatkere on “The International Day of Democracy”

Message From Sudhir Vombatkere on “The International Day of Democracy”

The International Day of Democracy was established by means of a UN General Assembly resolution in 2007, to encourage governments to strengthen & consolidate democracy. It is observed worldwide on 15 September. It is meant to recall the principles and values of democracy, and to uphold and promote democracy. This year’s theme for the International Day of Democracy is “Empowering[Read More…]

by 15/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Clamour About Sanatana Dharma

Clamour About Sanatana Dharma

Udayanidhi Stalin’s declaration of war against ‘Sanatana Hindu Dharma’ has provoked a wave of denunciation and diatribe in different parts of the country.The Prime Minister has thundered that the critics of this ‘Sanatana Dharma’ whom he identifies with the INDIA alliance of the opposition is set on wrecking the whole millennia-old edifice of Indian spiritual heritage. But what IS this[Read More…]

by 15/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Appeal to President of India: Election Machinery Should be Outside The Control of The Executive Government

Appeal to President of India: Election Machinery Should be Outside The Control of The Executive Government

To Smt. Droupadi Murmu The President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, Subject:- The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 introduced in the Parliament cuts at the root of India’s democracy- Request your urgent intervention before the Bill becomes a reality The government recently introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and[Read More…]

by 14/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Union Minister’s reported threat against those that speak against Sanatana Dharma

Union Minister’s reported threat against those that speak against Sanatana Dharma

To Shri Rajiv Gauba Cabinet Secretary Govt of India Dear Shri Rajiv Gauba, I have come across a disturbing news report (https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pull-out-tongue-gouge-out-eyes-union-minister-gajendra-shekhawat-on-sanatan-dharma-row-4383061) which stated, “Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said anyone who speaks against the Sanatan Dharma would have his tongue pulled out and his eyes gouged out. A video of Mr Shekhawat making the purported remarks went viral on social[Read More…]

by 13/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Implications of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s interview

Implications of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s interview

An interview of former finance minister and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has been published in the English daily ‘The Indian Express’ (8 September 2023). Information about the journalist/journalists who took this particular interview has not been given. It has been told to the readers that ‘The Indian Express’ has done this interview of Dr. Singh on the eve[Read More…]

by 12/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 Save River Save Life Campaign Gathers Momentum: River Fortnight Program Announced

 Save River Save Life Campaign Gathers Momentum: River Fortnight Program Announced

In a meet-the-press program at Press Club Kolkata on September 9 the Save River Save Life (Nodi Bachao Jibon Bachao or NBJB in Bangla) campaign announced its program regarding this year’s World River Day on September 24. From September 10 to September 24 a river fortnight drive will be undertaken that will touch more than 20 districts of West Bengal.[Read More…]

by 12/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Election Commission’s assurance to conduct “One Nation, One Election” casts doubts about its independence

Election Commission’s assurance to conduct “One Nation, One Election” casts doubts about its independence

To Shri Rajiv Kumar Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI)   Shri A C Pandey Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI)   Shri Arun Goel Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI) Dear S/Shri Rajiv Kumar/ Pandey/ Goel, I have come across a news report (https://www.livemint.com/elections/election-commission-of-india-ready-to-act-cec-rajiv-kumar-on-one-nation-one-election-policy-11694004696134.html) which indicates that the Election Commission of India has assured that it[Read More…]

by 11/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Shock and Awe – In War and Politics

Shock and Awe – In War and Politics

The term “Shock and Awe” was a consciously and specifically developed military strategy by the USA for use in war situation and intended using massive power and force in such rapid succession as to overwhelm the enemy. The attack was visualized to be so sudden and blinding as to confuse and stun the enemy into absolute shock. Harlan K Ullman[Read More…]

by 11/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Himachal Pradesh Needs More Help from the Centre and A New Understanding of Development

Himachal Pradesh Needs More Help from the Centre and A New Understanding of Development

Himachal Pradesh has suffered heavier damage during this monsoon season than in any recent year that most people here can recall. While over 300 people have died and economic damage has been put at Rs. 12,000 crore till early September, given the extreme nature of the devastation the mortality figure could have been much higher but for the noble efforts[Read More…]

by 09/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Incorporate the Spirit of Restorative Justice

Incorporate the Spirit of Restorative Justice

The overhauling of the Indian crimial justice system must focus on imparting novel ideas like the George Stinney Fund and the Alan Turing Act to compensate those who are wronged by the State “George Stinney Jr., October 21, 1929- June 16, 1944. Wrongly convicted. Illegally executed by South Carolina, conviction vacated by court order dated December 16, 2014”- reads the[Read More…]

by 08/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Virtual Coup

A Virtual Coup

BJP is addicted to gigantism.Everything it does is on a gigantic scale,even the frauds.The last general election of 2019 for example ,if Satpal Malik’s account of Pulwama is to be believed.For effect on a stunned oposition and a bemused public it also carries them out with lightning speed. I have a terrible apprehension that this election is going to witness[Read More…]

by 08/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bijavar Villagers Make Many-sided Efforts for A Greener Future

Bijavar Villagers Make Many-sided Efforts for A Greener Future

Even though Satai village is located close to a town, the land belonging to several dalit households had been denied irrigation opportunities for a long time and so could not be cultivated properly. Recently Haritika voluntary organization brought new hope by creating a tank with the enthusiastic involvement of people of this hamlet located in Bijawar block of Chattarpur district[Read More…]

by 08/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
India should be thankful to this young Sikh man from Punjab

India should be thankful to this young Sikh man from Punjab

Obsessed with a dead movement of Khalistan, an imaginary Sikh homeland, the right wing government in New Delhi needs to follow the case of Jaskaran Singh, who recently won a famous Q and A show hosted by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, to reassess their position. The 21-year-old Sikh from Khalra village in Punjab is in the news after his great[Read More…]

by 08/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Old women appear in the 4th standard examination in Kerala Literacy Mission

Unlocking the Power of Literacy: International Literacy Day in the Indian Context

International Literacy Day, celebrated on September 8th every year, stands as a global reminder of the importance of literacy as a fundamental human right and as a driver of personal and societal development. In the Indian context, this day takes on special significance due to the country’s diverse linguistic landscape, rich cultural heritage, and the immense potential that lies in[Read More…]

by 07/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
What’s In A Name

What’s In A Name

There’s little doubt that the sole purpose behind BJP’s raucous campaign to rename India as ‘Bharat’ is to create some confusion and unease in the mind of the masses about the United opposition’s challenge to the oppressive,exploitative and intensely divisive regime under a common banner blazoned INDIA. As far as I can see the ordinary voter is seething with anger[Read More…]

by 07/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hindu Women Subjugated During Muslim Rule-Newest from RSS; A Gurukul Imparting Deceit & Lies  

Hindu Women Subjugated During Muslim Rule-Newest from RSS; A Gurukul Imparting Deceit & Lies  

The biggest ‘Hindu’ organization in the world, RSS also functions as an exclusive Gurukul where Hindutva cadres are trained to specialize in the ruthless use of lies, spread of hatred and indulge in sectarian violence. It is the hallmark of RSS functioning. The most prominent ideologue of the RSS, Guru MS Golwalkar who also was the 2nd Supremo of the[Read More…]

by 07/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bharat, G20 – The tragic plight of millions of voiceless poor

Bharat, G20 – The tragic plight of millions of voiceless poor

Our rulers have changed the country’s name from “India” to “Bharat”. The first invitation from the head of the nation to senior delegates to attend a G20 dinner in Delhi has gone in the name of Bharat. Bharat’s underbelly comprises of millions of disadvantaged people, eking out meagre livelihoods from occupations without which the country cannot move forward. However, like[Read More…]

by 06/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Will the Supreme Court “Turn the Clock Back” on Kashmir?

Will the Supreme Court “Turn the Clock Back” on Kashmir?

The hon’ble Supreme Court of India has reserved its verdict on the petitions challenging Presidential Orders CO 272 & CO 273 of 2019  which scrapped the special status accorded to the State of Jammu & Kashmir under article 370 of the Constitution of India; and The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act, 2019 which bifurcated the state into two union territories.[Read More…]

by 06/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Withdraw The FIR Filed Against The Editor’s Guild of India Members: PUCL

Withdraw The FIR Filed Against The Editor’s Guild of India Members: PUCL

The PUCL strongly condemns the two motivated and malicious FIRs filed by the Manipur police against 3 members of a Fact-Finding Team constituted by the Editors Guild of India, Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor and the president of EGI, Seema Mustafa, for a Report released by them on 02nd September, 2023 about the ongoing, unabated ethnic violence in[Read More…]

by 06/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
FIR Against Editors Guild of India on Manipur: Some Facts

FIR Against Editors Guild of India on Manipur: Some Facts

An FIR has been filed against three journalists who represented the Editors Guild of India (EGI) to document the ground situation in Manipur, including the role of the media, as the state has been ravaged by a relentless spiral of vicious violence. The EGI members were Bharat Bhushan, former editor of Mail Today, Sanjay Kapoor, editor of Hardnews, and Seema[Read More…]

by 05/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Ken-Betwa River Link Project Should be Reconsidered Due to Non-Viability and Disruptive Impacts on Bundelkhand Region

Ken-Betwa River Link Project Should be Reconsidered Due to Non-Viability and Disruptive Impacts on Bundelkhand Region

During a recent visit to Bundelkhand region I came across the following report in the leading Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala  (August  13-14)—Villagers protesting against the Ken-Betwa River Link Project have submitted a protest petition written with their blood. Their leaders have alleged that 3 to 4 million trees are likely to be cut and people of 21 villages will be[Read More…]

by 05/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
“One Nation, One Election:” A Mirage? 

“One Nation, One Election:” A Mirage? 

Notwithstanding all the hype being raised about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being “serious” about pursuing its proposal of “one nation, one election,” prospects of it actually being implemented in near future are fairly remote. Chances of BJP itself being compelled to backtrack from doing so by its own regional allies cannot be ignored. Speculations have certainly being voiced about this[Read More…]

by 05/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Centre’s unilateral decision to set up a Committee on “One Nation, One Election” an affront to Federalism

Centre’s unilateral decision to set up a Committee on “One Nation, One Election” an affront to Federalism

To Smt. Droupadi Murmu The President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, The Centre has set up a High-Level Committee (HLC) to examine “simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats, keeping in view the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other statutory provisions, and for that purpose, examine and recommend specific amendments to[Read More…]

by 05/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 India the surveillance state and the role of Aadhaar 

 India the surveillance state and the role of Aadhaar 

 India has been turned into a full-scale surveillance state with the masses under the watchful eye of the government, vulnerable and oblivious to being tracked, profiled, recorded, and registered at every point of their day and entire lifetimes. Invasive technologies like facial recognition are being cavalierly used in public spaces and universities, political and institutional opposition is being stymied through[Read More…]

by 04/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The conundrum of parliamentary proceedings and judicial review

The conundrum of parliamentary proceedings and judicial review

On July 26, 2023, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi moved a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha over Manipur violence. The Lok Sabha speaker, Om Birla, accepted the no-confidence motion moved against the National Democratic Alliance’s government. Although the Lok Sabha speaker admitted the motion on the same day, he did not right away set aside a specific date(s) for the[Read More…]

by 04/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Have the Muslims in Nuh, Haryana Now Become Persona Non Grata for the Judiciary?

Have the Muslims in Nuh, Haryana Now Become Persona Non Grata for the Judiciary?

  Ever since two brave judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court – of the order of those High Court judges who during 1975-77 allowed habeas corpus petitions to be admitted – talked of ethnic cleansing of Muslims, the case pertaining to the Nuh demolition is being treated like a pariah by all the benches before whom it gets[Read More…]

by 02/09/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Supreme Court Deserves Praise but Government Stand on GM Crops Evokes Great Concern

Supreme Court Deserves Praise but Government Stand on GM Crops Evokes Great Concern

Those who understand the terrible implications of the onslaught of the GM lobby (genetically modified food and crops lobby) on Indian farming and farmers and are devoted to protecting India’s farmers and farming from this onslaught had reason to be both happy and sad this week ( August-end) Happy because the Supreme Court acted with so much wisdom and firmness[Read More…]

by 31/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Who is responsible for the death of Mohit Yadav?

Who is responsible for the death of Mohit Yadav?

This is the state of India where an entire state apparatus becomes Hindu for the Kanwariyas and any dereliction of duty by the police officials might cost them their job. Again, railway police constable kills four innocent persons including his boss and three Muslim passengers yet nothing much happens to him so far except the usual stories of ‘disturbed’ minds.[Read More…]

by 31/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
ISRO’s successful launch of Chandrayaan 3 demonstrates the benefits of a rural-oriented decentralised educational policy

ISRO’s successful launch of Chandrayaan 3 demonstrates the benefits of a rural-oriented decentralised educational policy

To Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Union Education Minister Dear Shri Pradhan, ISRO’s successful low-cost high-precision landing of its Chandrayaan 3 rover on the south pole of the lunar surface has brought global praise for India’s technological abilities. ISRO’s Chairman, Shri S. Somanath, his highly talented team and all those who have visualised and nurtured ISRO since its inception in 1962 deserve the nation’s accolades[Read More…]

by 30/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Exploring Tribal Development Conundrum in Jammu and Kashmir

Exploring Tribal Development Conundrum in Jammu and Kashmir

In the vast tapestry of the 21st century world, a multitude of tribal communities, numbering a staggering 370 million, dot various corners of the globe, with India alone harboring 104 million of them. However, a closer examination reveals that the hallmarks of their existence tend to be marked more by challenges than triumphs. Over the course of history’s sprawling development,[Read More…]

by 30/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
An Effort to Bring Hope to Distressed Villages Completes Two Decades

An Effort to Bring Hope to Distressed Villages Completes Two Decades

In times of climate change and adverse weather conditions, rural livelihoods come under increasing strain and there is increasing need for efforts which can protect sustainable livelihoods, particularly in the context of small and marginal famers and other weaker sections. In Bundelkhand region of Central India the work of Arunodaya Sansthaan, a voluntary organization, has consistently lived up to this[Read More…]

by 30/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Objection to Vizag Steel leasing out its valuable land to the Adani Group

Objection to Vizag Steel leasing out its valuable land to the Adani Group

To Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha Union Steel Secretary Dear Shri Sinha, I thank you for responding so promptly to my letter of August 27 2023 (https://countercurrents.org/2023/08/has-secl-followed-the-auctioning-routthe report that the-to-appoint-the-adani-group-as-mdo-for-gare-palma-coal-block/) in which I had expressed my concern at RINL trying to lease out 1,000 acres of its land to Adani-owned Gangavaram Port Ltd. In my letter, I pointed out that RINL cannot[Read More…]

by 29/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
State, Crime, Criminality

State, Crime, Criminality

The BJP spokespersons are lauding the newly dressed and christened penal code of the country as a refreshing native product,free from the traces of colonial origin.The authors of the code have claimed they have purified the IPC of its colonial character, and thoroughly ‘Indianized’ it.One would think they meant by it a code worthy of a free democratic country.But it[Read More…]

by 29/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Erramatti Dibbalu- A unique geo-heritage site near Visakhapatnam- Being subject to spoliation through official connivance

Erramatti Dibbalu- A unique geo-heritage site near Visakhapatnam- Being subject to spoliation through official connivance

To Shri Vivek Bharadwaj Union Miines Secretary Dear Shri Bharadwaj, Erramatti Dibbalu (Red Ravines) are part of a unique stretch of red ravines adjacent to the Bay of Bengal coast close to Visakhapatnam city. Originally, it extended over thousands of acres but a portion of it has been taken over by the Indian Navy for locating their strategic establishment. What[Read More…]

by 28/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur- A story spanning 1,990 years

Manipur- A story spanning 1,990 years

Tribal Kangleipak to Hindu Manipur Meitei people treasure their past, and ‘Kangleipak’ is their name for their ancient civilization. The chronicle of the Ningthouja dynasty of Manipur [Ref.1] records the rule of 76 kings starting 33 CE. The  Ningthouja people were one of several tribal clans of Tibetan-Burmese origin, which migrated into present Manipur region from the East. The rulers[Read More…]

by 28/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Unrealized Aspirations: The Common School System & the Quest for Equitable Education in India

Unrealized Aspirations: The Common School System & the Quest for Equitable Education in India

by Riya Jain, Sagar Sengar and Sandeep Pandey A Gujarat government Indian Administrative Service officer Dhaval Patel after visiting six primary schools in Chhota Udepur district among the tribal area made the following observation: ‘These poor tribal children do not have any other source of education. It is my strong opinion that we are doing injustice to them by giving[Read More…]

by 28/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
NSS protest outside Kalyansinghpur PS on August 6.

 25 persons have been arrested in last three weeks in the three districts – Such arrests are for mining bauxite of Vedanta Co., Adani Co. and HINDALCO

Provocative incidents are being instigated with the help of local police so that the protesting villagers could be arrested. Even though Adivasi people of these areas do not want development, the so called ‘Vikas’ is knocking at their doorstep – to destroy their land, forests and hills, above all, their livelihood We, on behalf of ‘Ganatantrik Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan, Odisha’ strongly condemn[Read More…]

by 28/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Has SECL followed the auctioning route to appoint the Adani Group as MDO for Gare Palma coal block?

Has SECL followed the auctioning route to appoint the Adani Group as MDO for Gare Palma coal block?

To   Shri Rajiv Gauba Cabinet Secretary Government of India Dear Shri Gauba, In my letter dated 6-4-023 (https://countercurrents.org/2023/04/most-mineral-block-allocations-violate-the-doctrine-of-public-trust/), I pointed out the lack of transparency in mineral block auctions in recent times, raising concerns of propriety. I have since come across yet another case of allotment of a mineral block, namely, the Gare Palma coal block in Tamnar Block of[Read More…]

by 28/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Vidyadham Samiti Makes Waves with Asserting Rights of Weaker Sections and Women

Vidyadham Samiti Makes Waves with Asserting Rights of Weaker Sections and Women

In the course of its eventful journey that started in 2001, Vidyadham Samiti (VDS), a voluntary organization of Bundelkhand region in central India, has acquired a well-established reputation as a true friend of weaker sections of society, standing by them in difficult conditions and in resisting injustice. Often facing several hurdles placed in its path by the rich and the[Read More…]

by 27/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The students took turns slapping their fellow student even as the teacher watched on. (Screengrab)

Educational Fantasies in a Dystopian Conjunture

On August 24, 2023, in a private school in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, teacher Tripta Tyagi instructed students to take turns hitting a fellow student, who was of the Muslim faith and had apparently made multiplication errors. Tyagi referred derogatorily to “Mohammedan children,” insinuating that they get spoiled when their mothers don’t prioritize their studies. She urged a student to hit[Read More…]

by 27/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi & Kissa Kursi Ka/Battle for the Chair!  

