2020

December 8, 2020
The Chinese statement of December 2 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the ‘Question of Palestine and the Situation in the Middle East’ should trigger introspection in New Delhi. Without doubt, this must be one of the most forceful endorsements of the Palestinian cause in recent times by a great power.
It comes at a time when the narrative in India, scripted by the pro-US, pro-Israeli lobbyists in the media, has crystallised that Palestine cause is (…)

Exactly seven decades on, the Dalit Christian does not seem to be winning her, or his, a battle for human dignity, political rights, and a level playing field. And it is not surprising that this is so, for the Christian of Indian Dalit origin fights a battle on three fronts, unaided, with few resources, no allies, and armed with little more than in the justness of the cause.
The first front is against the Constitution of India by law established, as they say.
The Presidential Order of (…)

by Dr. Sohail Akhtar
Backward castes are a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are socially and educationally disadvantaged. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). The other backward castes (OBCs) were found to comprise 52% of the country’s population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980. It has also mentioned that the castes system is found in all the (…)

by Nurul Hassan *
The North-Western region of Assam had a long experience of volatility as demand for a separate political entity ‘Bodoland’ was partially come to an end with the agreement of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in 2003 entrusting four districts of Assam i.e. Kokrajhar, Chirrang, Baksha and Udalguri as Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD), a new political setting within the larger democratic framework of Indian constitution. Despite a plain area, the geopolitical space (…)

Suvendu Adhikari, a heavy-weight TMC (Trinamool Congress)leader , known as a dissident, tendered his resignation as a cabinet minister recently. Not only Adhikari but also several TMC leaders raised their voice against the autocracy and nepotism of the top leaderlship of the party. A TMC MP and a renowned lawyer, Kalyan Bannerjee, called Adhikari a betrayer without naming him. Banerjee portrayed the Chief Minister of Bengal as a symbol of " Andolan" or mass movement who had brought (…)

by Upal Chakraborty *
The Whistle Blower Act was passed in the year 2011. Ostensibly intended to "provide a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, projects, and offices

Facts defy some of our popular ideas. In the Sanskrit College of Kerala’s Tripunithura area, they had a senior lecturer in the Vedanta Department. Her name: Fatima Beevi. Tradition-bound minds were surprised, but Fatima saw nothing unusual in her taking up Upanishads as her research subject and finally getting her doctorate in Advaita Vedanta.
Sister Lizi, an ordained nun from a convent in Kaladi, picked Arabic as her subject of specialisation. In her nun’s gown, she stood out among (…)

by L K Sharma
I arrived, arrived at strange unknowns in order to get away from known knowns. To turn a new leaf, begin a new life as an exile.
Arrived at a place, far away from familial familiarity to live without the fear of being found out by those like me.
Arrived to create a gulf between past and present, between now and then, between me and them. . Arrived to experience transition, change, dislocation, alienation, and anxiety of an exile. To feel the pangs of (…)

On Electronic Transmission of Ballot Papers
Date: December 4, 2020
Letter to Election Commission by CPI(M) General Secretary send on December 4, 2020
Shri Sunil Arora Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India Nirvachan Sadan New Delhi
Dear Shri Arora ji,
We are surprised and shocked to come across media reports that Election Commission has forwarded a legal framework for facilitating the voting of overseas Indians/NRIs to exercise their franchise in the upcoming (…)

Binoy Viswam Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) 116, North Avenue New Delhi - 110 001 Mob: 96057667022 E-mail: binoyviswam55[at]gmail.com
To
Shri Harsh Vardhan ji, Union Health Minister Government of India, New Delhi.
Respected Shri Harsh Vardhan ji,
Date: 05.12.2020
The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) was inaugurated in 2002 with the aim to pioneer scientific research in molecular biology and biotechnology. The Centre has rapidly developed into the leading institute (…)