2020

by Matthew Porges
In a pandemic, some common-sense policies can closely resemble authoritarianism. Banning large public gatherings, for instance, is both a classic authoritarian move and a reasonable strategy to control the spread of the virus. This tension opens up an opportunity for would-be authoritarians to exploit the situation, using the pandemic as cover for implementing policies that would otherwise result in a lot more pushback, domestically and internationally. While the (…)

by Deeptangshu Kar and Jagriti Pandey
Ever since the Right to Food campaign has approached the Supreme Court of India, in what is commonly revered to as the right to food security petition, the relevance of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 has become more apparent. Food procurement and minimum price support to farmers are one of the finest examples of what a socialist state should do. In this article, the authors explain how the Essential Commodities Act is relevant to the pandemic, (…)

Throughout history India-Japan relations have been devoid of any kind of dispute, ideological, cultural or territorial. Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, J.R.D Tata and Subhash Chandra Bose were among the Indians closely associated with Japan. Judge Radha Binod Pal was the Indian member appointed to the International Military Tribunal that tried Japanese war crimes alleged to have been committed during the Second World War. Among all judges of the Tribunal he was the only one who (…)

[It is the 127th birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on 14 April 2020]
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by Dr. Atul Krishna Biswas
As Member (Labour), Viceroy’s Executive Council, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar held from July 20, 1942 to June 29, 1946. These four years eleven months witnessed the social visionary’s intense nation building activities. This essay, as a tribute to his 127th birth anniversary, attempts at focusing the phase of his activities, over which widespread ignorance prevails.
Part - I
Dr Ambedkar (…)

Contents - Mainstream, VOL LVIII No 16 New Delhi, April 4, 2020 LETTER TO THE READERS - COVID 19 Lockdown Edition No.2 COVID 19 Crisis : Letters From Senior Former State Official to India’s Finance Minister and to the Prime Minister The Editors Guild of India is deeply perturbed over the recent government statement before the Supreme Court PUDR demands temporary decongestion of jails in view of COVID-19 public health crisis Bypassing PMNRF & Setting Up A New Fund Unnecessary- Statement (…)

Today is April 3, 2020. Ten days ago the whole country was locked down following the PM’s address to the nation on March 24, when he announced the government’s momentous decision on this score prompted by the spread of the corona virus. Since the lockdown continues to this day we are unable to publish the print edition of our weekly for the second consecutive week and are thus constrained to bring out only the online edition of the journal VOL LVIII No 16 dated April 4 2020. We earnestly (…)

Letter from retired bureaucrat Sri E.A.S.Sarma (Former Secretary, Govt of India) to our Union Finance Minister, giving useful suggestions re tackling the Corona virus situation,

DOCUMENT
The Editors Guild of India
Press Release
April 02, 2020
The Editors Guild of India is deeply perturbed over the recent government statement before the Supreme Court putting the blame on the media for causing panic among migrant workers leading to their mass movement in the wake of the lockdown.
This led the apex court to observe that while it didn’t want to inhibit the debate on the pandemic in any way, the media should refer to and publish the official version of the (…)

DOCUMENT
PEOPLES UNION FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS (PUDR)
2 April 2020
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) welcomes the directions passed by the Supreme Court of India on 23.03.2020 in Suo Moto Writ Petition (C) 1/2020 titled In Re: Contagian of Covid 19 Virus in Prisons. Through the said order, all States and Union territories have been directed to constitute a High Powered Committee for the release of prisoners in the wake of the public health crisis related to COVID-19.
What is (…)

DOCUMENT
April 1, 2020 Press Statement The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement: Bypassing PMNRF & Setting Up A New Fund Unnecessary The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) considers the setting up of a separate fund to meet the COVID-19 pandemic called the “PM Cares” as unnecessary. The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) has been in existence since 1948. This fund has reportedly an unspent balance of Rs. 3,800 crores. (…)