Modi & Kissa Kursi Ka/Battle for the Chair!  

Would it be correct to say that confidence – rather overconfidence- marked Prime Minister Modi’s address from the Red Fort as he asserted that he would be there again a year later on the same date and highlight India’s achievements? Of course, as has been expressed by several observers, this clearly marked a part of his electoral campaign for coming[Read More…]

by 26/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The students took turns slapping their fellow student even as the teacher watched on. (Screengrab)

Hate Crimes in India Reach Class Rooms

The video of a Muslim boy being beaten up, slapped and humiliated in front of the entire class in a school in Uttar Pradesh, has only shown how much the hate propaganda against the Muslims in India has reached inside our hearts and minds. That a teacher in the primary school is sadistically enjoying when the poor boy is being[Read More…]

by 26/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bharti Aharwar

Women Vets Show the Healthy Way of Goat Based Livelihoods

Bharti Aharwar, a dalit woman of Nadia village in Jatara block of Tikamgarh district, was finding it difficult to cope with increasing economic difficulties. Her husband had even gone to Delhi in search of better earning opportunities but no durable solution had emerged. So when she learnt from an activist of Srijan social organization visiting her village about their plan[Read More…]

by 26/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian  judiciary’s  motto:  `Run  As  Slow  As  You  Can’

Indian  judiciary’s  motto:  `Run  As  Slow  As  You  Can’

There  is  currently  an  exhibition  being  held  at  Mumbai’s  Nita  Mukesh  Ambani  Cultural  Centre entitled  `Run  As  Slow  As  You  Can.’  Designed  by   two  eminent  Italian  artists,  Maurizio  Cattelan  and  Pierpaolo  Ferrari,  the  exhibits  lampoon  the  rat  race  in  the  consumerism-obsessed   society  today.   The  paradoxical  title  may  be  suggesting  that  in  a  demanding  competitive  world  one  should  run  as  slowly [Read More…]

by 26/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Budget lessons from the low cost of Chandrayan 3 mission that has brought laurels to India

Budget lessons from the low cost of Chandrayan 3 mission that has brought laurels to India

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, ISRO’s successful high-precision soft landing of its Chandrayaan 3 rover on the south pole of the lunar surface has brought worldwide laurels for India. ISRO’s Chairman, Shri S. Somanath, his highly competent team and all those who have visualised and nurtured ISRO since its inception in 1962 deserve the nation’s accolades[Read More…]

by 25/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
‘Experts’ Made Disasters in the Himalayas

‘Experts’ Made Disasters in the Himalayas

ISRO is working on moon but it is time to look what is happening on the earth, the only planet so far where we can live and enjoy life so far. Important to protect it even if we find some chances or possibilities of living on other planet nothing will be better than earth. Let us seriously look at the[Read More…]

by 25/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian Supreme Court Judges Adjudicating Kashmir Petitions Sound Like Cheerleaders For Article 370 Repeal!

Indian Supreme Court Judges Adjudicating Kashmir Petitions Sound Like Cheerleaders For Article 370 Repeal!

The aforementioned title sums up the impressions after watching live telecast of the ongoing court proceedings. A few observations are in order: Judges in the classical mould were expected not to let anyone guess which way their mind is swaying; the judges in the instant case are no respecter of this old tradition. There appears to be an attempt to[Read More…]

by 25/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Brutal Murder of Farmer Pritam Singh

Brutal Murder of Farmer Pritam Singh

Campaign against state repression strongly condemns the brutal murder of Farmer Pritam Singh and repression against Kissan Union by police On August 21, 2023, elderly farmer Pritam Singh died amid a police lathi charge against protesting farmers who were marching to Chandigarh to raise their demands against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Pritam Singh was run over by a tractor[Read More…]

by 25/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
China’s ban on export of two critical minerals, Gallium and Germanium- India’s response

China’s ban on export of two critical minerals, Gallium and Germanium- India’s response

 To Shri Vivek Bharadwaj Union Mines Secretary Dear Shri Bharadwaj, I understand that China, which dominates the production of the two critical minerals, namely, Gallium (Ga) and Germanium (Ge), has imposed a ban on their export (https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-controls-take-effect-wait-gallium-germanium-export-permits-begins-2023-08-01/). Considering that both these metals are critical links in India’s important supply chains for electronics, renewable energy facilities and the defence sector, India should[Read More…]

by 24/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The End-Game of Democracy

The End-Game of Democracy

One hopes fervently that the honourable judges of the Supreme Court understand the final repercussions of the present government’s latest initiatives.It is nothing less than the abolition of constitutional democracy as we understand it.The draconian provisions of the revised penal code,the brutal elimination of existing safeguards for tribal rights,human sustenance and environmental sustainability from biodiversity laws,and the Chief Economic Adviser’s[Read More…]

by 24/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Vishwa Guru’s Sleuths

Vishwa Guru’s Sleuths

Writers, scholars, artists have always worried the powers that be. There was a time when the Parisian police had been given the onerous task of keeping the greatest writers of late 18th Century who were living in Paris at that time under their watch. Poor fellows, one can imagine their difficulty in maintaining files on writers and artists and scholars[Read More…]

by 24/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Forest Conservation – Earned by People, Now Lost through Government

Forest Conservation – Earned by People, Now Lost through Government

On 26 July 2023, the Loksabha passed the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, replacing the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. This at a time when there should have instead been widespread celebrations commemorating 51 years of Silent Valley Movement and 50 years of Chipko Andolan, the two biggest people’s movements on ecological conservation in the country, which proved critical in enacting[Read More…]

by 24/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Objection to Vizag Steel leasing out its valuable land to the Adani Group

Objection to Vizag Steel leasing out its valuable land to the Adani Group

To Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha Union Steel Secretary Dear Shri Sinha, There have been disturbing news reports here (https://www.andhrajyothy.com/2023/andhra-pradesh/visakhapatnam/steel-lands-for-nmdc-1125817.html) that Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), forced to raise financial resources in the face of a deliberate attempt by your Ministry to weaken it in all respects, is in negotiation with the Adani Group to lease out 1000 acres of its land for[Read More…]

by 22/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Communal Misrepresentation of History Harms National Unity

Communal Misrepresentation of History Harms National Unity

Several eminent scholars have warned time and again that false misrepresentation of history in communal terms can be very harmful for national unity, and it is very sad that despite such warnings such damaging trends have intensified further in some contexts. Due to such repeated misrepresentation most of the battles fought during the years of the Mughal rule have become[Read More…]

by 22/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why Do Brahmin Intellectuals Want A New Constitution In India?

Why Do Brahmin Intellectuals Want A New Constitution In India?

An article named: ‘There is a case ‘We the people ‘to embrace a new constitution’ written by Bibek Debroy, close aide and economic advisor to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi published by several national dailies in India. The author suggests that a new constitution should be drafted and implemented. One cannot expect more than this from a right-wing supporter who,[Read More…]

by 21/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Politics of Uniform Civil Code in India

The Politics of Uniform Civil Code in India

Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a red herring much dragged about in the Indian political discourse from the dawn of the constitution. Even the constituent assembly couldn’t resolve this primordial force at its inception. Consequently, UCC was placed in Article 44, of part four of the constitution which forms the Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP). Through out the time[Read More…]

by 20/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Was the Indian educational technology company Unacademy right in sacking an employee over a comment?

Was the Indian educational technology company Unacademy right in sacking an employee over a comment?

I know the answer to the question. I only want to offer reasons for my answer. Unacademy is an educational company that “provides online educational platform” and according to its website, its motto is: “Educate, Enable, Empower.” Sounds similar to something I heard before, “Educate, Agitate, Organize,” (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar) but I have no intention of dwelling on it.[Read More…]

by 20/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Nuh Violence: Monu Manesar and his controversial connection with Mewat

Nuh Violence: Monu Manesar and his controversial connection with Mewat

On 31 July, a small district of Haryana witnessed communal clashes between two Groups Which left 6 people dead. Bajrang Dal, a self proclaimed religious Group held religious procession in Nuh District of Haryana, which is a Muslim majority area. When the procession reached Nuh, two groups got engaged in violence which later spread to other districts such as Gurgaon,[Read More…]

by 20/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Mir Jafar: The Indian Prince Who Facilitated British Control over India

Mir Jafar: The Indian Prince Who Facilitated British Control over India

History tells us that, at crucial moments in the life of states, one person may determine the fate of an entire nation, and this is exactly what happened to India when the treacherous Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar caused Britain to occupy his homeland for a period of up to 200 years, to fire the last bullet into the heart[Read More…]

by 20/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
ECI Bill: Open Letter to Chief Ministers

ECI Bill: Open Letter to Chief Ministers

To Chief Ministers Respected Chief Minister, The ECI Bill in its present form is going to run counter to the idea of an Election Commission that remains non-political in its functioning. It is inconsistent with the vision of the Constituent Assembly as evident from its debate on the subject. It also runs counter to the guidelines indicated by the apex[Read More…]

by 20/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Protecting Human Rights of the Most Deprived People

Protecting Human Rights of the Most Deprived People

Rajaram Ka Purva is a most neglected rural hamlet inhabited by the poorest people of Kuchbandia community. This is located in such an isolated backyard of Mahuwa panchayat (Banda district of Uttar Pradesh) that a visitor to the panchayat may easily go away without noticing it. As we went around nearly 40 homes of this hamlet, almost every home gave[Read More…]

by 17/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Poor Indian…! 

The Poor Indian…! 

As Indian parliamentary elections approach, politicians’ promises resting on uplifting economic status of the poor will get more assertive and aggressive. As these promises become louder, headlines may be expected to display the same more prominently. The unwritten rule followed in general by most politicians is to try convincing voters that “magic wand” to achieve this rests only in his/her[Read More…]

by 16/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 NAPM condemns the vindictive targeting of progressive media houses, including NewsClick

 NAPM condemns the vindictive targeting of progressive media houses, including NewsClick

 16th Aug, 2023: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) condemns the latest round of vicious allegations against NewsClick, an independent media organisation, whose primary focus since it was founded in 2009, has been to cover news on public interest and diverse, progressive, working-class movements within India and beyond. This comes as part of the larger attack of the current pro-corporate[Read More…]

by 16/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Public Hearing Reveals Many-Sided Difficulties Faced by Victims of Injustice

Public Hearing Reveals Many-Sided Difficulties Faced by Victims of Injustice

A public hearing on 13 August in Atarra ( Banda district, Uttar Pradesh) provided revealing glimpses of extreme injustices suffered by people in more remote parts of the country and the obstacles placed in the path of getting justice for them by the rich and the powerful. This public hearing was organized by a voluntary organization Vidyadham Samiti (VS) which[Read More…]

by 16/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 The Tale of Two Faces Once Again!

 The Tale of Two Faces Once Again!

The General Elections in India are due after about ten months from now. The country is gradually witnessing the changing political process that will reach its logical end in May 2024. The opposition parties formed a strong coalition now known as I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). The Bengaluru conclave of this new formation was attended by 26 parties. The[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims in India – Appeal to Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court

Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims in India – Appeal to Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court

Respected Sir, Following the mass scale demolition of Muslim settlements in Nuh, Haryana two Hon’ble judges of your court took suo motu cognizance of the matter and stayed further demolitions. Since then the case is being tossed around from one bench to the other. Too hot to handle? Political pressure at play? Leaving Haryana administration to fudge records, plant backdated[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi’s Looking Away

Modi’s Looking Away

Citing Kepios.com, which “makes sense of what people are really do online” and helps people “identify changes in digital behaviour”, Datareportal.com indicates that internet users in India remained unchanged between 2022 and 2023. For perspective, these user figures reveal that 730.0 million people in India did not use the internet at the start of 2023, suggesting that 51.3 per cent[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Destroying A Legacy to Save it ?

Destroying A Legacy to Save it ?

It was perhaps mid sixties or  early seventies when US had resorted to continuous bombing to break the morale of the Vietnamese people. When questioned by a reporter about this bombing in civilian areas a American General is reported to have said that we are destroying the village to save it. It is a different matter that within few years[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Deconstructive Praxis and the Politics of Independence

Deconstructive Praxis and the Politics of Independence

On August 15, 2023, India will celebrate its 77th Independence Day. However, back in 1947, Tamil Nadu saw this day marked by black flags and black shirts. For Periyar, political independence meant a transfer of power from the “British to the Brahmins and Baniyas”. Instead of examining the entire Indian landscape from the perspective of rationalist-revolutionary politics, upper-caste ideologues limited the[Read More…]

by 15/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Reflections on Independence Day

Reflections on Independence Day

As we celebrate yet another Independence day I am enveloped in a feeling of dread, a fear that my life is a precarious one. I may not be economically in a state of precarity, but I live in fear of being mob lynched, of being hunted down as the Other, of my state turning into a vengeful entity bent upon[Read More…]

by 14/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
NAPM condemns the brutal bulldozing of Sarva Seva Samiti in violation of Orders of the Supreme Court

NAPM condemns the brutal bulldozing of Sarva Seva Samiti in violation of Orders of the Supreme Court

12th August, 2023 witnessed a horrific and shameful attack on the ideas and values of Gandhi, Vinoba and Jayprakash Narayan by this fascist regime. Sarva Seva Samiti, situated in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which has been active in the last 6 decades, fostering democratic ideals was brutally bulldozed by the BJP Govt. The Samiti campus consisting of more than 10 thousand[Read More…]

by 13/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Freedom is fragile unless fiercely defended!    

Freedom is fragile unless fiercely defended!    

                  After Prime Minister Modi’s much-celebrated visit to the United States, there was a growing debate as to the level of success compared to the previous visits by Modi himself or the former Indian prime Ministers. In an Economic Times report, various industrialists in India called it trend a setting or landmark[Read More…]

by 13/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Dangerous Delays

Dangerous Delays

While not denying the value of opposition dramatics at Parliament,one might yet worry that activities at the ground level are at a low ebb.Particularly because the saffron camp is in a furious but orchestrated drive to unsettle minds and in the chaos start divisive fires all over the country.Right from riots to vicious communal campaigns to camouflaged religious armed drills.Thus[Read More…]

by 13/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Gandhian Institutions under attack! Sarva Sewa Sangh Campus, in Rajghat, Varanasi, bulldozed!

Gandhian Institutions under attack! Sarva Sewa Sangh Campus, in Rajghat, Varanasi, bulldozed!

We, the undersigned, condemn the targeting of yet another Gandhian Institution by the Modi-Yogi Double Engine Sarkar. The BJP-RSS regime continues to attack Mahatma Gandhi, his ideology, his life, all the values and principles that he stood for, his unparalleled contribution to our freedom struggle and the fact that it laid the foundations of the modern Indian republic. Today, yet[Read More…]

by 12/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
One Other Reason Why Private Schools Must Be Nationalised

One Other Reason Why Private Schools Must Be Nationalised

On 31 July, Class XI student Shreya Tiwari at Children’s Girls College in Azamgarh allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the 3rd floor of the school building. The college principal, Sonam Mishra, and the class-teacher, Abhishek Rai, have been arrested. The private schools across Uttar Pradesh observed a day long strike by keeping the schools closed and a local parents’[Read More…]

by 12/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why is the reality of Prime Minister’s political capital veiled!

Why is the reality of Prime Minister’s political capital veiled!

The editorial titled ‘ Draw the Line’ in  ‘Indian Express’ (August 2, 2023), the first one to be written in the context of communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh town and killings in the passenger compartment of Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express, is noteworthy. The title of the editorial ‘Draw the Line’ reads like a directive and warning. The sub-headline of the[Read More…]

by 12/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The private sector and the question of democracy

The private sector and the question of democracy

The issue of unemployment has become a regular talking-point for the political opposition in India and one of the many grounds on which it alleges that the ruling BJP has failed the country, especially its youth. However, the issue of dignified and fair conditions of employment is rarely brought up. It seems that the people of the country should not[Read More…]

by 12/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Recent Himalayan Highway Work Needs Unbiased Assessment of Costs and Benefits

Recent Himalayan Highway Work Needs Unbiased Assessment of Costs and Benefits

Recent floods have caused very heavy damage to roads and highways in Himachal Pradesh. After a rapid assessment a fund of Rs. 400 crore was announced on August 1 by the Central government for repair of roads and highways in this state. While rains and floods were severe in several places, there is also a lot of concern regarding the[Read More…]

by 11/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Violence in Manipur Has at its Root A Battle for Natural Resources: Nanditha Haksar

Violence in Manipur Has at its Root A Battle for Natural Resources: Nanditha Haksar

Nandita Haksar is a human rights lawyer, teacher, campaigner and writer. Her engagement with the people of Northeast India began while studying in Jawaharlal Nehru University in the 1970s. She has represented the victims of army atrocities in the Supreme Court and the High Court and campaigned nationally and internationally against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. In her[Read More…]

by 11/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi Sidesteps Manipur in His Speech: Bring Peace Now!

Modi Sidesteps Manipur in His Speech: Bring Peace Now!

