To Shri Sushil Chandra Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI) Shri Rajiv Kumar Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI) Shri A.C.Pandey Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI) Dear S/Shri Sushil Chandra, Rajiv Kumar and Pandey, In view of the imminent outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid, it is well recognised[Read More…]
Poromboke is an old Tamil word meaning shared-use community resources like waterbodies, seashore and grazing lands that are not assessed for tax purposes. Today, it has become a bad word used to describe worthless people or places. Chennai Poromboke Paadal is part of a campaign to reclaim the word and restore its worth. Credits: Featuring TM Krishna Concept: Nityanand Jayaraman[Read More…]
Farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik district – where one in every four tomatoes in India comes from – are destroying standing crops on a scale never seen before, following persistent rock-bottom prices since the November 8 demonetisation
Demonetization has left deep scars on the economy and, despite assurances from the government, the journey to normalcy may be slower and more painful than expected. The denudation of India’s vast informal economy, almost entirely dependent on cash, has put the marginalized and economically vulnerable – farmers, daily-wage labourers, street vendors , small businesses, tiny industries, shops, and countless[Read More…]
“The Inheritance” is a compelling fictional narrative of a young man who is sucked up by the whirlpool of caste system. This short fiction depicts with conviction how even educated young people of lower castes are tragically drowned by the inheritance of their own caste. Rahul Pagare, a student of ITI-Electrical believed in Ambedkar’s message of ‘Educate Organise Agitate’. Grown[Read More…]
The demonetisation scheme has put people in the unorganised sector out of work. People don’t have work, money and are barely surviving. One person in the video says “when the note ban happened nobody cared about the plight of the poor people. Think about the families who collected some money for a marriage.” Many marriages have been postponed. Report by[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: In demonetised India, when people of the unorganised sector are fast losing jobes, they are finding inventive ways of surviving. A man in Trivandrum has become a hawker of old notes as his business of selling chappals and shoes on the street failed. He says “This is my new business. I’ve become a hawker of old notes. I have[Read More…]
Fisher people who are dislocated from their homes due to sea erosion are hit hard by the note ban. Women of Valiyathura relief camp tell their woes caused by the note ban. Nobody has work. No money. No food. Who benefited from the note ban? They say, politicians, while the people are suffering.
The extreme southern coastal landscape in India perhaps has been one of the most beautiful regions, despite all human interventions that have taken place so far to destroy it. Strong waves, good beaches connecting hills with coconut trees mark its beauty. This region is also one of the richest aquatic biodiversity. There are twenty wedge banks in the world today,[Read More…]
The note ban hit poor people the hardest. Victims of sea erosion living in a camp in Valiyathura School tell their plight. For these people who already lost their homes due to sea erosion the note ban was a double blow.
The note ban has hit the fisher folk and the fish vendors heavily. There is no sale for them. They are desperate. The woman in the video says “those who come to buy fish ask whether we will take old notes? Where will we change it? We don’t’ have mango, jack fruit, tapioca, papaya or anything to eat. We have[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE0zoAoREdM&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika The patience of the common people is running out. Despite standing in queues outside banks, day after day, people are unable to find change, resulting in a huge crisis in their everyday sustenance. On one hand, the food intake in the houses have gone down and on the other hand, huge[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIKBcBbjbc&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the large population of the country is standing in long queues, an old woman of 75 years of age describes her current situation while waiting for her turn outside KYS bank, branch Govandi in Mumbai. She has been waiting for her chance since morning and this video was shot at[Read More…]
https://youtu.be/uj2edB3U5SA Video byAabha Joshi, NeethuSaji and Kritika Nine days has passed since Modi government has declared a ‘war’ against ‘black money’ by demonetizing Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, claiming lives of almost 55 people. As the days pass by, the queues do not seem to get any shorter and the lives of the common people seem to have[Read More…]
The poor women of India who save money in currencies for a rainy day, or from irresponsible husbands have been hit hard by Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw Rs 1000, and Rs 500 notes from circulation. Here is a video of an old woman who saved some money in the now withdrawn denominations trying to flush out ‘black money’ from[Read More…]
This Episode is about the Koli fisherwomen of Mumbai who are bearing the brunt of this sudden demonetization. They are highly disillusioned by the government who comes begging to them for votes, but ends up protecting the rich. But when the poor needs the government, why don’t they listen?
