Mainstream Weekly

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• How Inequality Increased Greatly in Covid Times | Bharat Dogra & Kumar Gautam

  29 January 2021

  by Bharat Dogra & Kumar Gautam
  In the initial days of Covid-19 pandemic, it was widely believed that this will have an equal impact on all sections of people, but it soon became evident, particularly after the introduction of lockdowns, that the pandemic is likely to have a much more serious impact on poorer and weaker sections of societies across the globe. As Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General said:
  “The COVID-19 pandemic has played an important role in (…)

• COVID-19 and global income inequality | Angus Deaton (Jan 2021)

  29 January 2021

  There is a widespread belief that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased global income inequality, reducing per capita incomes by more in poor countries than in rich. This supposition is reasonable but false. Rich countries have experienced more deaths per head than have poor countries; their better health systems, higher incomes, more capable governments and better preparedness notwithstanding. The US did worse than some rich countries, but better than several others. Countries with more deaths saw larger declines in income. There was thus not only no trade-off between lives and income; fewer deaths meant more income. As a result, per capita incomes fell by more in higher-income countries. Country by country, international income inequality decreased. When countries are weighted by population, international income inequality increased, not because the poorest countries diverged from the richest countries, but because China—no longer a poor country—had few deaths and positive economic growth, pulling it away from poor countries. That these findings are a result of the pandemic is supported by comparing global inequality using IMF forecasts in October 2019 and October 2020.}

• How Aakar Patel Under-Read The Character of Hindu Rashtra? A Review Article | Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd

  29 January 2021, by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd

  by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd Our Hindu Rashtra: What It Is. How We Got Here by Aakar Patel Westland Publication, 2020 Pages 368 Price 699 Aakar Patel starts his timely and well-researched book Our Hindu Rashtra: What It Is. How We Got Here with a sentence “Majoritarianism is primitive and easy to do”. He surmises that establishment of Hindu Rashtra, which has only one meaning, that a Kshatriya king should rule the Hindu Rashtra under the supervision of a Brahmin head priest. Such a Hindu (…)

• Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal / Farmers Movement / Talat Mahmood / Nida Fazli | Humra Quraishi

  29 January 2021, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  27 January 2021
  With focus on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, I recall my meetings and interview with his close aide, Captain Lakshmi Sahgal. This was in the summer of 2002 when she was named by the Left as its candidate to contest for the post of President of India. She was then around 88 years but looked much younger and fit. One of the reasons for this could be she was busy the entire day. She was vice - president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association. And (…)

• 

  Who instigated the violence?

  29 January 2021, by Sagari Chhabra

• Transition From Communism To Capitalism – Central Asia Faces Challenges For Achieving Political Democracy | R G Gidadhubli

  29 January 2021

  by R.G.Gidadhubli
  Three decades have passed subsequent to the breakup of the former Soviet Union in December 1991 when five Central Asian States attained their sovereignty. In fact they were the last among the 15 former Soviet Republics to declare their independence. This was mainly because looking back into history they were beneficiaries of seven decades of Communist system of the former Soviet era being transformed from historic backwardness to development, political security, (…)

• Socialism and Democracy: A Marxian Perspective | Paresh Chattopadhyay

  29 January 2021

  by Paresh Chattopadhyay
  The term Socialism is used in a variety of senses: guild socialism, Fabian socialism, anarchist socialism, national socialism, ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, market socialism etc. However, let us stress at the outset that the socialism of this paper, used in the sense of Marx, has little in common with these ‘socialisms’. Also let us note that what passes for socialism in the popular parlance has little to do with socialism as used here. In the popular (…)

• Christmas Diplomacy: Peace, Prejudice & Untold Stories | R P Pradhan, Chhavi Rathi

  29 January 2021

  by R P Pradhan; Chhavi Rathi
  Introduction
  Christmas has always been a joyous festival and occasion for hope and resurrection. Christmas tree as a centre piece attraction of the occasion in its triangular shape, as per Christian belief, symbolizes trinity — the Christian concept of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being in unison. St. Boniface converted the northern German Frankish tribes to Christianity in 8th century using a triangular shape fir tree. Evolving from here, (…)

• A singular Nobel? | C. K. Raju

  29 January 2021, by C. K. Raju

  Introduction
  On the common story, science is at war with all religions. This neglects the fact that present-day (Western) science developed under the hegemonic rule of the church. Consequently, present-day (Western) science is influenced by church theology. For example, we still speak of Newton’s “laws” of motion on the belief that the world is governed by eternal laws of nature. This belief is NOT scientific on Popper’s criterion of refutability or falsifiability. In fact, it is (…)

• Excerpt from The Radiant Future | Alexander Zinoviev (1978)

  29 January 2021

  [Coming from a poor peasant family, a participant in World War II, Alexander Zinoviev in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the symbols of the rebirth of philosophical thought in the Soviet Union. After the publication in the West of his book "Yawning Heights", in 1978 —in which he criticized certain Soviet party members (a crime at that time) — he was expelled from the country and deprived of Soviet citizenship. He returned to Russia in 1999.] __ornement.png__
  (Translated from the Russian (…)