It was clear that Narendra Modi wont reply to the question which are being asked but he has brought Airforce into his politics is utterly shameful and distortion of facts. There are many stories of the past about usage of armed forces in civilian matters at many places in the formative years and India was still suffering from various issues.[Read More…]

by 11/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Toxic Masculinity And The Student Suicide In Jadavpur University

Toxic Masculinity And The Student Suicide In Jadavpur University

The following piece is a personal reflection on the death of a first year student of the Bengali department of Jadavpur University, Swapnadeep Kundu, who commited suicide to escape a harrowing incident of ragging on just the second day of his campus life as a student. This is a feminist critique of the larger culture of toxic masculinity hugely prevalent[Read More…]

by 10/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Flames of Hatred in Modi’s India

Flames of Hatred in Modi’s India

“April is the cruellest month,” so begins one of the most admired literary pieces of modernity, The Waste Land  by T S Eliot (1888-1965). Published in 1923, this masterpiece was taken to be a watershed in the genre of modern poetry. It is penned during a troubled time in Eliot’s life. His marriage was in disarray, he had a personality disorder, and[Read More…]

by 10/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Opposition Unity Is Key For 2024 Election: Ram Puniyani

Opposition Unity Is Key For 2024 Election: Ram Puniyani

Ram Puniyani is President of Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. Is associated with various secular initiatives and has been part of various investigation reports on violation of human rights of minorities. He has been conducting workshops and delivering lectures in different parts of the country on the themes related to threats to democracy; the agenda of communal[Read More…]

by 10/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Cancel Turga and Bandu Pump Storage Projects

Cancel Turga and Bandu Pump Storage Projects

Demand for Cancellation of Turga-Bandu Pump Storage Project and Condemning the Undemocratic-Dictatorial Behaviour of the District Administration On 13.6.2017 the then Purulia District Magistrate released a letter stating that the inhabitants to be affected by the Turga Pump Storage Project had no opposition to land being acquired for the same. He referred to written resolutions of Bagmundy and Ajodhaya Gram[Read More…]

by 10/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Nuh Communal Violence and the Conspiracy of the Hindutva Brigade: A Ground Report by Janhastakshep

The Nuh Communal Violence and the Conspiracy of the Hindutva Brigade: A Ground Report by Janhastakshep

Introduction A team of Janhastakshep toured areas of Palwal, Sohna and Gurugram, as also spoke with other people from Nuh district on 3rd August 2023 to do a fact finding regarding the incidents of communal violence that hit Nuh town and subsequently areas of adjoining Palwal and Gurugram districts. The impact of this violence however was not limited to just[Read More…]

by 10/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Debating Federalism, Nationalism and Development in the making of Punjab

Debating Federalism, Nationalism and Development in the making of Punjab

Abstract: This article examines the question of federalism and nationalism and its implications for development in the context of the regional economy of Punjab, which has its own unique characteristics, culturally and economically. The continuing debate about centre-state relations in India is due to the fact that Indian federalism, unlike the American federal structure, is a Union of States and[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Yatras of Hate

Yatras of Hate

The last few years have seen yatras being organized by ‘Hindutva’ groups on various religious occasions. Yatras are part and parcel of religious activities of Hindu devotees from times immemorial. Some of the famous yatras such as Amarnath yatra, Vaishnodevi yatra, Puri rath yatra, Sabarimala yatra etc. attract large number of devotees. They form part of the larger religious faith[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Shameless Betrayal of Quit India Movement 1942: A Peep Into Hindutva Archives

Shameless Betrayal of Quit India Movement 1942: A Peep Into Hindutva Archives

On the eve of 81st commemoration of the glorious Quit India Movement [QIM] we must evaluate the role of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha led by Hindutva ideologues, VD Savarkar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee who lived through it. QIM also known as ‘August Kranti’ (August Revolution) was a nation-wide Civil Disobedience Movement for which a call was given on August[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Conspiracy of RSS to Hinduize Adivasis by calling them Vanvasi

Conspiracy of RSS to Hinduize Adivasis by calling them Vanvasi

It is well known that RSS has always been calling Adivasis as Vanvasis (forest dwellers) instead of Adivasis. There is a great trick behind this which needs to be understood. Who are the Tribals? It is known to all that there are different communities living in our country who have their own religions and different identities. Adivasis, who are called[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
by Angela Ferrão

Need to restore Harmony and Peace: Manipur, Nuh and Shooting in Train

The country is witnessing horrific violence in different regions. The Manipur violence, going on for over three months as it has shamed the nation for the treatment meted out to the three young girls, it has led to the death of over one hundred innocent lives, (more Kuki) and also displacement of close to a lakh of people, more from[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Mainstreaming Extermination of Muslims in Indian Media: No more an outlier

Mainstreaming Extermination of Muslims in Indian Media: No more an outlier

In a recent primetime broadcast, News18 India anchor Aman Chopra deployed a chilling Hindi phrase – “permanent ilaj” – while discussing stone pelters in the context of communal violence in Nuh, Haryana. Senior journalist Rahul Dev highlighted on social media that this term directly translates to the English phrase “Final Solution” – an explicit reference to the Nazi plan for[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Mumbai: Unprecedented Draconian Crackdown on activists, on “9th August Quit India Day!”

Mumbai: Unprecedented Draconian Crackdown on activists, on “9th August Quit India Day!”

“Quit India ke Din pe, Gandhiji ka Par-Pota Jail mai!!” *Freedom Fighter Dr. G G Parikh prevented from reaching the August Kranti Maidan, Tushar Gandhi, taken to Santacruz police station, Teesta Setalvad was stopped from leaving her residence!* Today, on the 81st Anniversary of the historic QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT led by Mahatma Gandhi, we have witnessed a draconian crackdown by[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Legal Drama over “Modi” & Rahul Gandhi! 

Legal Drama over “Modi” & Rahul Gandhi! 

Stay granted by Supreme Court in conviction of Rahul Gandhi in defamation case filed against him certainly spells as much political relief for Congress as it probably sounds troubling for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP would have apparently preferred stay of Rahul outside the Parliament and also his not being permitted to contest 2024 parliamentary elections. Of course, it[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Media’s Noble Role in Stopping Unjust Demolitions Needs Wide Appreciation

Media’s Noble Role in Stopping Unjust Demolitions Needs Wide Appreciation

Recently some highly responsible, timely and credible reporting by several newspapers has played an important role in stopping demolitions in Nuh district of Haryana beyond the fourth day. These efforts of journalists should be widely appreciated as this will further encourage similar journalism of great social responsibility. On August 8 a report in The Times of India titled ‘Ethnic cleansing[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur and Haryana: The Courts Step In, A Welcome Development

Manipur and Haryana: The Courts Step In, A Welcome Development

When we all were suffering from the fatigue of inactions in the court rooms and Manipur is not really being discussed in Parliament, orders of Country’s top court on Manipur followed by two recent orders of the High Court in Haryana on the Nuh demolition drive need to be understood, explained and celebrated. Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has risen[Read More…]

by 09/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
How the nexus of corporate houses, pro-corporate policies and black money made the villages economically distressed

How the nexus of corporate houses, pro-corporate policies and black money made the villages economically distressed

Before 2014 general election the issue of black money and corruption peaked and, the country also saw two major anti-corruption and black money movements in the form of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. The BJP also made corruption and black money a major election issue. All the speeches given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before 2014 were propagated in full[Read More…]

by 08/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
From Manipur to Haryana, Unbiased Governments Should be Able to Stop Sectarian Violence Very Soon

From Manipur to Haryana, Unbiased Governments Should be Able to Stop Sectarian Violence Very Soon

The recent communal violence in Nuh district of Haryana and neighboring areas has evoked widespread concern. In an interview published in the Indian Express (August 7), Dushyant Chautala, Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, stated that this is a matter of serious concern and the state government has taken several important steps to stop this. However on the same day the[Read More…]

by 08/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Campaign Against State Repression strongly condemns the state-sponsored violence in Mewat

Campaign Against State Repression strongly condemns the state-sponsored violence in Mewat

Since 31st July 2023, violence by Hindutva forces has escalated into a large-scale pogrom against Muslims in Haryana and adjacent areas, starting from the town of Nuh, Haryana. It began with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s “Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra” where known cow vigilantes and murderers such as Monu Manesar and Bittu Bajrangi announced their presence and participation. This yatra swiftly[Read More…]

by 08/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Displaced people of Kanhar are facing the brunt of displacement

Displaced people of Kanhar are facing the brunt of displacement

The cultivators of 80 bighas have been completely devastated by the submergence of land in the Jamaluddin Kanhar dam in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. When the project started in 1976, their ancestors were given meagre compensation. Later the governments did not build the dam and they remained settled there with their families. When the construction work of the dam[Read More…]

by 07/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Open Letter to A Co-worker Who is Presently the Attorney General For India

Open Letter to A Co-worker Who is Presently the Attorney General For India

Dear Venkataramani, Recall that 40 years back in 1983-84 we – including you and me – were all active members of Jhuggi Jhopri Nivasi Adhikar Samiti (JJNAS). Many of the members of JJNAS contribute articles for Countercurrents.org e.g. Walter Fernandes, Prof. Shamsul Islam, Dr. Aurobindo Ghosh, Tapan Bose, Sumanta Banerjee, PUCL,  PUDR and Ankur to name a few. CC is[Read More…]

by 07/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Viral Politics of Hate and Violence

The Viral Politics of Hate and Violence

The grainy video plays on loop across TV channels and social media – a crazed mob dragging a helpless Muslim man across the street, mercilessly beating him as he cries for mercy. But the mob kept beating him until he died or survived on the verge of death. Haven’t we seen this play out too many times before? The grainy[Read More…]

by 07/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Can an Award Chain the Conscience of an Individual?

Can an Award Chain the Conscience of an Individual?

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has recommended making Sahitya Akademi award winners sign an undertaking that they would not return their awards at any stage to protest any political incident. It believes that political issues are outside the ambit of cultural realms and returning an award is disgraceful for the country. There was a voice of[Read More…]

by 07/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Supreme Court Must Stop Bulldozer Raj

The Supreme Court Must Stop Bulldozer Raj

The Supreme Court must stop this bulldozer justice which has mostly used against the Muslims by the BJP ruled states. The narrative that BJP and its darbaris in the media are peddling every day need to be understood carefully. Their politics is clear. They have made the word Muslim sound like criminals. The goons along with police then become ‘deshbhakts’[Read More…]

by 06/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Where Are the Kids? Alarming Number of School Drop Outs in Bihar

Where Are the Kids? Alarming Number of School Drop Outs in Bihar

The urgency of improving school education, particularly in the government-run schools of more remote rural areas, has persisted for a long time. Following the prolonged closure of schools during the pandemic, this urgency has increased all the more as the learning of students was adversely affected during the time of school closure. A recent survey conducted early this year in[Read More…]

by 06/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Vishwa Guru of Hate?

Vishwa Guru of Hate?

How India is Slowly Emerging as a ‘World Teacher’ albeit of a different kind France has moved towards normalcy some time back. The anger and anguish of the still marginalised in the society, which spilled over into the streets, over the killing of a 17 year old Nahel – son of an Algerian single woman of Muslim origin – by[Read More…]

by 05/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Violence in Haryana: Fascism with Indian Characteristics

Violence in Haryana: Fascism with Indian Characteristics

The news cycle this week has been taken up with the rapidly escalating violence in Haryana’s Gurugram, Mewat, and Nuh. This is occurring against the backdrop of months of violence in the state of Manipur, where the hill-dwelling Christian Kuki tribals are facing an onslaught by the dominant Hindu Meitei community of the plains. Ever since the BJP assumed power[Read More…]

by 05/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why the Hurry in Acquiring Land for the Kovvada Nuclear Power Project?

Why the Hurry in Acquiring Land for the Kovvada Nuclear Power Project?

To   Ms Leena Nandan Secretary Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MEFCC)   Dr A K Mohanty Secretary Dept of Atomic Energy (DAE) Govt of India Dear Ms Nandan and Dr Mohanty, I refer to my earlier letter dated 1-8-2023 (https://countercurrents.org/2023/08/westinghouses-vogtle-nuclear-power-reactors-huge-time-cost-overruns-likely-implications-for-proposed-kovvada-nuclear-power-project-in-ap/) on delays that can be expected on the part of Westinghouse company (USA) in supplying its six[Read More…]

by 05/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Politicians wrecked Maharashtra’s great tradition of education

Politicians wrecked Maharashtra’s great tradition of education

The great tradition of education in Maharashtra has been destroyed by politicians, shikshan samrats running institutions like overlords. They were exposed in a highly forthright manner by Sharad Jawadekar, a senior educationist from Pune. He walks with a serious limp and a walking stick but he speaks with such clarity and force, he ought to be heard often and be[Read More…]

by 05/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Gang  rape  as  symbol  of  India’s  political  culture

Gang  rape  as  symbol  of  India’s  political  culture

                                     The  horrifying  video  clips  showing   Manipuri  women  being  stripped  and  raped,  followed  by   reports  of  some  six  thousand  FIRs  having  been  lodged  over  several  similar  incidents,  have  quite  understandably  shocked  civil  society  which  is  demanding  punishment  for  the  culprits.  The  government’s  pussy-footing [Read More…]

by 04/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hello!… Manipur is still burning! Is there anyone in charge?     

Hello!… Manipur is still burning! Is there anyone in charge?     

          It has been almost three months since the State of Manipur in India has been in flames. The latest news reports speak about 140 or more people killed, 50,000 or more people made destitute and homeless, many hiding in forests, 317 churches burned, and 6137 homes set ablaze. It is indeed a colossal human tragedy[Read More…]

by 03/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rajasthan Law Brings Wider Hope for Gig Workers

Rajasthan Law Brings Wider Hope for Gig Workers

In recent years the number of gig workers has increased rapidly in most countries. While the need has been for ensuring better social security and welfare benefits to more workers, the trend has been in the opposite direction due to gig workers accounting for a major share of the increase in new workforce. In India the gig workers already number[Read More…]

by 03/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Majoritarian Political Agenda and Indian Muslims

Majoritarian Political Agenda and Indian Muslims

In the recent announcement of BJP’s new National executive, its President J.P.Nadda, included a prominent Pasmanda Muslim name, Tariq Mansoor, ex Vice-Chancellor of AMU, as one of the thirteen Vice Presidents of the National Executive. Another Muslim face from Kerala BJP, P Abdulkutty retained his place in the executive. The current focus on BJP at national level is to give[Read More…]

by 03/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Stop legitimising hatemongers and goons

Stop legitimising hatemongers and goons

The violence in Mewat region and subsequently in Gurugram has shocked the people but perhaps was not surprising as 2024 is nearing and efforts will be made to create such scenario to polraise public opinion. We all know, who have benefitted from such polarisation. So Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva organisations become hyper active. They have not done any other[Read More…]

by 03/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Science and Public Interest Halt the Push for GM Crops in India: Approval by Contamination? 

Science and Public Interest Halt the Push for GM Crops in India: Approval by Contamination? 

Between 1991 and 2016, the population of Delhi and its suburbs increased from 9.4 million to 25 million. In 2023, the World Population Review website estimates Delhi’s population to be 32.9 million. In the December 2016 paper Future urban land expansion and implications for global croplands, it was projected that by 2030, globally, urban areas will have tripled in size,[Read More…]

by 03/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Violence in Haryana & Desperate Politicking!

Violence in Haryana & Desperate Politicking!

When “communal frenzy” appears to gain momentum ahead of elections, parliamentary or state, it is difficult not to view it as desperate politicking- barely linked with religious beliefs of people at grassroots. There is no denying “attempts” are made to label this as “religious” and create images of communities being at war because of religious reasons. Perhaps, more attention needs[Read More…]

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Sharad Pawar will share the dais with writers this week after being with Modi yesterday

Sharad Pawar will share the dais with writers this week after being with Modi yesterday

Mr Sharad Pawar will share the dais with Bhalchndra Nemade, Jnanpith award winner novelist and Ashok Vajpayee one of our few bureaucrats who has an understanding of culture and he is a poet as well. That will be on August 5 to mark the 125th anniversary of Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya library in Dadar. Sounds so much better than Mr[Read More…]

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
13th edition of #VoicesofManipur

13th edition of #VoicesofManipur

Read here personal experiences of the humanitarian crisis in #Manipur. Also in this edition some photos from the many protests and marches that have happened across India, in solidarity with the people of #Manipur.

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
How It All Starts

How It All Starts

Two days back news about the Bajrang Dal holding an arms training camp at the playground of a school in the district town Mangaldoi here in Assam created sensation and heated controversy. Firearms were used in the training,and such use of firearms,except by organizations under license,is against the law.The District head of the polce(SP) has said in response to questions[Read More…]

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
People Affected and Threatened by Landslides Need Better Safety

People Affected and Threatened by Landslides Need Better Safety

What happens when suddenly huge amounts of mud and debris start falling on people sleeping peacefully in a remote village, burying some of them entirely, while others watch helplessly as their near and dear ones are buried? This is a tragedy that has befallen hundreds of people in recent landslides. The recent landslide in Irshalwadi village of Raigad district, about[Read More…]

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Myth of “Communal Violence”

The Myth of “Communal Violence”

The ongoing violence in Nuh and Gurugram, Haryana which reportedly led to the killing of five people at the time this article was written, including a masjid Imam, as well as the destruction of a mosque and shops is only the latest in a long list of similar “communal incidents” and lynchings across India. In another simultaneous act of gut-wrenching[Read More…]

by 02/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Westinghouse’s Vogtle nuclear power reactors- Huge time/cost overruns- Likely implications for proposed Kovvada nuclear power project in AP

Westinghouse’s Vogtle nuclear power reactors- Huge time/cost overruns- Likely implications for proposed Kovvada nuclear power project in AP

To Dr A K Mohanty Chairman Dept of Atomic Energy (DAE) Govt of India Dear Dr Mohanty, I refer to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)’s proposed (6 X 1100 MWe) LWR nuclear power project at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh (AP). The US company, Westinghouse is expected to manufacture and supply its VVER units for the project. In this connection,[Read More…]

by 01/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hate Crimes in India

Hate Crimes in India

The hate mongers are succeeding. India’s #manustream media can be redefined now as #hatemedia or simply #nafartimedia has been impactful in creating divisions and hatred in people’s mind. The incident in the Mumbai-Jaipur train where a constable of RPF Chetan Kumar Chaudhry fired at his senior ASI Tika Ram Meena and then killed three other passengers in the different coaches[Read More…]

by 01/08/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Himachal a Test Case for Role of Foreign Aid in Disaster Relief and Recovery

Himachal a Test Case for Role of Foreign Aid in Disaster Relief and Recovery

Following abnormally high damage caused by floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, the role of foreign aid in recovery effort is being discussed, particularly aid likely to be received from the World Bank. A recent report by the Statesman News Service (The Statesman, July 29) has stated, “The World Bank has assured assistance to disaster affected Himachal Pradesh and providing[Read More…]

by 31/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
July 2023 Floods in North India Should be a Wake-up Call for Better Disaster Preparedness

July 2023 Floods in North India Should be a Wake-up Call for Better Disaster Preparedness

Following heavy rain in many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in western Himalayan region in July 2023 there were reports of abnormally high incidence of landslides, floods and flash floods during this month. As there were simultaneous heavy rains in many plain areas below the hills, the local rainfall as well as the floodwater from the hills combined to[Read More…]

by 31/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
PUCL’s Demands regarding the Manipur crisis

PUCL’s Demands regarding the Manipur crisis

Accountability 1. PUCL strongly condemns the use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, terror and/or ethnic cleansing and gives a call to all groups in the conflict that has engulfed Manipur to immediately stop attacks on women and children. 2. The PUCL demands that there must be an immediate stop to all forms of violence and gives a[Read More…]

by 31/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Has Manipur Crossed The Rubicon?

Has Manipur Crossed The Rubicon?

