During lockdown, the ban on sand mining in the Matigara block of Siliguri in West Bengal has left over 2000 labourers struggling to make ends meet. Siliguri: In the Matigara block of Siliguri, West Bengal, over 2000 labourers who are solely dependent on the sand lifting business along the Balasun river, believe if COVID-19 won’t kill them, hunger definitely will.[Read More…]
The lockdown-induced loss of livelihoods has left many vulnerable villagers in Madhya Pradesh unable to feed their families even two square meals a day. Bhopal: Four-year-old Gudiya* (name changed) smiles shyly as she eats salted rice from a plate that she shares with her two sisters. The three girls from Birhulia village in Umaria, Madhya Pradesh haven’t eaten dal[Read More…]
Sangli (Maharashtra): In more normal times it would have been the joyous strains of the sitar, sarod and tanpura filling the air in the historic town of Miraj in Sangli district of western Maharashtra, close to the Karnataka border. After a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the town is now shrouded only in a melancholy silence. Repeated lockdowns have[Read More…]
Amidst India’s unfolding Covid disaster, the southern Indian state of Kerala has been lauded for its effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in controlling mortality. What are the factors that help explain Kerala’s record? This two-part analysis attempts to unravel the secrets of Kerala’s impressive performance against Covid, based on extensive interviews with key officials involved. This is the[Read More…]
Amidst India’s unfolding Covid disaster, the southern Indian state of Kerala has been lauded for its effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in controllsing mortality. As of June 2, Kerala, despite having the third highest cumulative case count in the country (9,60,000), had the second lowest death rate (.36%) with 3,508 fatalities. In contrast, the state of Delhi, home[Read More…]
Written by B.Sivaraman & Kumudini Pati Online classes have become the main mode of learning for millions of school students across India due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with its repeated lockdowns and social distancing measures. The shift however is proving to be extremely painful for families in small towns and rural areas for many reasons, especially high costs of purchasing[Read More…]
Pune (Maharashtra): For decades, the second week of March has marked the start of the popular traditional wrestling season, that attract hundreds of participants and big audiences in the villages of western Maharashtra. Held as part of travelling fairs, that also include folk theater and music performances such as tamasha and lavani, farming communities look forward eagerly to watching the[Read More…]
Chennai: As I complete my long discussion with Muthukumar, he politely asks me if he can ask me a question. “Please do” I say and he asks “Sir, I had mortgaged my wife’s jewels with a private lender only recently, now I have no job .Will they give me any waiver for I cannot pay the dues?”. His question comes[Read More…]
Pune, Maharashtra:“People are not ready to go to the local government hospital to get treated for Corona. They think that from there the doctor will send them to the district hospital in Amravati, where there will be no treatment. They will only get sick and die. Even their dead body will be secretively disposed by the officers and family members[Read More…]
When the New York Times recently claimed that the official Covid-19 figures in India grossly understate the true scale of the pandemic in the country the Indian government went ballistic. Based on an analysis, in consultation with over a dozen experts, the NYT put the death toll due to Covid-19 in India at over 5 times the official numbers – making it[Read More…]
Allahabad: “Theek hai yaar. Koi baat nahin![i] Don’t worry. I will make some alternative arrangement”. Nihal Mishra was putting on a brave, courteous face while getting blunt refusals from three of his friends in Delhi, whom he had requested for a place to stay. He was going to Delhi to get his wife admitted at the All India Institute of[Read More…]
Allahabad: The recent images of bloating human bodies floating on the Ganga, with crows and dogs picking on the carcasses have shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Reports of burial of hundreds of dead bodies in riverside sand outside towns in Uttar Pradesh like Unnao and Kanpur have also surfaced. It is clear that most of these[Read More…]
Dumka, Jharkhand: ‘I am completely alone’, says Asha worker Jayshree Marandi sadly. ‘He would have helped me in the care and education of the children, but Covid-19 snatched him from me.’ Jayshree Marandi is talking about her husband, whom the pandemic swallowed. Jayshree remembers how he used to take her from village-to-village while he carried out his work. “ I[Read More…]
Migrant women labourers hit by ban on sand mining 
Nutrition Labelling System : Visualised or Written? 
In the Passing Away of Ramesh Upadhyaya Hindi Literature Has Lost A Gem 
Obituary: Com. PS Hochimin 
‘Epic Failure of Humanity’: Global Displaced Population Hits All-Time High 
Geneva Summit: Leading from the front while dealing with media 
Why the Approval of That Alzheimer’s Drug Is So Disturbing 
Modest results of the meeting in Geneva 
Takeaways from Biden-Putin summit 
Vaccine Woes Worry India 
In Pandemic Times No One Should Be Made Homeless 
Supreme Court verdict turns to be the downfall of Khori 
IIT Gandhinagar: Crushing of Dissent by Hobby Group ‘Awaam’ 
Leader close to Indian consulate convicted for sex assault 
Threatening Writers In Gujarat 
Protests in Punjab on arrests of intellectuals and social activists 
Nizhal: In the Shadow of the Surreal 
USA’s Hypocritical Dealings with Taliban 
Budget 2021–22: Proposal for an Alternate, Pro-People Budget 
Mankind’s Struggle Against Zoonotic Diseases….a self fulfilling prophecy 
Impose Exit Tax on Fleeing Rich and Educated 
Distribute Vaccines Equitably, Ensure Food Security, Enhance Livelihood Opportunities 
Prepare for both dialogue and confrontation with U.S., says N. Korea’s leader Kim 
NATO declares China as global security challenge 
Remembering The Revolutionary Writer Ajmer Singh Aulakh 
Jharkhand and Lalkhand 
Justin Trudeau posturing for Israel 
America Is Stabbing Itself in the Back 
Problem-Based Learning – Solving the inherent issues in the education system 
Recent Increased Mortality Needs Urgent Attention 
Our Nation, Our Constitution: A Layperson’s understanding 
Voices from the Covid Battlefield – Episode One 
Heat wave scorches the U.S. West: 50 million people under warnings 
After Covid, a pandemic of hunger looms large in MP 
Pakistan’s Geopolitical Game in Afghanistan 
The Carbis Bay Imperialism 
India At The Crossroads 
Age, Consent, and Power: A Reading of My Dark Vanessa Contradictions in the Anachronistic US-Russian Relationship 
US accent is on bilateral track to China 
“Cow dung, cow urine didn’t work. Groundless argument. Tomorrow I will eat fish”. In mid-May this year, this simple Facebook post about the futility of bovine waste as a cure for Covid-19, was enough to get Kishorechandra Wangkhem, a journalist from Imphal, Manipur arrested for ‘sedition’ . The post upset members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as it came[Read More…]
