Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

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  Photo: Telegram from the British High Commissioner in India on Communal Disturbances in Sept. 1947

  13 August 2022

  Document from, The National Archives UK

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  Two Prints from Letters from Home series (2004) | Zarina Hashmi

  13 August 2022

  "After Partition, it was hard to cross into Pakistan as an Indian citizen. My sister Rani’s letters connected me to the family I had been separated from" —Zarina Hashmi

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  Periyar’s Revolutionary Critique of Religion | M.R. Narayan Swamy

  13 August 2022, by M R Narayan Swamy

  BOOK REVIEW __0__
  Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism by Karthick Ram Manoharan
  Orient BlackSwan March 2022 Pages: 133; Price: Rs 225 ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9354421679 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9354421679
  Believe it or not, it was Periyar’s pilgrimage to one of the holiest places of Hinduism that converted him into the religion’s inveterate enemy. Another irony is that though Periyar is revered in Tamil Nadu, the appeal of gods and religion remains firmly entrenched in the state.
  E.V. Ramasamy (…)

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  Is Our Democracy Dying? | Papri Sri Raman

  13 August 2022, by Papri Sen Sri Raman

  BOOK REVIEW
  __0__
  The Silent Coup: A History of India’s Deep State by Josy Joseph
  Context-Westland 2021 Rs 454 ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9390679532 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9390679539
  __0__
  I WAS TALKING to a journalist friend across a 5G spectrum 2000 km away, asking her to pick up the July issue of the Caravan magazine that features the Rise and Fall of the NIA. She said, ‘I am really scared. Fall does not mean it does not exist’.
  The subject had come up in the context of an interview she had (…)

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  Flag Waving Nationalism Should Not Disrupt Food Security | Right to Food Campaign Press Release (Aug 10, 2022)

  13 August 2022

  The Right to Food Campaign is very concerned over media reports coming from different parts of the country regarding denial of rations to people if they do not purchase the tiranga (national flag) under the Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan on the occasion of 75th year of Independence.

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  Pakistan - India: Release prisoners on completion of jail term, decriminalise inadvertent border crossings, especially for fisherfolk and minors - Joint Statement

  13 August 2022

  Joint statement by organisations
  Release prisoners on completion of jail term, decriminalise inadvertent border crossings, especially for fisherfolk and minors
  [July 31, 2022]
  Kalu Vira, a fisherman from India incarcerated in Pakistan died at a hospital in Karachi on 6 July 2022. He had completed his jail term in December 2021, and his nationality had been verified.
  After his passing, it took over 10 days for the Pakistan authorities to inform the Indian High Commission about the (…)

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  Press Statements by Central Trade Unions on Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 / Postal Employees strike

  13 August 2022

  08th August 2022
  Press Release by CTUs, Sectoral Independent Sectoral Federations and Associations
  That ELECTRICITY (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is a prescription for privatizing electricity distribution, is a known fact. That is why the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has demanded that the Bill should be scrapped. The National Co-ordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) have taken pains over the entire past year to explain to the ordinary people how Electricity will become (…)

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  Hiroshima Declaration - The 2022 World Conference against A and H Bombs

  13 August 2022

  It is now 77th year of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. The human race is now facing a new danger of the use of nuclear weapons. Carrying on the aggression against Ukraine, President Putin of Russia is repeating a nuclear threat. Along with Russia, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are maintaining and consolidating their “nuclear deterrents.” From Hiroshima which suffered the indescribable damage of the nuclear weapons and (…)

• Bhutan: The world’s ‘happiest country’ needs a peace and reconciliation process | Suraj Budathoki

  13 August 2022

  by Suraj Budathoki Sapan News 9 Aug 2022: Bhutan’s much-touted happiness rating lies atop a bed of pain. The pain of Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin. I know, because I am one of them.
  I come from an average working class family that lived in Bhutan for generations, with no interest or involvement in politics. My community, known in Bhutan as Lhotshampa, has traditionally lived in the south of the country.
  In 1989, Bhutan conducted a national census and revoked our citizenship after (…)

• There’s no safe level of air pollution | Guy B. Marks

  13 August 2022

  by Guy B. Marks, UNSW in Sydney
  Emissions that meet air-quality standards still cause illness and early death. Planning decisions need to help drive down exposure.
  It might seem reasonable to think air pollution is only a problem when the sky is thick with brown smog. But a new study is further proof the problem starts much earlier – and well below the minimum air-quality standards.
  Worse, the research shows the negative effects increase most rapidly at lower levels of exposure. And (…)