The BJP has done a Humpty Dumpty on Manipur. The Prime Minister’s political acumen, Maan ki Baats, high-pitched oratory, and the massive Bhakt network around the country, nothing at all, will ever put Manipur together again. Not in the way, it was, in any case. The political ploy that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) imagined in Manipur did not pan[Read More…]

by 30/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
O.P. Jindal Global University Students Suspended for Distributing Magazine in Campus, Students on Hunger Strike

O.P. Jindal Global University Students Suspended for Distributing Magazine in Campus, Students on Hunger Strike

A group of students from O.P. Jindal Global University Sonipat, distributed a magazine called “Nazariya”, an English language magazine focused on issues of working class, farmers, students, and intellectuals within their campus and have been suspended for the same. On 28th July 2023, the students were told to remove their stall by the university administration. We were told that this[Read More…]

by 30/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Linking devolution of funds to Kerala to installation of smart meters under a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) constitutes an onslaught on federalism

Linking devolution of funds to Kerala to installation of smart meters under a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) constitutes an onslaught on federalism

To Shri Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister Kerala Respected Chief Minister, I understand that the Union Ministry of Power has undertaken a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) to provide grants to the States for installing smart meters to be installed at the consumers’ premises, as a part of the Ministry’s “reform” measures. The model touted by the Ministry is heavily tilted in favour of[Read More…]

by 29/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
PLI Scheme- Do Subsidies To Profit-earning Private Manufacturers Yield Commensurate Societal Benefits?

PLI Scheme- Do Subsidies To Profit-earning Private Manufacturers Yield Commensurate Societal Benefits?

To Shri G C Murmu Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Dear Shri Murmu, Please refer to my letter dated 2-6-2023 addressed to you on the above subject (https://countercurrents.org/2023/06/pli-scheme-do-subsidies-to-profit-earning-private-manufacturers-yield-commensurate-societal-benefits/). In that letter, I pointed out that subsidising profit-earning private manufacturing companies, as envisaged in Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) and other PLI-like schemes, would not necessarily be the most prudent way[Read More…]

by 28/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur: The Relentless Saga of State-Sponsored Terrorism – Interview with Dr Lamtinthang Hoakip

Manipur: The Relentless Saga of State-Sponsored Terrorism – Interview with Dr Lamtinthang Hoakip

It’s almost three months since Manipur, the Northeastern State of World’s largest democratic nation started burning due to unbearable ethnic clashes. The current and overall political condition of India is also not much better than this. And this is how Dr Lamtinthang Hoakip, responds to the ongoing tribal cleansing and brutalities associated with it. Dr Lamtinthang Hoakip is the former[Read More…]

by 28/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rajasthan Initiatives to Help the Poor Deserve High Praise, But Also Have Limitations

Rajasthan Initiatives to Help the Poor Deserve High Praise, But Also Have Limitations

Recent steps taken by the government of Rajasthan, one of the better governed states of India, can result in providing much needed relief to the weaker sections ( with rights based longer term commitments added) and hence deserve our high praise and appreciation. The Chief Minister Mr. Ashok Gehlot deserves appreciation for his commitment to giving high priority to pushing[Read More…]

by 28/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
No Idea of Gomata or Bovine Identity in Ancient India

No Idea of Gomata or Bovine Identity in Ancient India

There was no idea of gomata or gau mata in ancient India. Evidence of beef eating is found even in the oldest Indian religious text of supposedly divine origin, Rigveda. Professor D N Jha has given ample proof of the killing of cows in his famous book, The Myth of Holy Cow (2002). He cited several Western scholars and Indian[Read More…]

by 28/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why I’m Hunger-Striking to Demand Ro Khanna Speak On Manipur Horror

Why I’m Hunger-Striking to Demand Ro Khanna Speak On Manipur Horror

Ro must realize that legends don’t walk middle grounds In 2019, US Congressman Ro Khanna reached out to me, and we have stayed in touch since. For over the past one year, I have directly and personally interacted with Ro Khanna. I first met Ro for lunch in his district in California in Summer 2022; most recently, I spent nearly[Read More…]

by 27/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Delimitation Woes

Delimitation Woes

Assam has been in uproar over an haphazard process of dilimitation of constituencies and for a couple of weeks erupting into cries of frustration and rage over the way it has resulted in strange and absurd outcomes.Entire constituencies some going back more than seventy years have disappeared and many brand-new ones have been created.Entire communities have lost their address,odd fragments[Read More…]

by 27/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
‘INDIA versus Bharat’ or ‘India that is Bharat’?

‘INDIA versus Bharat’ or ‘India that is Bharat’?

BJP has been in power for the last nine years. The opposition parties have gradually realized that it is not ruling on the lines of the Constitution and neither for inclusive India which should be based on Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice. BJP has also been using the agencies like ED, CBI as the major tool to weaken the opposition[Read More…]

by 26/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur violence: State as a perpetrator

Manipur violence: State as a perpetrator

Manipur issue has been in the national headlines for the last three months. Responding to the opposition and pressure that was building up, the prime minister made a statement on the May 4 incident that he was angry with what had happened in Manipur. The point however is not in displaying anger but the state acting in a way that[Read More…]

by 26/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur Violence Exposes BJP’s Culture of Deflection, Deception and Diversion

Manipur Violence Exposes BJP’s Culture of Deflection, Deception and Diversion

A disturbing incident was recently reported in Manipur, where two women from the Christian Kuki-zomi tribe were publicly stripped, paraded naked, and allegedly assaulted by a mob from the majority Meitei community. This incident was captured on video which went viral, sparking outrage. The incident occurred on May 4th in Kangpokpi district, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF),[Read More…]

by 26/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Unity is the need of the hour

Unity is the need of the hour

The hollowness of the claims of ‘mother of democracy’ and ‘Vishwaguru’ are already known to India. To counter every criticism coming from abroad, you make loud noise about ‘democracy’ and ‘institutions’ in India but back home you dont have the basic decency to speak to people of a state which is burning. Manipur is burning for the last three months[Read More…]

by 26/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
by Angela Ferrão

Manipur-Incident: “Naked” Exposure of its Supporters! 

If the video about atrocious and disgusting sexual assault of women in Manipur had not gone viral, the entire country and the rest of world would certainly not have reacted against this incident in a strongly aggressive manner as it is at present. Think again. Till the 30-second video did not go viral, though Manipur crisis was being given coverage[Read More…]

by 25/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Restore Peace in Manipur Immediately!

Restore Peace in Manipur Immediately!

A statement issued by various women’s s organizations, students’  organizations, workers’ union, and other people’s organizations and democratic individuals of West Bengal Restore Peace in Manipur Immediately! Justice to Brutally Assaulted Manipuri Women! Sack Chief Minister N Biren Shah Singh! Sack Home Minister Amit Shah! We, like every woman of this country, are shocked that it took a horrendous video[Read More…]

by 25/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
I.N.D.I.A. – Optics or Substance?

I.N.D.I.A. – Optics or Substance?

I believe our country must remain democratic and be governed by its current Constitution. I worry about the rising employment and costs of living. I feel concerned at the divisive machinations and hatred that are being sought to spread through whatsappery and other means. I wish the opposition to be visible out on the streets. And, yes, I am pro-Rahul[Read More…]

by 25/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rajathan Passes Law for the Social Security of Gig Workers

Rajathan Passes Law for the Social Security of Gig Workers

After the passage of the historic Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Law on 22nd July 2023, we write to you to share yet another significant development from the State. The Rajasthan Assembly has passed the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare Act), 2023. In yet another series of firsts, this has become the first State in the country to[Read More…]

by 25/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Uniform Civil Code Will Disrupt, Destroy India’s Pluralism

Uniform Civil Code Will Disrupt, Destroy India’s Pluralism

When ruling dispensations run out of viable ideas on political playoffs, they almost always resort to the politics of compulsion. By contrast, responsible governments which are committed to social progress use politics as an instrument to advance development, via progressive political agendas. They recognise that programs of public benefit veer towards enhancing social-economic-cultural-welfare value. Politics where schemes are ideologically self-centred[Read More…]

by 25/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Voices of Manipur: 12th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur: 12th Newsletter

Thousands of people in different parts of the country held protests and marches in solidarity with the people of #Manipur. Manipur as seen by its people, here is our twelfth edition of newsletter. “I want to make a sincere appeal through #VoicesofManipur to all the youths of Manipur, we must join hands regardless of our differences to stop the ongoing[Read More…]

by 24/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
From Nirbhaya-2012 to Manipur horror-2023: A decade lost……. but lesson not learned

From Nirbhaya-2012 to Manipur horror-2023: A decade lost……. but lesson not learned

The national capital of India, New Delhi made news worldwide in December 2012 for the unprecedented brutality against a daughter of the country later named as “Nirbhaya” for the extraordinary courage shown by her when she said that she wanted to live when all the hopes were waning away and demanded that the culprits must be punished.  The incidence was[Read More…]

by 24/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Chalo App: A Boon to  Public Transport Users

Chalo App: A Boon to  Public Transport Users

As a frequent traveller in and around Chennai, I have experienced the ups and downs of utilizing bus services, ranging from paid buses to pink-coloured buses free of charge exclusively for women. Moreover, while using Chennai’s public transport, I recently discovered the Chalo app, a revolutionary addition to the transportation ecosystem,  which has made my commute significantly more manageable and[Read More…]

by 24/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Mass Petition to President of India to Intervene in Manipur

Mass Petition to President of India to Intervene in Manipur

23rd July, 2023: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), along with over 3,200 + activists, academics, artists, retired bureaucrats and concerned citizens, many representing hundreds of movements and organizations from across the country issued a fervent and urgent Appeal to Madam Draupadi Murmu, Hon’ble President of India, seeking her immediate intervention, in the very grave circumstances of Manipur, requesting her[Read More…]

by 24/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
What Manipur is Witnessing Today ..

What Manipur is Witnessing Today ..

Decades are a short time in a nation’s journey. The sexual assault on three Kuki-Zo women and their being paraded naked by a frenzied mob in Manipur- with the police allegedly looking the other way  – has rekindled what happened with one Bilkis Bano from Gujarat, more than two decades back, and her still unending fight for justice. One also[Read More…]

by 23/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
by Angela Ferrão

Questioning the Silence : Sexual Violence in Manipur

On July 19, 2023 a heinous and unforgivable incident made it to the headlines. In connection to the ensuing ethnic clashes in Manipur, an incident of two Manipur tribal women being paraded naked by a mob in broad daylight came out in public only after two and a half months when a video footage of the same went viral. Though[Read More…]

by 23/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Extraordinary Matters

Extraordinary Matters

The extraordinary silence of the Prime Minister on the horrifying situation in Manipur has been broken by an extraordinary statement on a viral video of rape of one woman and forced naked parade of three hapless Kuki women by a Meitei mob.Extraordinary?Yes.While the Prime Minister says his blood boils in agony and rage at this brazen cruelty he carefully refrains[Read More…]

by 23/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Lok Sabha- Report of Joint Committee on Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)’s views not elicited

Lok Sabha- Report of Joint Committee on Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)’s views not elicited

To Smt. Droupadi Murmu The President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, I write this in continuation of my earlier letter dated 5-7-2023 addressed to your office (https://countercurrents.org/2023/07/take-the-ncst-into-confidence-prior-to-implementing-policies-and-projects-in-tribal-areas/) on the need for the executive to hold prior consultation with the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes (NCST) as required under Article 338A(9) of the Constitution before initiating any legislative action/ policy changes,[Read More…]

by 22/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Prepare a Draft of Uniform Civil Code

Prepare a Draft of Uniform Civil Code

Proposals of the GASS before the 22nd Law Commission of India with regard to Implementation of Uniform Civil Code The role of the Law Commission of India is to consult as many people of the country as possible and make proposals to the government before making any law for the country. If the government wants, it will accept it and[Read More…]

by 22/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why There Are Serious Concerns Regarding Amendment of Forest Conservation Law

Why There Are Serious Concerns Regarding Amendment of Forest Conservation Law

The recent debate on amendment of forest conservation law has seen the emergence of very relevant objections, and interests of environment protection as well as democracy demand that now the government should give adequate attention and importance to these objections. The advantages which a democracy provides in terms of the possibilities of corrective actions can be properly realized only if[Read More…]

by 22/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Black money: Some plain questions to Gurumurthy and Ajith Doval

Black money: Some plain questions to Gurumurthy and Ajith Doval

Once in 2010, I visited Vivekananda International Foundation, the New Delhi-based think tank founded by Ajit Doval, the present National Security Advisor and one of the most powerful men in the country. As an anti-corruption activist interested in learning about the foundation’s anti-black money campaign, I had an appointment with Doval, who headed the think tank at the time. However,[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rahul Gandhi risks a jail term; George Fernandes during 1977 General Elections

Third Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress Party

Respected Sir, We had sent two open letters to you which were published in Countercurrents.org on 11/06/2017 and 23/03/2023. In the first we had requested you to undertake a padyatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari; in the second letter we had urged that a public declaration be made that you would not be a candidate for Prime Ministership in 2024 General[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi Expresses Shame on Manipur Rape Incident, But What A Hypocrisy!

Modi Expresses Shame on Manipur Rape Incident, But What A Hypocrisy!

As Pradhanmantri ji ‘expressed’ his ‘pain’ and ‘anguish’ on the horrific incident in Manipur suggesting all the state governments such as Rajasthan, Chhattishgarh, Bengal or Manipur, must do everything to protect ‘women’s right and honor’. Can you imagine the level of contempt for the common people’s issues. One speak after 78 days of the incident and that too for less[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur Violence and the Outrageous Assault on Women

Manipur Violence and the Outrageous Assault on Women

We, the undersigned women’s organisations and concerned individuals, are outraged at the brutality on the one hand and the impunity and brazenness of the perpetrators of the crime against women in Manipur. In a very disturbing manner, mobile recorded videos have surfaced on social media where a group of men have been seen parading two women naked on the streets.[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
“Purity” and “Pollution” in Patriarchal Violence against Women

“Purity” and “Pollution” in Patriarchal Violence against Women

Violence against women continues unabated during conflicts! Rape as a weapon of war was gruesomely demonstrated during World War II, when both Allied and Axis armies committed rape as a means of terrorizing enemy civilian populations and demoralizing enemy troops. Sexual enslavement of women in territories conquered by the Japanese army, and the mass rape committed against German women by[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Opposition Unity: Prospects and Pitfalls

Opposition Unity: Prospects and Pitfalls

It sure is heartening news that the long-awaited opposition unity has at long last materialized in the Bengaluru meeting.Most political parties that matter and oppose the BJP have come together in an desperate attempt to confront the demon in a body.The country has come to the tipping point where we are just an inch or so from sliding downhill into[Read More…]

by 21/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Foundations and Future of ‘INDIA’ Political Alliance

Foundations and Future of ‘INDIA’ Political Alliance

In the nine years that have passed since the BJP-led Modi government assumed office, there has been little or no opposition to the Hindutva fascist doctrine at work in India. This has allowed the government to implement most of its reactionary agendas and transformed India into a party state. The lack of political opposition has provided Hindutva with the opportunity[Read More…]

by 20/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
by Angela Ferrão

The Horror That Is Manipur

The incident of rape and parading of two Kuki women in Manipur is outrageous and barbaric to say the least. We dont have the word to describe as what has happened to this beautiful state. For the last three months, the state is suffering from violence which has been deliberately encouraged by those in power. Why is Manipur burning and[Read More…]

by 20/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 Levy higher taxes and R&D cess on profits of large private companies to promote indigenous R&D and self-reliance

 Levy higher taxes and R&D cess on profits of large private companies to promote indigenous R&D and self-reliance

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, According to “Research and Development Statistics, 2019-20” published by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), India’s national investment in R&D is abysmally low, stagnating at around 0.6-0.7% of GDP. Compared to it, countries at the forefront of technology development such as the USA (2.8% of GDP), China (2.1%), Israel[Read More…]

by 18/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Film on the ST bus,the lifeline of people

Film on the ST bus,the lifeline of people

Maharashtra’s politicians have betrayed the masses on a massive scale . But one good decisions taken by the government before the recent filthy politics is that it introduced 50 per cent concession in fares for women on State Transport buses. It needs to do more for promoting public transport. Making a documentary film would be one good measure, it has[Read More…]

by 18/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Creation of four new states in north-central India will improve democracy at regional and national levels

Creation of four new states in north-central India will improve democracy at regional and national levels

Creation of news states in India from time to time has helped India in satisfying regional aspirations and improving governance in some of the larger states. Of course creation of a new state is not easy and involves a lot of careful work and consultation with people and various stakeholders. Whenever these consultation processes are properly followed, creation of new[Read More…]

by 18/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
ISRO Scientist at Tirupati  (Photo:IANS)

Scientists of ISRO should  not have gone to Tirupati temple: It undermines scientific temper, a Fundamental duty, ordained by the Constitution 

  I review and revise this article: a friend reminded me that a large number of great scientists were also believers! The sadness whenever I see the esteemed ISRO scientists prostrate before the God for their success, it hurts me. And the knowledge that a large number of great scientists are God believers upset me equally. I am reminded by[Read More…]

by 18/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Traditional Boatmen of Varanasi Struggle to Protect Their Livelihoods

Traditional Boatmen of Varanasi Struggle to Protect Their Livelihoods

Recently there have been several efforts by traditional boatmen of Varanasi to mobilize protests against their livelihoods being threatened by the introduction of water taxis in the Ganga river. In fact there was even a strike by them on this issue when they did ply their boats for some time. Earlier there was a protest by them against the introduction[Read More…]

by 17/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Delhi Floods: Not Just Nature’s Fury! 

Delhi Floods: Not Just Nature’s Fury! 

