2020

by K N Ninan *
The new farm bills approved by the Parliament recently have led to widespread protests by farmers and opposition parties. The bills were steamrolled by the Central Government without any discussion in Parliament or consultation with stakeholders especially farmers and state governments even though agriculture is a state subject. Critics have questioned the justification for rushing through these controversial bills when the country is still battling the Corona-19 pandemic (…)

Tapan Bandyopadhyay passed away at a time when his intellectual engagement was needed in the emerging phenomenon of ‘Marxian Renaissance’. He died of lung cancer, exacerbated by Covid 19 infection on 28 October 2020 (he was born on 5 February 1946). In his last years, he used to introduce himself as an adherent of Marxian thoughts and theoretically distanced himself from Marxism and Marxists although he never considered Marxists as those on the other side of the barricade in the worldwide (…)

The ideology of neo-liberalism has time and space dimensions. While tracing the trajectory of neo-liberalism, Stephanie Lee Mudge observed: “The spread of neo-liberal policy is well established empirically, though temporal and geographic variations are matters of explanatory debate…neo-liberalism’s expressions in policy and politics are produced at the intersection of the intellectual, political and bureaucratic realms, generating not one neo-liberalism but many neo-liberalisms.” (See ‘The (…)

October 28, 2020
Third-country cooperation is highly complex. Not even closest allies can sustain it all the time. Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, denied that oil interests influenced policy in Iraq, but archives show that the British government rushed troops to Mosul in 1918 to gain control of the northern oil fields in a sharp course reversal to recoup what had already been given away to France under the secret Sykes-Picot Accord of early 1916.
Even before World War II had (…)

by Harihar Swarup
(India Press Agency, November 7, 2020)
It’s an election like no other in Bihar. No street side addas, clamorous band bajaa or flag-waving processions. In a pandemic, rallies are still jam-packed, yet voters stand within chalk circles at polling booths. A lead actor for the last three tumultuous decades is missing from the poll scene. Lalu Prasad is in jail but his son Tejashwi has stepped up. They share the same blood, but their political blood group seems different. (…)

by Sunil Ray *
(The following is the revised version of my talk delivered on the topic on “Employment and Economic system” on the occasion of Bihar Assembly Election- 2020 organized by PAIRAVI, a Delh-based NGO (through webinar) on October 6, 2020).
I
Before discussing about the main theme of my presentation, I intend to share the following. After my presentation was over, one of the distinguished participants asked me why is it that unemployment issue never occupies the center-stage (…)

by L K Sharma
Going out is ruled out. Sit at home. Look not touch. Not even your own face.
Moving images seen. Cries heard. Eyes wiped. 13th WhatsApp exchanged.
It is 5 PM, 4 hours since easy-to-cook dish was made and had.
Meal-in-a-minute packets will be finished before the lockdown ends. Then what? We shall see.
Time for tea. Squirted a drop of milk from the semi-frozen pouch. The RO tap runs, water boils. Tea with what?
Opened the fridge again, found the hoarded (…)

by Jitendra Ram *
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the Covid-19 and its impact on the people of India from sociological point of view. This pandemic has brought lots of challenges for the whole humanity in contemporary time. In this regard, an attempt has been made to focus on how coronavirus is being used as stigma or social stigma rather than a disease. Subsequently, people are treating infected persons as untouchable which seem a very adverse mark of social cohesion (…)

Pesticides have been linked to childhood cancers in a recent study which is attracting a lot of attention in the USA. These findings also have a lot of relevance in developing countries like India where, due to less awareness of hazards and precautions as well as the prevalence of child labour, chances of children including child labourers coming in close or direct contact with pesticides are higher.
This study (2020) titled ’Childhood Cancer - Cross-Sector Strategies for Prevention’ has (…)

DOCUMENT
Binoy Viswam Member of Parliament (Raja Sabha) 116, North Avenue New Delhi - 110 001 Mob: 96057667022 E-mail: binoyviswam55[at]gmail.com
To Shri Sunil Arora Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India
Respected Shri Sunil Arora ji,
Date: 02.11.2020
It has been reported by various news organizations that an egregious violation of the Model Code of Conduct has been committed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in October 2020. It is alleged that the Prime Minister’s (…)