A fruit seller accounts the result of demonetization on her, who is one among the 93% of the unorganized sector of the Indian working class. She tells how despite working each day from morning till the night, she has been unable to make 50 rupees a day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CpwW77R9UQ&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the Modi government, in a bold step, by demonetizing 500 rupee and 1000 rupee currency notes has promised to recover ‘black money’ and combat ‘terrorism’, the horrors of this move have shaken the entire country, especially the most vulnerable section of the society who earn their living through daily wages[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdC3iS1kGkI I am 16 years old, a student of a government school in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. For the last few days, everyone wants to know why I was beaten so mercilessly and why I kept silent for so long. Well, I am exhausted and frustrated from repeating my story time and again – for the cops, for my classmates, for[Read More…]
Tell us something about you and your band; how you started your journey in music and how did you come together? Dr Rajesh Anuragi : I was born and raised in a small town of Hamirpur, district of UP. My father is a musician and a table player. Since school days I was always a bright student. I started[Read More…]
“In the shade of fallen chinar” is a short documentary that was shot in kashmir valley a few days before the current unrest began, It takes a peep into the lives of a group of young kashmiri artist’s who are also University students. It talks about the factors that inspires their art and how it takes the form of resistance[Read More…]
Gujarat is witnessing widespread protests following the incident at Una where seven Dalit youths were beaten up for skinning a dead cow on July 11. 16 members of the Dalit community, including local Congress leader Anil Madhad, attempted suicide in Saurashtra on Monday and Tuesday as a form of protest. Several suicide attempts were reported on Tuesday from Junagadh, Gondal,[Read More…]
The EU is a precarious subject these days. Both backers and detractors are subject to harsh criticism, and those wanting to leave the EU are habitually considered populists or nationalists. However, this Europe, with its undeniable capitalist and neoliberal penchants, isn’t MY Europe, or at least not the Europe I once pictured it to be. That is why, as it[Read More…]
Philando Castile, another African-American, a 32-year-old school cafeteria manager, was killed during a traffic stop near St. Paul, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota where his distraught girlfriend broadcast his final moments in real time on Facebook. As blood soaked through Castile’s shirt Wednesday night, his girlfriend, Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds, began broadcasting live video to her Facebook page, saying on camera that[Read More…]
Two major news stories here in the U.S., both chilling, point out how readily U.S. authorities will murder people based on race and the slightest possibility of a threat to those in places of power. On July 5th Baton Rouge police killed Anton Sterling in a Louisiana parking lot. Sterling was a 37-year-old Black father of five selling CDs outside[Read More…]
(PHOTO: Albert enjoys a canoe ride in Austin, TX.) Since Albert’s release on his birthday, February 19th, a few short months ago, he’s been really busy… After nearly a month of visiting with family and friends in New Orleans sharing more birthday cake than he’s been able to consume in over forty years, Albert has been catching up with his[Read More…]
A documentary by Vidya Bhushan Rawat on the Ayodhya issue and how it affected the communal harmony of India. It is being republished in the context of resurgent Hindutva programme in India which catapulted Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. This documentary is all the more significant in the context of the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Bhagwan Das is one of the most prominent faces of Ambedkarite movement. He worked with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and brought out the unpublished work of Baba Saheb : Thus Spoke Ambedkar. An excellent narrator, Bhagwan Das wrote numerous books including his famous ‘ main bhangi hoon’, narrating the conditions of person from manual scavenging community. In this conversation with Vidya[Read More…]
Israel’s parliament adopted a sweeping law on Wednesday that critics warn further criminalizes Palestinian political activity by expanding what it defines as “terrorism.” Meanwhile, it has emerged that Israel has subjected a Palestinian journalist and prisoners’ rights worker from Jerusalem to more than a month of secret, abusive interrogation. Israel has also renewed the detention without charge of a Palestinian[Read More…]
On Tuesday, June 14th, NATO announced that if a NATO member country becomes the victim of a cyber attack by persons in a non-NATO country such as Russia or China, then NATO’s Article V “collective defense” provision requires each NATO member country to join that NATO member country if it decides to strike back against the attacking country. The preliminary[Read More…]
Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers 
A Man Without a Strategy: How Netanyahu Is Provoking Armed Intifada in the West Bank 
The Ancient Patterns of Migration 
Seven Reasons Why the Present Phase of Imperialism is the Most Dangerous Ever 
Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks 
Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters 
PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits? 
World Environment Day in India: Doing Justice with the Day 
Ben Roberts-Smith: The Breaking of a Plaster Saint 
Do we All need Religion? An Introspection 
Obama, Kissinger and the Nobel Peace Prize 
The Politics of Erdogan and Western Anxieties 
The Compulsion to Intervene – Why Washington Underwrites Violence in Ukraine 
Just War and Just War Theory 
Stolen Heirloom or poppycock 
‘Simply Inconceivable’ to Dump Fukushima Water in Pacific, Critics Say After Latest IAEA Report 
Eradicate Dowry, Eliminate Dowry Violence 
Growing number of elderly homeless in the US 
Rise Up in Solidarity with Protesting Wrestlers 
Plastic Pollution in Destinations: A Growing Threat to Environmental Sustainability 
The US Censors Dissenting Voices: On the Attacks Against the Midwestern Marx Institute 
The US Government Should At Least Listen to this Wisdom of its Top Experts on the Ukraine Crisis 
Indigenous Australians & Palestinians: Treaty, Truth, Voice, Referendum & Senator Lidia Thorpe 
Kya Sharmsaar hai hindustan……are wrestling champions of India going the Mohammed Ali way? 
Legislative Gaps Helping Overseas Shell Companies? 
Book Review: Marginalised but not Defeated 
When Will US Join Global Call to End Ukraine War? 
AUKUS, Congress and Cold Feet 
The Wars We Don’t (Care to) See – Aggression Made Easy 
Raising the Palestinian flag in Daley Plaza Center, Chicago: A powerful symbolic gesture 
Shocking Lack of Concern for World’s Safety by War Mongering Elite 
Has Hindutva been defeated in Karnataka? 
UN Agencies Warn ‘Acute Food Insecurity’ Likely to Worsen in 18 Hunger Hot Spots 
Meta and Privacy: The Economy of Data Transgressions 
A Response to The New York Times’ Ritualistic Denunciation of Mao’s Cultural Revolution… 
GM Crops Likely to Worsen Climate Change Related Problems for Farmers 
Symbolism of Sengol 
Forget GDP growth, it’s sustainable wellbeing we need to aim for 
Supremes Declare War on Wetlands 
Kings Coronation, Victory Day Parade and Perverse Values 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