Paradoxically, recent past has been witness to strongly different images of India circulating at home and also in global media. Incidentally, lesser space has been taken by the positive side than has been by negative aspects and/or the grimmer reality. Of course, as is well known, the former has been marked by Indian Premier’s foreign trips followed by India’s moon[Read More…]

by 17/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Voices of Manipur: 11th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur: 11th Newsletter

“I know two Manipurs: one before this violence and one after this”. #VoicesofManipur. Here is the 11th edition of #VoicesofManipur. Read here personal experiences of the humanitarian crisis in Manipur. Voices of Manipur is a collective of concerned citizens. They bring out the situation in Manipur through the newsletter published in social media. This is the 10th newsletter. They can[Read More…]

by 17/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Truth behind, “The safety and security of passengers is our sacred duty” – claim of Indian Railways

Truth behind, “The safety and security of passengers is our sacred duty” – claim of Indian Railways

The country will remember for the next one hundred years the tragic train crash of June 02, this year at Bahanaga in Balasore district. Judging by the number of people killed in the accident, it is one of the biggest disasters of the Indian Railways. In fact, it is being investigated and debated whether it was a culpable homicide (unintentional[Read More…]

by 17/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Planning to Avoid Extreme Harm from Floods Should be based on Improved Understanding

Planning to Avoid Extreme Harm from Floods Should be based on Improved Understanding

Several parts of India including the capital Delhi are in the middle of   above normal floods. This has happened at a very early stage of the monsoon rains and there is need for a lot of caution at this stage itself as the capacity of land, natural water sources and dams to handle floods, which has been eroded badly over[Read More…]

by 16/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
ISRO Scientist at Tirupati  (Photo:IANS)

 Attempts by Religious Obscurantists to Tarninsh success of Science and  Moon mission

Successful launch of Chandrayan 3, the latest mission of Indian Space  Research Organization  to moon is a remarkable scientific endeavour.  It  took off  from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh state  on the afternoon of  July 14th. With the successful launch, India is bidding to become  the fourth country to execute a controlled landing on the[Read More…]

by 16/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Fractured  memories  of  Manipur  –  through  myths,  history  and  personal  encounters

Fractured  memories  of  Manipur  –  through  myths,  history  and  personal  encounters

                 `A  woman,  spreading  a  sack  before  her  like  a  fish  stall/ Sells  bodies  of  little  children /Dead  from  gunshot  wounds/            Sprinkling   water  and  rubbing  the  corpses/ She  says  laughing carelessly: “Not  anyone’s/ Not  anyone’s children,  mind   you/      These  children  are  my  own.”  ( Thangjam  Ibopishak,  Manipuri  poet  who  composed  this  poem [Read More…]

by 16/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Time for Caution and Care as Floods May Intensify

A Time for Caution and Care as Floods May Intensify

The situation in mid-July in India and more particularly in North India suggests need for extreme caution to avoid any further or rapid aggravation of the flood situation. At rather an early stage of the monsoon season, excessive floods have taken place in Delhi and neighboring parts as well as in the upper Himalayan catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and[Read More…]

by 15/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Muslims are made sacrificial lambs on the altar of democracy in India   

Muslims are made sacrificial lambs on the altar of democracy in India   

 It has always been a complaint that where the Muslim population is more, their population is shifted through the delimitation exercise to marginalize the Muslim community of its electoral strength. This exercise is done through a delimitation commission almost once in ten years to block Muslim representation in the Parliament and state legislators in India. Apart from the shift of[Read More…]

by 14/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The forced evictions across India around G20 events

The forced evictions across India around G20 events

Release of Report on Public Hearing  New Delhi, 13th July 2023: At the Press Conference organized by the Concerned Citizens of India at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, the release of the public hearing report shed light on the harrowing experiences of forced evictions across India in preparation for the G20 summit. The report was addressed by Senior Journalist Pamela Philipose, Human[Read More…]

by 14/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Uniform Civil Code: The Way Forward

Uniform Civil Code: The Way Forward

Memorandum on Uniform Civil Code submitted to 22nd Law Commission by All India Secular Forum on July 13, 2023 Introduction The 21st Law Commission – after comprehensive consultation, research and analysis of the implications of UCC for the whole of India – recommended that “Uniform Civil Code is neither necessary nor desirable. . . . reason being that as India[Read More…]

by 13/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
French nuclear reactors for Jaitapur in Maharashtra- Expensive & Risky- Appeal for caution

French nuclear reactors for Jaitapur in Maharashtra- Expensive & Risky- Appeal for caution

To Shri Rajiv Gauba Cabinet Secretary Government of India Dear Shri Gauba, I had earlier written to the Department of Atomic Energy on 13-9-2019 on my concerns, both technical and financial, about the proposal to set up a nuclear power plant of 9,000 MW consisting of six EPR reactors to be supplied by EDF of France. It is possible that[Read More…]

by 13/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Feasibility of Idea of Uniform Civil Code is Under Question

Feasibility of Idea of Uniform Civil Code is Under Question

 by Prakruthi Jain, Ayush Bajpai and Sandeep Pandey “A just code should be the primary goal as just laws are more important than a mere one uniform law.”[1]             Manipur is in turmoil since beginning of May. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not said a word about it. Despite being in the midst of continued violence, he did not cancel[Read More…]

by 12/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
I, the Citizen, (Not) the Sovereign

I, the Citizen, (Not) the Sovereign

by Sandeep Pandey and Vishwas Bhamburkar          The preamble to the Constitution begins with “We, the People”. Thus, the idea that the citizens are the sovereigns, should have been the pervasive thought flowing from the Constitution as viewed by all the powers that be. Is the citizen the sovereign? If she is not, isn’t the whole constitution a farce? And[Read More…]

by 12/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Judicial Pitfalls

Judicial Pitfalls

The observations of the Gujarat High Court judge who refused to stay the metropolitan magistrate’s sentence on Rahul Gandhi make strange reading.Reportedly the magistrate himself had reached the present tier in judicial hierarchy through somewhat shady paths.While upholding his verdict the honourable judge regretted the lack of ‘purity’ among present-day politicians. One hopes this had not been the type of[Read More…]

by 11/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Peeing on  Adivasi: Peaking of Caste arrogance

Peeing on  Adivasi: Peaking of Caste arrogance

On this 6th July Pravesh Shula, a BJP worker, urinated on an Adivasi boy. Shukla is a close associate of Kedarnath Shukla, the MLA of the area. When Pravesh was peeing; his friend Deep Narayan Sahu was videotaping the whole incident. The person on whom Shukla; out of fear kept quiet, but as the video of the incident surfaced, MP[Read More…]

by 11/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Voices of Manipur: 10th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur: 10th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur is a collective of concerned citizens. They bring out the situation in Manipur through the newsletter published in social media. This is the 10th newsletter. They can be reached at voicesofmanipur@gmail.com

by 10/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Abhorrent Aberrations: The “New Normal” in Modi’s “New India”

Abhorrent Aberrations: The “New Normal” in Modi’s “New India”

Last week, video emerged showing what was — at least, what one hopes was — the tail end of a wild night experienced by a seasoned political activist in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh. Who knows exactly what Pravesh Shukla spent his time doing earlier that day. Perhaps, as a party worker for the BJP, he’d been out in[Read More…]

by 10/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
As access to maternity benefits declines alarmingly, improvements should not be delayed

As access to maternity benefits declines alarmingly, improvements should not be delayed

There is a clear urgency of action needed to check the decline in access of benefits of the most important national-level maternity benefit scheme. The government must take immediate steps for this, particularly in the context of states like Gujarat and W.Bengal where the sharp decline in 2021-22 has been particularly distressing. According to the latest available data, maternity benefits[Read More…]

by 10/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rural Girls Out of Reach of Computer Literacy

Rural Girls Out of Reach of Computer Literacy

In today’s era of advanced technology, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital innovations are transforming lives, it is disheartening to acknowledge that several remote villages in India still lag behind, lacking even the most basic digital literacy. Talking about remote hilly villages in Uttarakhand, the privilege of knowledge and access to digital literacy still remains elusive, especially for girls. One[Read More…]

by 08/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Stop Bulldozing Uniform Civil Code Till Same-sex Marriage Issue is Debated In & Outside Parliament

Stop Bulldozing Uniform Civil Code Till Same-sex Marriage Issue is Debated In & Outside Parliament

The future of one hundred million LGBTQIA Indians is at stake. For the last seventy five years the Indian Parliament has evaded – nay stonewalled – debate on LGBTQIA marriage and the consequent benefits to same-sex couples it entails. True, the Supreme Court is to pronounce its judgement on the issue anytime soon but it can only give a declaration[Read More…]

by 07/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Delhi High Court ‘dismisses’ Pepsi’s appeal against revocation of IPR on potato variety

Delhi High Court ‘dismisses’ Pepsi’s appeal against revocation of IPR on potato variety

New Delhi, July 7th 2023: In an important development, Justice Navin Chawla in the Delhi High Court dismissed the Appeal filed by PepsiCo India Holdings (PIH), against a revocation order on its Plant Varietal Protection (PVP) certificate in December 2021 on its IPR on a potato variety. The revocation order was earlier passed by the Protection of Plant Varieties &[Read More…]

by 07/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Uniform Civil Code: Uniformity versus Equal Rights

Uniform Civil Code: Uniformity versus Equal Rights

Social reform movements for women’s rights have historically fought the uniformity of male privilege and each step forward has been in a specific socio-economic and political context. Admittedly in India, in the 75th year of our Independence, the legal framework for women’s rights, though certainly vastly improved, is still ridden with discriminations, biases and cultural prejudice. There is little doubt[Read More…]

by 06/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi Lied to the US Public Once Again

Modi Lied to the US Public Once Again

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi spoke at the joint session of the US Congress on June 23. Modi became the second Indian Prime Minister after Manmohan Singh to be honored with a State Visit to the United States.  This visit and speech came after seven years of his last visit in June of 2016 when he said, “Mr. Speaker, our[Read More…]

by 06/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Uniformity or Gender Justice: Where is the Draft of  Uniform Civil Code?

Uniformity or Gender Justice: Where is the Draft of  Uniform Civil Code?

The Law Commission’s notification and Mr. Modi’s strong advocacy for UCC has revived the debate around UCC yet again. As such Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been part of BJP’s elections Manifestoes all through. Its 1996 manifesto mentioned UCC under Nari Shakiti. Despite that it has never worked for the content of the draft. What will the laws of divorce,[Read More…]

by 06/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Uniform Civil Code Conundrum

The Uniform Civil Code Conundrum

That the relevance of a uniform civil code should turn out to be a hot topic for debate and political contestation is a paradox mirroring the confusion in present political discourses of India.Nobody in the Constituent Assembly probably thought it would take such a turn.It had been mooted as part of a modernizing project for transformation of a backward,tradition-bound society[Read More…]

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Take the NCST into Confidence Prior to Implementing Policies and Projects in Tribal Areas

Take the NCST into Confidence Prior to Implementing Policies and Projects in Tribal Areas

Article 338A of the Constitution obligates the State to consult the NCST on matters that affect tribals’ interests- Failure to do so should be reported to the Parliament   To Smt. Droupadi Murmu The President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, The National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is a Constitutional authority set up in pursuance of Article 338A. In all[Read More…]

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Voices of Manipur: 9th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur: 9th Newsletter

Voices of Manipur is a collective of concerned citizens. They bring out the situation in Manipur through the newsletter published in social media. This is the 9th newsletter. They can be reached at voicesofmanipur@gmail.com

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
No Respite In Sight in Manipur

No Respite In Sight in Manipur

It is now close to two months since Manipur has been in an unrelenting state of violence. The hostilities have assumed cruel forms involving ferocious ethnic fires. Angry masses have seemingly lost their humanity and have indulged in killing sprees replete with reprisals. In one village alone, nine people were killed in gunfire. Other examples are equally gory or even[Read More…]

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
It Happens Only in India: Urinating on the Face of an Adivasi Boy!

It Happens Only in India: Urinating on the Face of an Adivasi Boy!

The horrific and terrible video of a man, who was later identified as Pravesh Shukla, member of BJP’s youth wing in Madhya Pradesh, urinating on the face of an innocent and helpless Adivasi boy is simply outrageous and an act of terror. I am not sure whether it will ever become the point of Prime Time Debate but this question[Read More…]

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
75 Years of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind

75 Years of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind

The Partition of India brought a new configuration of Muslim leadership in its spate. After Partition, Jamate Islami was reorganized and moved to Pakistan as Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan. The party’s remaining cadre in India formed the Jamaat-i-Islami Hind, a separate organization that shares JI’s ideological aspirations. The intellectual inspiration primarily came from Syed Abul Ala Maududi, an ideologue and a staunch proponent[Read More…]

by 05/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
India Will Pay 70% of Cost but Micron Will Own 100% of the Plant—A Curious Business Model

India Will Pay 70% of Cost but Micron Will Own 100% of the Plant—A Curious Business Model

The deal with Micron during PM Modi’s visit to the United States has made headlines as a major technological breakthrough and a new dawn for India’s electronics chip-making industry. Implicit in this hurrah for the Micron deal is that India has completely missed the bus on the key technologies involved in electronic chip making. And for those who know technology would realize[Read More…]

by 04/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Low Fund Utilization Leaves Beggar Welfare Scheme Begging for Funds

Low Fund Utilization Leaves Beggar Welfare Scheme Begging for Funds

The task of helping all too numerous beggars to find a better future while also attending to the urgent welfare needs of those among them who face serious health or disability problems is a big but often neglected task in India. It is good to know therefore that the Department of Social Justice in the union government has a scheme[Read More…]

by 04/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi’s Speech in U.S. Congress: An Address Full of Contradictions

Modi’s Speech in U.S. Congress: An Address Full of Contradictions

The sharp reaction to Wall Street Journal journalist Sabrina Siddiqui and the online harassment faced by her on asking a question of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent joint press conference with President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. on the discrimination against religious minorities and silencing of critics is just a taste of attack on press freedom in India.[Read More…]

by 04/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 “Length of the last mile”- How Well the Welfare Schemes Fare in the Last Mile?

 “Length of the last mile”- How Well the Welfare Schemes Fare in the Last Mile?

Report by Libtech- To what extent GOI’s Centrally Sponsored Schemes (NREGA etc.) are effective at the ground level? To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Over the last few years, there has been a proliferation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) taken up by different Central Ministries, resulting in an undue increase in the amounts directly deposited in[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A ‘trivial’ incident in Maharashtra. Any faint signal?

A ‘trivial’ incident in Maharashtra. Any faint signal?

“Maharashtra: 19 cops injured in attack by labour union members at Palghar steel factory” was indeed a trivial incident to Indian media, and also to social-media, which together control minds (or brains) of a billion or so. So, this incident that occurred on May 6, Saturday, appeared in less than two dozen English news portals and a few Marathi ones on May[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
“State-sponsored Violence in Manipur”: National Federation of Indian Women

“State-sponsored Violence in Manipur”: National Federation of Indian Women

A three-member fact finding team comprising NFIW (National Federation of Indian Women) General Secretary Annie Raja, National Secretary, Nisha Siddhu, and Deeksha Dwivedi, independent Delhi based lawyer visited Manipur from 28th June to 1st July, 2023. The gross breakdown of constitutional bodies, apparent suspension of the right to life, and the absolute State apathy towards the crisis in Manipur prompted[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Trolling as a silencing and serving tool

Trolling as a silencing and serving tool

Recent period witnessed two incidents of trolling. In the state of Telangana, Thulasi Chandu a Telugu journalist was trolled by Hindu right-wing trollers associated with saffron forces for her critic of saffron forces in her videos. Similarly, a wall street journalist Sabrina Siddiqui was trolled for her questioning of Modi on situation of minorities in India. Thulasi Chandu makes regular[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Sedition in Manipur: Dashed hopes and expectations

Sedition in Manipur: Dashed hopes and expectations

The violence in Manipur starting May 3, 2023, in Churachandpur and still continuing, has complicated causes and sources, but one very clear effect – it is causing untold misery and suffering to the people of Manipur, and harm to the State of Manipur and the Union of India. The role played by the Government of Manipur (GoM) and the Government[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Lynching of Muslims in India

Lynching of Muslims in India

There are two festivals in India when Muslim killings invariably take place each year under the current political dispensation. First is Ramnauvi, a Hindu religious festival and second is Idul Adha or Bakraid, the Muslim festival when domesticated animals are sacrificed as a part of religious rituals. While the story of the killing of the Muslims during Ramnauvi is a[Read More…]

by 03/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
After Widely Condemned Assassination Attempt on Him, Dalit Leader Chandrashekhar Azad Should Get Security

After Widely Condemned Assassination Attempt on Him, Dalit Leader Chandrashekhar Azad Should Get Security

Following an assassination attempt last week, security concerns of Chandrashekhar Azad, a dalit leader of growing popularity, have increased further. On July 1 he stated that there could be a larger plot by powerful forces to kill him. He also demanded a judicial inquiry to probe the attempt on his life. (‘Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad demands judicial probe, alleges[Read More…]

by 02/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
26 passengers charred on highway of death in Maharashtra

26 passengers charred on highway of death in Maharashtra

Twenty six passengers were charred to death beyond recognition when a private bus going from Nagpur to Pune crashed on the so called Samruddhi highway early hours this morning. This was a disaster waiting to happen and government agencies are being squarely blamed for poor planning and enforcement. It is a dream project costing a staggering Rs 60,000 crore opened[Read More…]

by 01/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
BJP’s own Muslim question: A farce called Pasmanda outreach

BJP’s own Muslim question: A farce called Pasmanda outreach

Even as the 2024 General Elections draw closer, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to roll out some new and untested tricks to retain power. And going by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at Bhopal on June 27, the party’s outreach to Pasmanda Muslims could well be one that the party seems set to deploy in all seriousness.[Read More…]

by 01/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Dilemma of Liberal Muslims in Present Day India

The Dilemma of Liberal Muslims in Present Day India

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.  -Nelson Mandela An educated, secular and liberal Indian Muslim is today in a bind; he is confronted with the dilemma of finding the right balance between loyalty to his faith and adherence to the new tests of patriotism. The[Read More…]

by 01/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Disinformation, a key instrument of  India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? 

Disinformation, a key instrument of  India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? 

Map Courtesy/ EU DisinfoLab. In 2019, the Lab uncovered a vast network of 265 coordinated fake local media outlets in 65 countries serving Indian interests, as well as multiple dubious think tanks and NGOs. It is a 15-year operation targeting the EU and UN to serve Indian (ruling class) interests, with the purpose of  grossly misrepresenting China and Pakistan. The[Read More…]

by 01/07/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Examining the Practicality of a Uniform Civil Code in India

Examining the Practicality of a Uniform Civil Code in India

India follows a system of legal pluralism that allows different religious communities to be governed by their codes of personal law. This has been seen as a way of protecting distinct communal identities and safeguarding the right of citizens to practice their faith, as enshrined in the Constitution. The Constitution grants equal protection under the law to all citizens. That[Read More…]

by 30/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 UP Government’s ‘Bulldozer Raj’ on Gandhian Institutions Condemnable

 UP Government’s ‘Bulldozer Raj’ on Gandhian Institutions Condemnable

NAPM calls for resistance against ‘Gujarat to Varanasi Model of Demolition’! 30th June, 2023: NAPM condemns the brazen and disgraceful attempts by the Bhartiya Janata Party Government to arbitrarily occupy and destroy two of the most reputed Gandhian institutions of the country, Gandhi Vidya Sansthan and Sarva Seva Sangh, situated in Varanasi, the constituency of none other, but the Prime[Read More…]

by 30/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Karnataka Assembly Speaker Khader Fareed’s love for a die-hard Hindutva Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar

Karnataka Assembly Speaker Khader Fareed’s love for a die-hard Hindutva Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar

The 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections was a mile-stone in the fight for saving Indian democracy from the Hindutva onslaught. Congress defeated RSS-BJP convincingly. Though it was a State election but the results had national ramifications. Karnataka had become the newest Hindutva laboratory; the RSS-BJP campaigners used every dirty trick in the Hindutva armoury of communal polarization to put a stamp[Read More…]

by 30/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
To be or not to be a Marxist @South Asian University

To be or not to be a Marxist @South Asian University

by Sandra Elizabeth Joseph, Apoorva Yarabahally, Sukanya Maity and Snigdha Jayakrishnan A response from few members of Aijaz Ahmad Memorial Study circle(AAMSC), in the light of suspension of four professors from the university for their alleged association (which we completely deny) with our study circle. It was not so long ago, in an interdisciplinary course called ‘Introduction to South Asia’[Read More…]

by 30/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Best Decision on Pending Free Trade Agreement between India and EU is — Stop it

The Best Decision on Pending Free Trade Agreement between India and EU is — Stop it

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and India has been discussed for a long time—first from 2007 to 2013 and then, despite the many problems experienced then rendering the negotiations unsuccessful, these negotiations were revived two years ago and more formally these have continued for the last one year since June 2022. However it is clear already[Read More…]

by 30/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Narendra  Modi’s  US  visit –  a  bonanza  to  hit  the  box  office  for  the  2024  Lok  Sabha  election

Narendra  Modi’s  US  visit –  a  bonanza  to  hit  the  box  office  for  the  2024  Lok  Sabha  election

Our  Prime  Minister  chose  the  right  time –  may  be  after  consulting  his  astrologers  –  to  visit  the  US.  With  around  eight  months  left  for  the  next  parliamentary  polls,  and  facing  increasing  anti-incumbency  popular  mood,  he  needed  a  diversionary  path  to  neutralize  that  mood.  Biden’s  invitation  offered  him  that  opportunity.  The  basketful  of  gifts  of  defence  equipment  and  promises  of [Read More…]

by 29/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Take Strict Action Against Those Who Spread Communal Tension: Uttarakhand Mahila Manch

Take Strict Action Against Those Who Spread Communal Tension: Uttarakhand Mahila Manch

On 26 June, 2023, a four-member team led by Uttarakhand Mahila Manch from Dehradun visited Purola town in Uttarkashi district. The team consisted of Kamla Pant, Geeta Gairola, Ranjana Padhi and Chandrakala. The objective of the team’s visit was to understand the reasons that triggered communal tension a month earlier in Purola and to apprise the current situation. The preliminary[Read More…]

by 29/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s call to erase Portuguese history lands off the mark

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s call to erase Portuguese history lands off the mark

Last week, Goans woke up to their newspapers carrying rather uncanny news. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had summoned Goans to eradicate all signs and vestiges of Portuguese rule, and to ‘launch a fresh history’ for Goa. Commemorating 60 years of liberation from the Portuguese, Sawant recounted that Indians are also memorialising the 75th year of India’s Independence. He queried as[Read More…]

by 28/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Once More on Manipur

Once More on Manipur

Listening to Karan Thapar’s numerous interviews with Meitei and Kuki interlocutors on the Manipur situation,I carried away the impression that it is not possible to acquire a clear idea of the situation through the haze of pain,grief and anger of the victims,however affecting these are.At the opposite pole neither is it possible to grasp the truth behind the Prime Minister’s[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Coal block auctions- Prior consent of the local tribal Gram Sabhas mandatory under PESA and FRA

Coal block auctions- Prior consent of the local tribal Gram Sabhas mandatory under PESA and FRA

To Shri A L Meena Union Coal Secretary Dear Shri Meena, I refer to the notification issued by your Ministry on June 14, 2023, proposing the auction of 98 coal blocks in different States, including Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana. I find that many of those coal blocks are located in tribal areas notified under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution,[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Enemies of Social Change and Unethical Scholarship

The Enemies of Social Change and Unethical Scholarship

On May 17  suddenly I got a video on my watsapp. When I opened it I saw  the title “Kancha Ilaiah shepherd:  Bharat Vikhander”. Two supposedly experts on my work, Sharada Narayanan and Shubhodeep Mukhopadhyay, wrote an essay on me and my work in a book  that was said to have been  edited by Rajiv Malhotra and Divya Reddy. Both the[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur’s Killing Fields: A Tale of Greed, Identity Politics, Radicalization and State Collusion

Manipur’s Killing Fields: A Tale of Greed, Identity Politics, Radicalization and State Collusion

“We are afraid to open our mouths. There is nothing we can do for ourselves. It is those outside the state who must speak up for us,” a Christian academician and scholar based in Churchandpur, Manipur, told this author under conditions of anonymity; that’s the level of fear among the Kuki-Zo in the state. ”It’s not just the Meitei extremist[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur: A land in trouble

Manipur: A land in trouble

An overview of Manipur’s three-way ethnic conflict between Meitei, Naga and Kuki groups, which started since the era of British rule and the Anglo-Kuki war of 1917-19 during World War I One regularly sees headlines describing the clashes in Manipur as ‘attacks on Christians’ because more than 100 churches and some temples have been attacked. That gives a communal colour[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Muslim Man Lynched To Death On Suspicion Of Carrying Beef In Nashik

A Muslim Man Lynched To Death On Suspicion Of Carrying Beef In Nashik

A Muslim man was beaten to death (lynched) for allegedly transporting beef in Nashik, Maharashtra another one seriously injured. The two victims identified as Afan Ansari aged 32 and Nasir Qureshi aged 24 were seriously injured in the attack. Afsan Ansari was pronounced dead. They were traveling in a car to Mumbai, when they were attacked by the cow vigilantes[Read More…]

by 27/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Imphal – A Historic Turning Point?

Imphal – A Historic Turning Point?

Manipur, with its capital at Imphal, is bordered by Nagaland, Assam, and Mizoram. To its east is part of India’s sensitive international border with Myanmar (formerly Burma), increasingly under covert Chinese influence. A turning point A part of the Second World War Burma Campaign, the gruelling and historic Battles of Imphal and Kohima were fought during March to July 1944,[Read More…]

by 26/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Democracy at Stake! 

Democracy at Stake! 

So, the world is not oblivious of the state of democracy in India. The issue is not the degree to which democracy is ingrained in India’s DNA but more pertinently the degree to which it is not allowed to be abused and is actually practiced. Irrespective of however “noble” democratic claims may be of respected politicians, office-holders in various capacities[Read More…]

by 26/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Invasion of Toxic Modi-fied Views in the Civic Space of Whatsapp

The Invasion of Toxic Modi-fied Views in the Civic Space of Whatsapp

WhatsApp, a convenient cross-platform to stay connected and build community, has unfortunately gained notoriety because of getting attached to the pejorative term “Whatsapp University” that refers to much spurious fake news, misinformation and fake narratives that is disseminated through forwards on this platform. The term, supposedly coined by the well-known Indian journalist Ravish Kumar, is generally used by political dissenters[Read More…]

by 26/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
RSS betrayed struggle against Emergency: A peep into RSS Archives

RSS betrayed struggle against Emergency: A peep into RSS Archives

On the 48th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi [June 25, 1975-March 21, 1977] we are witnessing once again the farce of RSS claiming that it opposed it with full might.  PM Modi described it as the “darkest period” in Indian history in his weekly radio talk, ‘Mann ki Baat’ on June 18, 2023. A senior RSS functionary[Read More…]

by 25/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur: A people known for struggles against injustice are now fighting among themselves

Manipur: A people known for struggles against injustice are now fighting among themselves

Manipur has been known for more than just the existence of numerous insurgent groups. It is known for the bravery of its people, especially women, against the injustices of the state. Who doesn’t remember the one of its kind protest, in 2004, in front of Assam Rifles headquarters when 2-3 dozen naked women protested with the banner ‘Indian Army Rape[Read More…]

by 25/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Mandal Commission report and reactions of Indian Academia

The Mandal Commission report and reactions of Indian Academia

The Idea of Mandal In August 1990, the National Front government led by VP Singh, made an announcement in parliament regarding the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. The report, commissioned during the Janata Party government’s tenure (1977-79), recommended a reservation of 27 percent in the government service and public undertaking jobs for candidates belonging to backward castes. The Mandal[Read More…]

by 25/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur Violence: Ethnic Strife or Communal Violence?

Manipur Violence: Ethnic Strife or Communal Violence?

After the state High Court verdict on Meitei’s being recognized as ST, claiming quota in jobs, education and Adivasi land, the state of Manipur has seen unprecedented violence in which over one hundred people have died and close to a lakh have been displaced. The accompaniments of such violence are too horrid to be recounted yet again; the plight of[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian people are forced to rely on Anglo-saxon media regarding China

Indian people are forced to rely on Anglo-saxon media regarding China

  A full page Ad in US media, covering Modi’s current visit to USA,  urged India: “ free the press.” It  features photos of some Indian journalists-writers harassed and imprisoned, and denied bail for years. Obviously not all agree with false claims of democracy. The ‘free press’ for India means relying on Anglo-Saxon media regarding China. That’s what the USA[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
June 25: 48th Anniversary of Emergency – Equating Fascism with ‘Undeclared Emergency’ is Depoliticisation

June 25: 48th Anniversary of Emergency – Equating Fascism with ‘Undeclared Emergency’ is Depoliticisation

June 25, 2023 is the 48th anniversary of Emergency Declaration that lasted for 21 months. Meanwhile, addressing the 102nd episode of the monthly radio show Mann Ki Baat on June 18, 2023, on the eve of his US visit, Modi said : “India is the mother of democracy. We consider our democratic ideals as paramount, we consider our Constitution as[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The anachronism of “Senkol” in Indian Democracy

The anachronism of “Senkol” in Indian Democracy

On May 28, 2023, the New Parliament House, nestled in the heart of the sprawling Central Vista Redevelopment Project in New Delhi was inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event conducted with fanfare, pomp and gaiety were conspicuous by opposition boycott en toto and the absence of Indian President and Vice-President, allegedly uninvited, in flagrant violation and[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Mafia Raj in Gujarat

Mafia Raj in Gujarat

Narendra Modi’s United States visit has made big news. In his seventh trip to that country as the Prime Minister he has been able to get himself invited as a state guest for the first time, riding on the back of a proposal from an Indian private company Air India to buy 220 aircrafts from another U.S. private company Boeing.[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
There is no discrimination against Muslims in India says PM Modi in Washington

There is no discrimination against Muslims in India says PM Modi in Washington

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied that discrimination against Indian Muslims exists under his government. He was speaking during a press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on June 3, news agency Reuters reported. Asked at the press conference what steps he was willing to take to “improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in[Read More…]

by 24/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
What for Modi’s visit to the USA?

What for Modi’s visit to the USA?

Our Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States of America  from  June 21-24 is to be understood not only  in the light of easing  and  strengthening  relationship between the two countries, but also in the context of today’s geopolitics. We have to quickly scan atleast few points of today’s world order It is true that today’s world is functioning[Read More…]

by 23/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
India to attract investment in Gujarat from US company, Micron by extending Rs 11,000 Crores of subsidy- Is it prudent?

India to attract investment in Gujarat from US company, Micron by extending Rs 11,000 Crores of subsidy- Is it prudent?

To Shri G C Murmu Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Dear Shri Murmu, I had earlier addressed you vide my letter dated 2-6-2023  questioning the prudence and propriety of the government giving subsidies to profit-earning private companies in the name of attracting investment for boosting production in certain specific manufacturing sectors. I pointed out in my letter that[Read More…]

by 23/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hundreds Rally Outside White House to Protest Authoritarianism, Minority Persecution in India under PM Modi’s Rule

Hundreds Rally Outside White House to Protest Authoritarianism, Minority Persecution in India under PM Modi’s Rule

Washington, D.C. (June 22, 2023) – Hundreds of Indian Americans and their allies gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., to stage a demonstration against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assault on democratic values and ongoing human rights violations. The protest, attended by individuals from diverse religious backgrounds such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and tribal communities,[Read More…]

by 23/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press: RSS-BJP rulers leading India to the lower-depths of Human Debasement

Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press: RSS-BJP rulers leading India to the lower-depths of Human Debasement

Gita Press, Gorakhpur has been awarded the 2022 Gandhi Peace Prize, the prestigious international award instituted by Government of India in 1995 while commemorating 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It was to be conferred on those individuals/organizations which contributed in carrying forward the ideals espoused by him. The jury which conferred it to Gita Press consisted of PM of[Read More…]

by 22/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Stop Manipur Violence Say NAJ, DUJ 

Stop Manipur Violence Say NAJ, DUJ 

The National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) in a joint statement today condemned the ongoing violence in Manipur including attacks on journalists covering the violence. We call for an immediate cessation of violence by armed groups belonging to all sides. We further demand that the authorities ensure the safety of journalists.  We express shock[Read More…]

by 22/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Dehumanization of Education System during the Corporate-Fascist Regime

Dehumanization of Education System during the Corporate-Fascist Regime

The New Education Policy, 2020 has unleashed an unprecedented attack on the education system of India. As the NEP2020 is getting implemented, we can find that Indian history is getting more and more saffronised. It is not just a matter of communalism but it is a broad matter of viewing history and science from the lens of the oppressor. The[Read More…]

by 22/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Civil Society Leaders Demand Transparency in FTA Negotiations

Civil Society Leaders Demand Transparency in FTA Negotiations

New Delhi: 130+ organisations and civil society leaders expressed concerns at the lack of transparency and non-inclusive consultation processes adopted by the Union Government in the negotiations for entering into free trade, comprehensive economic partnership or investment related agreements. In an open letter to the Govt of India on Tuesday, they referred to the ongoing negotiations with several countries, including[Read More…]

by 20/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Manipur Burning!

Manipur Burning!

To say that ‘Manipur is burning’ is not merely a gross understatement, but belies the terrible reality which has gripped the tiny State in North-East India since 3 May. For almost fifty days now, Manipur has been experiencing unprecedented violence and mayhem; more than one hundred people have been killed, thousands have been rendered homeless; there has been burning, arson[Read More…]

by 20/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian Governance is paralyzed under PM Modi’s rule

Indian Governance is paralyzed under PM Modi’s rule

There are some events happening in India that need a stocktaking to assess the status of the governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose popularity remains undiminished in the country. These events that are being talked about in India are; the Manipur situation, Muslim persecution in Uttarakhand, sexual harassment of internationally awarded female wrestlers Co-Win data leak, the Adani scam,[Read More…]

by 20/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi’s US Visit: A Major Diplomatic Step or Not!

Modi’s US Visit: A Major Diplomatic Step or Not!

Notwithstanding the diplomatic importance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit (June 20-24) from the Indian perspective, one is compelled to deliberate on it from a few other angles. The importance being given to it in Indian circles is partly suggested by media at home according substantial attention to it from around a week before the visit has actually begun.[Read More…]

by 19/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The craze for re-naming

The craze for re-naming

It was Vico who had introduced us to the now common notion that it is given to man alone to understand things made by man.To create a thing is to endow it with sense which is decoded by people.Giving names is one such form of creation.To remove such names is destruction of such creation. Positivist historians persuade themselves they can[Read More…]

by 18/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Instead of Spreading Palm Oil Tree in a Big Way, Indigenous Edible Oils Trees Should Get More Attention

Instead of Spreading Palm Oil Tree in a Big Way, Indigenous Edible Oils Trees Should Get More Attention

Recent government policy has resorted to huge promotion of exotic palm oil trees to end edible oil shortage in the country. However this is associated with highly disruptive ecological costs, as has been seen from the experience of several countries. The kind of high rainfall conditions needed for its high yield are not readily available in India and this will[Read More…]

by 18/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
CEA is in a State of Denial

CEA is in a State of Denial

India’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Anantha Nageswaran’s assertion last a few days back as reported by newspapers, that the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) was not necessary for India and ‘it may create ground for “perverse incentives” and dissuade people from seeking income-generating opportunities’ is wrong and far from reality in many ways. The platform from where this was[Read More…]

by 17/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Freedom of Speech in Modi’s India: Beyond Jack Dorsey’s Revelations

Freedom of Speech in Modi’s India: Beyond Jack Dorsey’s Revelations

Former Twitter co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, claimed that India had threatened to shut down the micro-blogging site unless it complied with government orders. The ex-CEO revealed this on the US Based YouTube show Breaking Point. Dorsey’s revelations have set off debates on freedom of expression and journalistic freedom in India. Twitter has long been the ground for citizen journalism[Read More…]

by 17/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
For their own good, opposition ruled states must ban all hindutva outfits and rehabilitate their members

For their own good, opposition ruled states must ban all hindutva outfits and rehabilitate their members

Video of police lathi charging Bajrang Dal members in Indore Last month, attacking the Indian National Congress’s (INC) promise during Karnataka Assembly elections to ban Bajrang Dal, an incensed Prime Minister Modi invoked the ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ slogan in defence of an outfit that has visibly indulged in wide-spread murder and mayhem in the country for close to four decades.[Read More…]

by 17/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
NFIW Condemns Application To Cancel Of POCSO Case Against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

NFIW Condemns Application To Cancel Of POCSO Case Against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

New Delhi, Jun 16, 2023: National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) strongly condemns the way Delhi Police filed the application to cancel the POCSO case against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and the manner in whichthey carried out the inquiry for filing a chargesheet against him in the sexual harassment case by the other wrestlers. Two FIRs were filed[Read More…]

by 17/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Citizens’ Appeal: Stop the violence in Manipur!

Citizens’ Appeal: Stop the violence in Manipur!

Over 550 civil society groups and concerned individuals from across the country come together to condemn the continuing violence in Manipur. Call for an immediate stop to divisive politics by the state and security forces. Urge all parties for an immediate cease fire. Issuing a statement expressing deep concern about the continuing ethnic violence in Manipur between the Meitei community[Read More…]

by 16/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
For the times they are a-changin’: Of fishes, books and online transactions

For the times they are a-changin’: Of fishes, books and online transactions

Gobindo, the fish-seller, sat smoking bidis, amidst piles of silvery, shining fishes of different kinds, every evening, just where the street began as an off-shoot from the Lake Town main road, near the Lake Town bus stop in Kolkata. Not only did he sell the best quality ones, he customarily handled old customers and new ones with equal familiarity and[Read More…]

by 16/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why India’s ongoing millet mission is an exercise in culinary homogenization

Why India’s ongoing millet mission is an exercise in culinary homogenization

With the year 2023 declared as the international year of millets, India has witnessed numerous State led initiatives to promote the production and consumption of the “forgotten grain”. While the initiative to promote millets in the country deserves praise for raising awareness about the nutritional value of forgotten grains like bajra, ragi, foxtail and a plethora of millets that are[Read More…]

by 15/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why Increase Trials When Due to Serious Inherent Problems GM Crops Should Be Banned

Why Increase Trials When Due to Serious Inherent Problems GM Crops Should Be Banned

 There is increasing and overwhelming evidence of the many-sided serious adverse impacts and dangers of GM (genetically modified) crops. To give an example, a review by eminent Indian scientist Dr. Pushpa M. Bhargava, who had earlier been appointed by the Supreme Court of India to advise on this issue, had revealed that almost all research papers on this subject that[Read More…]

by 15/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) with the US President  Joe Biden at White House, Washington DC, USA, September 24, 2021.

Modi’s Washington DC Tour Offers Him a Propaganda Bonanza

The prime minister wears no clothes, but all DC wants is fashion tips   When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Washington, DC on 20 June 2023, what those officials in the US government who invited him may not have accounted for is that his visit grants his ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the benefit of propagandizing in[Read More…]

by 15/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Soft  power  abroad  and  muscle  power  at  home

Soft  power  abroad  and  muscle  power  at  home

India  under  the  stewardship  of  our  Prime  Minister  is  gaining  accolades  from  global  authorities  of  all  hues  –  ranging  from  world  leaders  seeking  commercial  collaboration  on  the  one  hand,  to   international    entertainment   houses  promoting  Indian  female  dress  fashions  on  the  other.  In  fact,  Narendra  Modi  has made  himself   into  a  brand  –  like  a commodity  that  is  given  maximum  exposure [Read More…]

by 15/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Love Letter to My Lost Country

A Love Letter to My Lost Country

Dear India, It was in 2016 that I had left you to pursue my higher studies in a faraway country in Europe. For a middle-class family this was a dream, and I was simply living it. You had made it happen. Your welfare schemes and subsidized public education made it possible. Sociology has taught me to understand the reasons behind[Read More…]

by 14/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Forgive us Father, your nation has gone to Godse’s children

Forgive us Father, your nation has gone to Godse’s children

Dear Bapu, Happy Father’s Day to you. Today, I miss you even more than the years when I first came to know about you, growing up as a kid in India. I don’t mind calling you Bapu, even though many of my friends might be outraged for ideological reasons. So be it. After all, I have been taught in school[Read More…]

by 14/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A police officer stands guard in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) head office in Mumbai April 17, 2012. The Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates on Tuesday for the first time in three years by an unexpectedly sharp 50 basis points to give a boost to flagging economic growth but warned that there is limited scope for further rate cuts. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS)

RBI’s revised Framework for Compromise Settlements and Technical Write-offs compromise the integrity of the banking system- Does it incentivise corporate fraud?

To Shri Shaktikanta Das Governor RBI   Dear Shri Das, I refer to RBI’s latest guidelines issued on 8-6-2023 (Notification No.RBI/2023-24/40 DOR.STR.REC.20/21.04.048/2023-24 8-6-2023) on Framework for Compromise Settlements and Technical Write-offs, modifying the earlier guidelines issued on 7-6-2019 (Notification RBI/2018-19/203 DBR.No.BP.BC.45/21.04.048/2018-19 7-6-2019). Para 34 of the 2019 notification stipulated, “Borrowers who have committed frauds/ malfeasance/ wilful default will remain ineligible for restructuring. However,[Read More…]

by 14/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Letter to Chief Justice of India: Hate Speech in Uttarakhand

Letter to Chief Justice of India: Hate Speech in Uttarakhand

To Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, The Hon’ble Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India.   We are writing this letter as People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) to bring to your attention the alarming rise of hate speech, vigilantism, and targeted communal violence against the minority Muslim community in Uttarakhand in the last few days. We are a civil liberties and human[Read More…]

by 14/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Has the Global Malayalee Arrived?

Has the Global Malayalee Arrived?

After the discovery of a sea route around Africa’s southern coast (in 1488) and of America (in 1492) the youth of Europe began their adventures over the sea, went to new countries, and started new trade and commerce. Many of them settled in the new countries where they reached. Now it seems there is a reverse trend among youth in[Read More…]

by 13/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 Remembering NTR the politician in his centenary Year – Part 2 – His was an autocratic regime, and a Police State 

 Remembering NTR the politician in his centenary Year – Part 2 – His was an autocratic regime, and a Police State 

 NTR’s political career in the later part was marked by Lakshmi Parvati’s prominent role. Her introduction in 1991 as his biographer, secret wedding in 1992, public announcement in 1993 in a rally, were all quick developments. She was 30 years younger to him. Not a single member of his large family of 12 children and their spouses supported the marriage,[Read More…]

by 13/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why India Needs A Campaign for Protection of Oilseeds Heritage—Now!

Why India Needs A Campaign for Protection of Oilseeds Heritage—Now!

Did we protest when the exotic, narrow genetic-base varieties of various crops displaced thousands of indigenous varieties? Did we protest when many millet crops were being displaced? In both these cases the lack of any sustained opposition by a significant number of people (leaving aside the opposition of a small number of scientists and farmers) proved very costly. Much later,[Read More…]

by 13/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Politics is not Cricket: Over-confidence can be “suicidal” in Politics!

Politics is not Cricket: Over-confidence can be “suicidal” in Politics!

Be it politics, medicine or any field except of course certain areas, over-confidence about success/victory can be “suicidal”- leading to failure/defeat. Even while driving- over-speeding in most cases leads to accidents, big shots in cricket instead of sixes/fours has at times led to catch-outs with a winning match slip to defeat. Over-confidence in politics, however, is often not simply due[Read More…]

by 13/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
 ‘Aurangzeb Ki Auladen’ (Children of Aurangzeb): Indian Muslims or High Caste Hindus

 ‘Aurangzeb Ki Auladen’ (Children of Aurangzeb): Indian Muslims or High Caste Hindus

June 7, 2023 violence at Kolhapur as per the claims of the perpetrators affiliated to the Hindutva gang was a reaction to ‘provocative’ social media posts which carried photographs of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb (1618-1707) and Tipu Sultan ruler of Mysore who was killed by the British army with the help of Nizam’s army on May 4, 1799. What was ‘provocative’[Read More…]

by 12/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Odisha train accident- How safe are other sections where super-fast trains are running, more bullet trains being launched?

Odisha train accident- How safe are other sections where super-fast trains are running, more bullet trains being launched?

  To Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw Railway Minister Dear Shri Vaishnaw, Please refer to my earlier letter dated 5-6-2023 addressed to you on the recent multiple train accident near Balasore in Odisha (https://countercurrents.org/2023/06/railway-accident-in-odisha-are-the-railways-ready-for-high-speed-trains-who-is-to-be-blamed/) in which, according to your own statements, there was a technical snag in the working of the signalling system at Bahanaga Bazar railway station. According to reports (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/balasore-accident-no-train-to-halt-at-bahanaga-bazar-as-cbi-seals-station-seizes-log-book/articleshow/100897578.cms), apparently, on[Read More…]

by 12/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Violating Swadeshi Spirit, Impeding Progress of Small Food Units

Violating Swadeshi Spirit, Impeding Progress of Small Food Units

Recently some new threats have been emerging for small scale food processing units in India. To give a recent example, this year new directives have been issued for mandatory six-month lab tests for them which can raise their costs and reduce their viability to a significant extent. Food fortification requirements being pushed relentlessly by the authorities in recent times can[Read More…]

by 12/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Anti- Muslim Cinema, a new trend nuturing under Hindutva Culture

Anti- Muslim Cinema, a new trend nuturing under Hindutva Culture

In recent years Indian cinema is being fed on the growing trend of anti-Muslim hate movies. The Bollywood film industry is churning out the distorted portrayal of Muslims in the last nine years or so and such plots have matured to their real structure after the BJP government has come to power under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi[Read More…]

by 12/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Motorists must pay for parking , can’t have free lunch

Motorists must pay for parking , can’t have free lunch

There is increasing protest in the U.S. against the craze for car parking. More space is being allotted for parking of cars than for houses because of wrong policies. The same is happening in Mumbai and other cities and this is going to create a big crisis in the coming days. A new book by David Grabar about the heavy[Read More…]

by 10/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
BJP’s Communal Politics Has Deepened Historical Conflicts in Manipur

BJP’s Communal Politics Has Deepened Historical Conflicts in Manipur

Tribal communities feel that the BJP-led state government is participating in perilous communal politics by backing the Meiteis as ‘Hindus’ against the tribal people who are predominantly Christian. Manipur has erupted in violence. For over a month, the Meitei and Kuki people of the state have been wedged in a political conflict. Many have died, properties destroyed and hundreds injured.[Read More…]

by 10/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Letter to Bishops of India from Fr Cedric Prakash

Letter to Bishops of India from Fr Cedric Prakash

  To Most Rev. Andrews Thazhath, President; and to ALL Office-Bearers and ALL Members The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI)   Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Your Lordships, Greetings to each one of you! This letter is being personally addressed to each one of you; my apologies for doing so through one common email! A little over three years ago,[Read More…]

by 10/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Patriotic Criminals and Anti-National Criminals

Patriotic Criminals and Anti-National Criminals

Seven women wrestlers have filed First Information Report about sexual harassment by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a six times Member of Parliament and president of the Wrestling Federation of India. One of the survivors who is a minor, thereby invoking the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, has after prolonged protests and accused roaming around freely, mysteriously withdrawn[Read More…]

by 09/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Conspiracy! Whose Conspiracy?

Conspiracy! Whose Conspiracy?

Certain friends remind us it is the fifth anniversary of a dark moment in our recent history.About this time seven or eight years ago the govt agencies in charge of state security announced to a dazed country the incredible story of an horrendous plot to assassinate the Prime Minister linked to a tortuous plan to create absolute mayhem in the[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Wrestlers’ struggle for justice : Will it endure?

Wrestlers’ struggle for justice : Will it endure?

Published as the front page story in ‘The Indian Express’ on May 23, 2023, Vinesh Phogat in her write up titled ‘Like many girls, I had to suffer silently all these years because of this man (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh)’ has made a remarkable statement. She states, “Now there is no fear. The only fear we have is that we[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
‘Digital India Bill’: Some things to worry about

‘Digital India Bill’: Some things to worry about

There is talk again of the government coming out with its ‘Digital India Bill’ which is meant to replace the IT Act, 2000. The ‘Digital India Bill’ is an unofficial name for the legislation meant to uphold the rights and interests of the ‘Digital Nagriks’ of an imagined ‘Digital India’. The government is somewhat correct in its position that new[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Electricity wasted in Mumbai as energy supply is cut off for hours in towns

Electricity wasted in Mumbai as energy supply is cut off for hours in towns

The mass scale ugly, blinding illumination of trees all over Mumbai is a terrible waste of energy when many parts of the state are suffering from load shedding. And the price is paid by villagers who lose their land and suffer pollution because of the insensitively built power stations as in Dahanu. One realised this at a largely attended meeting[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Samalkha Nestle Workers Union stage protest against preventing formation of Union  

Samalkha Nestle Workers Union stage protest against preventing formation of Union  

On Monday, June 5, at the gate of the Nestle factory located in Samalkha, Haryana, union representatives from different Nestle plants and representatives of the Nestle Workers’ Unity of Nestle Samalkha assembled to stage a protest against the management refusing to grant permission to workers in forming a union. The management is placing every possible obstacle in the formation of[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Odisha rail accident- BSNL’s commendable performance- Should India diminish its public sector, allow private oligarchs to profiteer?

Odisha rail accident- BSNL’s commendable performance- Should India diminish its public sector, allow private oligarchs to profiteer?

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I refer to the hasty, sweeping Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) disinvestment policy announced by you in your Budget Speech in 2021 and further spelt out by the Department of Public Enterprises in their guidelines on 13-12-2021. As a sequel to it, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM),[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
For Balanced Progress, Indian Railways Must Get Their Priorities Right

For Balanced Progress, Indian Railways Must Get Their Priorities Right

The recent highly tragic train accident in Odisha has again highlighted the urgency for the Indian Railways to correct their priorities in order to achieve balanced progress on a safe path. The biggest priority must be safety. In recent times there have been funds shortages for RRSK, the most important safety fund, as seen from the fact that during the[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Determining Scheduled Area: An Update

Determining Scheduled Area: An Update

Abstract Determining Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule of Article 244 of the Constitution has been left largely to administrative and political interpretations. Mired in ambiguities, most often adverse, this resulted in the denial of what this constitutional provision potentially could offer the Scheduled Tribes. About sixty percent of the Scheduled Tribes are unjustly denied and kept out of the[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The new Parliament house may be dangerously undemocratic

The new Parliament house may be dangerously undemocratic

India’s new Parliament House was launched with as much fanfare as there was controversy. For those now in their sixties and seventies who have had occasion to either travel or live in Delhi, the new Parliament building was neither necessary with the offensive waste of public funds. Nor does it have the architectural grace that the current building has. A[Read More…]

by 08/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
DIPAM’s hasty moves to disinvest the government’s residual share in HZL highly imprudent and against the public interest

DIPAM’s hasty moves to disinvest the government’s residual share in HZL highly imprudent and against the public interest

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, It is reported  that Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) plans to conduct roadshows this month for disinvesting the government’s residual equity share of 29.54% in HZL. It is a matter of serious concern that DIPAM should display such undue haste to sell the government equity in HZL[Read More…]

by 07/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Proper Treatment of Rail Accident Victims Demands Long-term Commitment and Support

Proper Treatment of Rail Accident Victims Demands Long-term Commitment and Support

Nearly 1000 people have been injured in the recent extremely tragic train accident in Odisha; various new reports have mentioned a figure ranging from 800 to 1100 injured persons. There have been assurances at the highest level that the government will make very good arrangements for their treatment. However it is important to remember that many injuries suffered in rail[Read More…]

by 07/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
What the Kailasa Con Job Reveals About the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

What the Kailasa Con Job Reveals About the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

The international wing of the fascist RSS dupes American elected officials The New Jersey city of Newark was caught in an embarrassing situation in March 2023. Just two months previously, the city signed a “sister cities” agreement with the United States of Kailasa, but when the truth finally emerged after the 12 January 2023 signing, the embarrassment was two-fold: not[Read More…]

by 07/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The writing is on the wall: Farmers warn Parliamentarians

The writing is on the wall: Farmers warn Parliamentarians

In a move without precedent, Indian farmers have warned all Members of the Indian Parliament in a letter in both Hindi and English, to raise their voices in Parliament to express the demands of the farmers. The farmers, writing under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) have accused the Union Government of not carrying out the promises made in[Read More…]

by 07/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now

End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now

Collective statement by women and human rights organisations condemning the state repression and police atrocities on the wrestlers in their struggle for justice against sexual harassment We the undersigned women and human rights organisations condemn the way the Delhi Police, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP led Central Government at the highest level have managed to subvert the law,[Read More…]

by 06/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024

Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024

By 2024, Sikkim is set to witness a significant enhancement in its connectivity as it prepares to introduce its first train service and join the national network. This landmark railway project will connect Sivok in West Bengal and Rangpo in Sikkim. Referred to as the Sivok-Rangpo rail project, this endeavour represents a monumental undertaking of great significance. Initially scheduled for[Read More…]

by 06/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase

Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase

Several senior experts and officials have rightly emphasized that safety should get the topmost priority in railways management. In financial terms railway safety requirements were estimated in year  2015-16 at INR 1,54,000 crore ( one crore=10 million) by official experts and a decision was taken to meet the major share of INR 1,19,000 crore out of this from a special[Read More…]

by 06/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Notes on two recent sensations

Notes on two recent sensations

The least the present government could have done,even if to save appearances,in response to the ghastly train accident at Balasore,was the Rly Minister’s resignation.For there can be no doubt whatsoever that the accident or disaster had been caused by gross human error and utter blatant negligence. This is no one off default but routine systemic malady.Last year’s CAG report had[Read More…]

by 05/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A shocking picture of health apathy…..

A shocking picture of health apathy…..

A United Nations report has informed that India does not fare well even among countries that have been found to have a very negative position in terms of maternal and child mortality and subsequent maternal and child mortality. India has the highest female mortality rate during childbirth, and neonatal mortality. In the year 2020-2021, 23 lakh newborns died in different[Read More…]

by 05/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed?

Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed?

To   Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw Railway Minister Dear Shri Vaishnaw, The latest railway accident in Odisha, which has resulted in the death of more than 280 passengers and hundreds injured, is unfortunate. I feel somewhat surprised that the Railways should hastily announce a probe by the CBI (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/railways-minister-announces-cbi-probe-into-odisha-train-accident-101685884237020.html), suggesting the possibility of sabotage, without the railway safety regulator having an opportunity[Read More…]

by 05/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation

Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation

India, a land steeped in history and natural wonders, holds a profound responsibility to protect and cherish its heritage for the coming generations. With breath-taking landscapes like the mighty Himalayas and architectural marvels such as the temples of Khajuraho, India’s heritage is a constant reminder of our glorious past. As we step into the future, let us embark on a[Read More…]

by 05/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed

Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed

The recent disastrous Odisha train accident has re-emphasized the need for ensuring better train safety. Taking an average figure for the last decade, nearly 24,000 deaths are caused by railway accidents in a year. This may be compared to less than 700 deaths in the entire European Union related to train accidents in 2021. In India the deaths caused by[Read More…]

by 04/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore

Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore

Where is the Train Collision Avoidance System developed by Indian Railways in 2011-12? While all have to focus on rescue, relief, medical treatment of the injured and restoration operations following the deadliest train tragedy at Balasore, and even as  deep condolences from world community on the tragic death of hundreds of people are pouring in,  the Modi regime which is[Read More…]

by 04/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan

Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan

The protests by women wrestlers Vinesh Poghat, Sakshi Malik, Anshu Malik and also male wrestler Bajrang Punia while is aimed at demanding an action against Brijbhushan Singh Sharan who used his position to demand sexual favors goes beyond that. In general, it challenges the system where men may use their positions at workplaces to demand sexual favors and in this[Read More…]

by 04/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony?

Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony?

This 28th May 2023 the new and more lavish building of Parliament was inaugurated by Prime Minster Modi. Most opposition parties boycotted this function as they argued that the inauguration should be done by President Draupadi Murmu. As per article 79, President of India, along with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, constitutes the Parliament, thus President is part of the[Read More…]

by 04/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers

Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers

The strike of the workers, which was staged outside the Belsonica Company in Manesar for the last one month, concluded with an agreement on June 1. On May 30, all the workers launched a strike, the workers who were in the company laid down their tools, while the suspended workers and union delegations staged a hunger strike outside. On the[Read More…]

by 03/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks

Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks

Most urban dwellers often yearn for a break from their busy lives and seek solace and rejuvenation in hill stations. However, many individuals, including my colleagues working in private firms, have expressed concerns about the expensive package tours offered in Indian hill stations. They believe travelling to Asian countries provides cheaper options with better package tour deals. This growing preference[Read More…]

by 03/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters

Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters

A seemingly good decision to provide free insurance to commuters of two lines on the Mumbai Metro is also highly discriminatory and almost insulting to suburban train and bus commuters. Who needs insurance and accident compensation more ? Obviously, suburban rail commuters, nearly three thousand of them die each year due to overcrowding and others issues. Yet, each one of[Read More…]

by 03/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits?

PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits?

To Shri G C Murmu Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) Dear Shri Murmu, I had earlier written to you on the pros and cons of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) under which the Central Ministries extend subsidies to private companies to incentivise them to boost indigenous production of different items critically needed in the economy. My last[Read More…]

by 02/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Stolen Heirloom or poppycock

Stolen Heirloom or poppycock

Reading a recent news suddenly my mind raced back across to a time when as an inquisitive child of twelve I used to read all available printed stuff in Assamese or Bengali.I recall a debate in Bengali magazine PROBASI between an irate eminent scientist Meghnad Saha and an elderly Hindu scholar who argued that ancient shastras had anticipated all the[Read More…]

by 01/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Rise Up in Solidarity with Protesting Wrestlers

Rise Up in Solidarity with Protesting Wrestlers

The protest by prominent Indian wrestlers against BJP MP Brij Bhushan for sexual harassment of female wrestlers including a minor is assuming new dimensions with police declaring that they will not be allowed to protest in Jantar Mantar following their manhandling and detention by police. While wrestlers are contemplating their next move and Sakshi Malik, Rio Olympic medallist categorically declaring[Read More…]

by 01/06/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Kya Sharmsaar hai hindustan……are wrestling champions of India going the Mohammed Ali way?

Kya Sharmsaar hai hindustan……are wrestling champions of India going the Mohammed Ali way?

 Mohammed Ali born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. He won a gold medal in boxing at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Unfortunately Ali threw his medal into the Ohio River in frustration over the racism he experienced upon returning home to the United States. The story of Mohammed Ali[Read More…]

by 31/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Legislative Gaps Helping Overseas Shell Companies?

Legislative Gaps Helping Overseas Shell Companies?

Have the legislative gaps provided by the Finance Ministry and SEBI indirectly helped domestic corporates having oveseas shell companies to profiteer? To   Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I had earlier addressed you vide my letter dated 31-1-2023 (https://countercurrents.org/2023/02/overseas-shell-companies-a-shadow-economy-a-threat-t-national-interest/) pointing out how the government failed to define the term “overseas shell companies” in the Companies Act, SEBI[Read More…]

by 31/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Has Hindutva been defeated in Karnataka?

Has Hindutva been defeated in Karnataka?

The recently published assembly election results of Karnataka has ignited immense conversations regarding the possible impact these results will have on next year’s Lok Sabha elections. And whether Hindutva as a political force is starting to diminish now that it is not in power in any state of southern India. While these are big and important questions let us first[Read More…]

by 31/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Symbolism of Sengol

Symbolism of Sengol

It has become the confirmed habit of the saffron zealots to embroider every claimed achievement of their camp with adulterated facts.No wonder the ‘Sengol’ presented to Nehru by an influential Hindu Monastery of South India was duly declared to have been a divinely blessed sceptre now restored to its rightful dignity by the pious Hindu regime. Contrary to the spin[Read More…]

by 30/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Delay in Census enumeration, unreliable death registration and fake Aadhaar cards adversely impact integrity of elections, leads to misuse of public funds

Delay in Census enumeration, unreliable death registration and fake Aadhaar cards adversely impact integrity of elections, leads to misuse of public funds

To Shri A K Bhalla Union Home Secretary Dear Shri Bhalla, The statutory census enumeration exercise, conducted under the Census Act, every ten years, provides reliable data on the composition and the trends in growth of the population of India. It forms a unique basis for framing government policies and programmes. In this connection, I refer to a statement reported[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The intertwined history of caste and census in India

The intertwined history of caste and census in India

The census of India has a long history dating back over 130 years. The British administration conducted the first census in 1853 in the North Western Provinces (encompassing present-day Uttar Pradesh) to obtain data on the population and classify it under different categories. Caste-based enumeration emerged a few years later as a challenge for the British administrators, as they encountered[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Tale of Two Indias

A Tale of Two Indias

They were the best times. They were the worst times. Those were the times which was divided by an India of the Raja and the Praja. One side of an India saw the march of the monarch who carried a golden senghol in his hand in the monarch’s parliament. On the other side was the Olympic champions the gold winning[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Dismantle the structures of sexual violence, NOT the protesters’ tent!

Dismantle the structures of sexual violence, NOT the protesters’ tent!

On the day that the Prime Minister was inaugurating a new Parliament house, democratic space was being crushed outside! More than 1150+ people including activists, lawyers, academics, former civil servants, artists and concerned citizens have released a statement condemning the brutal police action against the protesting wrestlers and those who had come out in support of their call from all[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
CDRO condemns the manhandling of the protesting wrestlers

CDRO condemns the manhandling of the protesting wrestlers

Leading athletes of the country, like World Championships medal winner Vinesh Phogat, Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and others, who were protesting against the sexual harassment of women wrestlers at the hands of their coaches and, in particular, against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) & its chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Their protest, which started in January[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
From Deathly Silence to Violence: The journey of Wrestlers struggling for Justice

From Deathly Silence to Violence: The journey of Wrestlers struggling for Justice

PUCL Condemns Arrest of Women Wrestlers & supporting Activists And demands their immediate release! PUCL strongly condemns the brutal manner by which the Delhi Police forcibly arrested the women wrestlers on 28th May, 2023, as they prepared to go from Jantar Mantar where they have been protesting peacefully since 23rd April, 2023, to the `Mahila Samman Mahapanchayat’ near the new[Read More…]

by 29/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Timely Warning on Avoiding the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Deserves Wide Attention

A Timely Warning on Avoiding the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Deserves Wide Attention

As past experience has repeatedly shown, in the prevailing economic, trade and investment realities of the world, it is very important from the outset to be very cautious regarding joining any international frameworks and agreements involving the superpowers as the language may be that of cooperation but the reality may be that of people of developing countries having to pay[Read More…]

by 28/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Tinsel Gods

Tinsel Gods

It is a great disappointment that the Supreme Court bench of JK Maheswari and PS Narasimha has refused to entertain the petition by an advocate seeking a prohibition of the forthcoming inauguration of the new Parliament building by the incumbent Prime Minister on the ground that article 79 makes the President the head of the state and pre-eminent member of[Read More…]

by 27/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Kirti Kisan Union conducts massive rally in Moga on issue of Canal Water

Kirti Kisan Union conducts massive rally in Moga on issue of Canal Water

 The burning desire of people to resolve the problems of agriculture and water crisis in the Punjab was manifested at it’s highest pitch by the massive rally held by the Kirti Kisan Union at Dana Mandi in Moga today .Tens of thousands of farmers congregated in a massive rally organised by Kirti Kisan Union . Farmers from fifteen districts of[Read More…]

by 27/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Importance of Convenient Payment Options in Enhancing Travel Experiences

The Importance of Convenient Payment Options in Enhancing Travel Experiences

The availability of digital payment options in tourist destinations, accommodations, restaurants, and other businesses is crucial for enhancing travellers’ overall experience and convenience. In today’s post-pandemic era, online transactions have gained significant prominence as the preferred method of payment, encompassing small retail shops, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, and even ticket purchases. However, addressing the challenges that may arise during such transactions[Read More…]

by 27/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Modi in Australia: Down Under Bliss for Hindutva

Modi in Australia: Down Under Bliss for Hindutva

There is an interesting thread that links the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the owner of the gargantuan conglomerate that bears his name, Gautam Adani, and Australia.  There is cricket; there is mining; there is remorseless extraction; and then there is steaming propaganda.  On arriving in Australia, Modi was greeted by people who had left India decades ago.  The Indian[Read More…]

by 27/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Demand for scrapping of iron fortified rice distribution in India’s public food schemes intensifies 

Demand for scrapping of iron fortified rice distribution in India’s public food schemes intensifies 

“Reporters’ Collective’s 3-part Investigative Exposé highlights with additional evidence the red flags that ASHA and RTFC have raised on large scale iron-fortified rice distribution in India’s public food schemes” – civil society platforms   New Delhi, May 26th 2023: The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) and the Right to Food Campaign (RTFC) who have been actively raising concerns on the many red flags related to[Read More…]

by 27/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Government destroying public spaces rather than protecting them

Government destroying public spaces rather than protecting them

Stop the kidnap policy of public space by the Mumbai municipal corporation and the government. That was the theme of a public meeting held at St Michael’s church auditorium in Mahim last evening. Kidnap is perhaps too mild a word for the most condemnable attitude of the authorities who may be said to be vandalising our public life in the[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Dalit agricultural labour organisations stage protests in Punjab

Dalit agricultural labour organisations stage protests in Punjab

In the last 2 weeks the resistance of Dalit agricultural labours in Punjab is simmering at full fervour with relentless spirit. Grameen Mazdoor Union protest in Jaitu For the last 2 days the Grameen Mazdoor Union of Punjab have embarked on a protest dharna outside the office of the SDM, raising their legitimate demands of dalit agricultural labourers. Inspite of[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
The Influence of Higher Wages and Better Job Opportunities on Migration from Small Towns to Big Cities or Other Regions

The Influence of Higher Wages and Better Job Opportunities on Migration from Small Towns to Big Cities or Other Regions

Migration from small towns to big cities is a common phenomenon driven by various challenges individuals face in their places of origin. Limited educational and economic opportunities, violence, instability, corrupt institutions, natural disasters, financial difficulties, and agricultural issues are among the factors that prompt people to seek a better life in urban areas. This migration trend can be observed in[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
New Parliament building- Appearance Vs Substance

New Parliament building- Appearance Vs Substance

To Smt Droupadi Murmu President of India Respected Rashtrapati Ji, The new Parliament building, constructed at a great cost to the public, will be inaugurated shortly and perhaps the two Houses will start having their next session at the new venue. The new structure may provide greater comfort to those who function from it. However, will it also bring qualitative changes in[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
International body slams Media Repression in Kashmir During G-20 Event

International body slams Media Repression in Kashmir During G-20 Event

As India holds the G20 meeting in Srinagar, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has slammed the brutal repression of media in Kashmir. Press freedom remains under attack even as India tries to project normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir during G-20, said CPJ in its Twitter handle. The New York-based media watchdog condemned the arrests of journalists in the Union[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Shudra Wrestlers Vs Ksatriya Controllers: The Battle For Women’s Rights

Shudra Wrestlers Vs Ksatriya Controllers: The Battle For Women’s Rights

“An investigation of police records by The Indian Express reveals that since March 2017, when Yogi Adityanath took charge, and till date, the state has witnessed 186 encounters. This works out to more than one alleged criminal being killed by the police every 15 days”. 25 May, 2023 Indian Express But Brijbhushan Sharan Singh remains MP, without any worry of initiating[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Cracks  in  India’s   armoury  –    Achilles’  heel   in  the  security  and  intelligence  apparatus

Cracks  in  India’s   armoury  –    Achilles’  heel   in  the  security  and  intelligence  apparatus

The  killing  of  five  Indian  soldiers  by  militants  on   May  5  in  the  Rajouri-Poonch  sector,  once  again  highlights  the  failure  of  our  security  machinery  to  protect  our  jawans.  Its  agents  who  are  posted  in  that  sector,  failed  to  detect  the  explosive  device  that  was  planted  and  triggered  by  the  militants  in  the  path  of  these  soldiers. Just  a  fortnight  ago, [Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Inauguration of new Parliament complex on Savarkar’s birthday shall not whitewash his anti-national and anti-human crimes

Inauguration of new Parliament complex on Savarkar’s birthday shall not whitewash his anti-national and anti-human crimes

Indian PM Modi is set to inaugurate new complex of Indian Parliament on May 28 (2023) which is also the 140th birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who is described as ‘great son of India’ and ‘Veer’ [gallant/fearless] by the RSS-BJP lot. Thus the new Parliament built under the direct supervision of PM Modi and his chosen few will be[Read More…]

by 26/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
On 56th Anniversary of Naxalbari 

On 56th Anniversary of Naxalbari 

Today we commemorate the 56th anniversary of the heroic uprising of ‘Naxalbari’. Inspite of neo-fascism brimming at an unprecedented height Naxalbari s not dead and buried. Influence on Social Change and Movements Naxalbari was a rallying point for sowing the seeds of social change and knitting of cultural movements. The Naxalbari struggle sparked movements that remained synonymous with the spur[Read More…]

by 25/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
How Women Wrestlers’ Movement Has Become a Wider Symbol for Justice, Dignity and Safety for Women

How Women Wrestlers’ Movement Has Become a Wider Symbol for Justice, Dignity and Safety for Women

Vinesh Phogat is a prominent woman wrestler who has been the proud winner of gold medals for India in Asian and Commonwealth Games. In more recent times, however she has spent most of her time struggling to get justice for seven women wrestlers, including a minor, who have complained of sexual harassment by a very senior official of the Wrestling[Read More…]

by 25/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Political Illusions & 2024 Polls! 

Political Illusions & 2024 Polls! 

Should the Karnataka elections be viewed as a crucial signal of what 2024 parliamentary polls may spell for Congress as well as parties deliberating on an anti-BJP alliance? To a degree, yes and also no. Success of Congress in Karnataka Assembly Elections in comparison to defeat the party suffered in Punjab Assembly (February 2022) and the result of West Bengal[Read More…]

by 25/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Who cares about RSS Guru Golwalkar’s dishonouring of Kerala’s Hindu women

Who cares about RSS Guru Golwalkar’s dishonouring of Kerala’s Hindu women

Demonizing Indian Muslims as barbarians is a project as old as the birth of Hindu nationalism courtesy high Caste Hindus in the second half of the 19th century. Muslims were described as mleccha a Sanskrit term used for non-Aryans or barbarians. It is interesting to note that when the same barbarians; the dynasties with Muslim names ruled India for almost[Read More…]

by 23/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Management’s demand for removal of protesting workers of Belsonika rejected on 16th day of fast

Management’s demand for removal of protesting workers of Belsonika rejected on 16th day of fast

 For 16 continuous days the Belsonika Union have resiliently continued the hunger strike. The management requested the court to prohibit the fast at the factory gate, which was rejected. Union’s legal advisor Karmbir Singh, sacked worker Sujit Singh and suspended worker Jainendra Kumar were participants in the hunger strike. A petition was filed in the Civil Court Gurgaon by the[Read More…]

by 21/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
On Indian Lynching Data

On Indian Lynching Data

For many days I am searching for the latest data on Indian lynching incidents. And I find that a host of websites listed at the end of this piece are tracking incidents of hate crimes in India. They are serving the nation with gory facts that humiliate the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. I have also found that Ziya Us Salam[Read More…]

by 20/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Bulldozer Raj in Uttarakhand: 300 houses demolished, 4000 people  homeless

Bulldozer Raj in Uttarakhand: 300 houses demolished, 4000 people  homeless

On Thursday, the administration mercilessly razed 300 houses in a combing operation of bulldozers in Nagina Colony in Lalkuan of Nainital district in Uttarakhand. There are about four thousand people residing in houses here and the railway has uprooted them. It is one of the grosses violations of people’s rights, breaking constitutional norms. On the pretext of  encroachment, heavy police[Read More…]

by 20/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Indian Democracy And The Class Question

Indian Democracy And The Class Question

The higher judiciary in india are given to quoting pronouncements of American judges and jurists,to the chagrin of Hindu revivalists who consider this an undesirable deference to Western ideas of law.They would prefer references to ancient Indian Dharma shastras like Manu Samhita to give a native stamp to our laws. But honorable judges remained unfazed,leaving the passionate nativitists fuming.As far[Read More…]

by 19/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Hunger Games

Hunger Games

Reports of people suffering and dying as a result of famines are not novel to our country. Kalahandi and Kashipur in Odisha, Baran in Rajasthan, Palamau and Manjhladi in Jharkhand, and Jalhi Bongia in Bihar are among the many districts that are impacted by endemic poverty. The top-down approach that many claim to have used to analyse the entire issue is what[Read More…]

by 19/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Siddaramaiah: A Rational Shudra/OBC With A Commitment To Agriculturism

Siddaramaiah: A Rational Shudra/OBC With A Commitment To Agriculturism

A narrative is being built from Delhi that the Congress won the Karnataka elections because of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. No doubt it played a role, but without a strong mass leader at the state level no national party could win the state elections only due to a national leader. But for a strong mass leader like Siddaramaiah, who[Read More…]

by 18/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Karnataka Elections: Role of Grassroots campaign in election results

Karnataka Elections: Role of Grassroots campaign in election results

The recent elections in Karnataka have come as a sigh of relief to those who wish to retain the secular character of the republic. Karnataka was seen as a pathway to make entry into Southern part of India. It was seen as a Hindutva lab where communal experiments could be carried out and extended to other states. The BJP regime[Read More…]

by 18/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Proterial(Hitachi) contract Workers struggle succeeds in re-instating 30 workers and 2 Union Leaders  

Proterial(Hitachi) contract Workers struggle succeeds in re-instating 30 workers and 2 Union Leaders  

After 30 hours duration of sustained struggle, an agreement has arrived between the contract workers and the management sitting on strike in the plant premises of the company Protorial, Manesar, on May 12 at 12 midnight. Under the agreement, the company has consented to not to fire the protesting workers. It has agreed to re-instate 30 sacked workers and 2[Read More…]

by 18/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
A Government Without Ministers (GWM) is the need of the hour

A Government Without Ministers (GWM) is the need of the hour

 An open letter to Mallikarjun Kharge jee and  Rahul Gandhi jee: Dear Sirs, This process can be started with states, particularly from Karnataka, as they and you are mulling over naming the CM and other ministers. You can declare the whole Assembly to be the collective ruler of Karnataka, passing any and all bills with the majority. The same majority[Read More…]

by 17/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
BJP red-carded in Karnataka

BJP red-carded in Karnataka

The unmistakable message from the Karnataka elections is that the BJP does not bring stability and substance to governance. The BJP may have ruled Karnataka before. They never managed to complete a single full term. Each term was replete with political upheavals and defections – a game that the BJP is seeking to master with big money from sources unknown.[Read More…]

by 17/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Dr Navsharan Singh at Tikri border during farm agitation. (File photo)

Dr Navsharan Singh is being mercilessly targeted

Dr. Navsharan Singh, writer, democratic rights activist, a resilient supporter of people’s struggles and the daughter of renowned playwright Late Gursharan Singh, is being mercilessly targeted by the Modi government for revealing the truth. It is a manifestation of the trend engulfing nation of attack on intellectuals and democratic rights activists across the country, Dr. Navsharan was interrogated under the[Read More…]

by 17/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India
Belsonika Workers hartal enters 12th day

Belsonika Workers hartal enters 12th day

On May 15th the Hartal of Belsonika Workers Union entered the 12th day. Prominent leaders participating are Mukesh Sharma and suspended leader Vint Tripathi.  A tribute to the unflinching resilience of the workers in withstanding management oppression At 8.00 in the morning Police barged in to foil the dharma and were placed on guard encircling the dharna.Still the management was[Read More…]

by 17/05/2023 Comments are Disabled India