2021

Dr. Shaibal Gupta, recognized both nationally and internationally as an authority on understanding the roots of Bihar’s backwardness and its social and economic dynamics, passed away in Patna on 28 January 2021. He held many important positions in committees and groups set up by the Government of Bihar and the Central Government, to examine the issues and recommend policy measures for Bihar’s economic development. But he was best known as the founder Member Secretary and Director of the (…)

The ongoing farmers’ agitation in India is generating more heat than light. Suicides by farmers failed to get public attention. Protesting farmers are keeping the TV anchors, politicians, activists and official agencies on their toes. Everyone has an opinion, even those who have never seen a rice field in their life. Some got introduced to farming by films such as Mother India and Do Bigha Zameen. All tend to view this complex issue through the prism of political leanings or beliefs. (…)

In September 2021 the UN will hold a Food Systems Summit. The aim will be to reshape world agriculture and food production in the context of the Malthusian UN Agenda 2030 “sustainable agriculture” goals. The recent radical farm laws from the government of Narenda Modi in India are part of the same global agenda, and it’s all not good.

by K N Ninan
While commending the approval granted by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to two covid vaccines manufactured in India Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that this was a great achievement for realising ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Of the two vaccines, Covishield made by Serum Institute of India, Pune is based on knowhow provided by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford, while Covaxin was developed in India by Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad with support from the Indian Council (…)

IMPRESSIONS
Our Prime Minister cried in Parliament the other day. No, his face didn’t go into contortions of grief and the body did not shake with sobbing. His was a dignified crying that could be managed with a quick flashing of the thumb under the eyeglass and a sip of water. The sight of a democratically elected leader succumbing to emotions of the ordinary kind must have attracted widespread sympathy from those who watched the scene on TV.
What made him cry? People must have thought (…)

by P. S. Jayaramu
An attempt is made in this article to analyse two important aspects of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly( KLA), firstly, how representative it has been over the decades and secondly, how effective its functioning has been.
Before getting down to tracing the representative character of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, it is pertinent to make a few observations about the importance of representative assemblies and elected representatives in a Parliamentary democratic (…)

by Mohd Hussain Ganie *
Jata Shankar Jha (1926-2021), one of the eminent historians produced by Bihar, passed away on Thursday, 4 February, 2021. His death is indeed a great loss to the academic world. He was born in a village in Rajnagar, (Madhubani), on 22 August, 1926. After completing Masters and PhD in history, Jha started his career with K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute and retired from the same Institute as its Director in 1984. During his long association with the Institute, he (…)

The arbitrary arrest of Disha Ravi, young lady and an Environmental activist from her residence in Bengaluru on February 14 on trumped up charge and in utter violation of procedure prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure and the mandate of Article 22 of the Constitution marks the sharp descent of Indian democracy into authoritarian regime. The democratic credential of Modi Government was always in short-supply, but arrest of 22 years young lady for extending support to on-going (…)

MUSINGS
February 10, 2021
February 6 was Khan Abdul Ghaffar’s Khan birth anniversary; he was born on 6 February 1890, in Utmanzai, Pakistan. Also, known as the Frontier Gandhi, he played a very, very significant role in the Independence struggle. Needless to add that today, with the changing political climate, he and his struggles get bypassed, if not side tracked.
Few years back, Delhi based activist, Faisal Khan, had formed the ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’ (Servants of God), in memory of (…)

by Naved Ashrafi
More than two years back exactly from these days when farmers have now inched their way towards the national capital of India vociferously protesting against new farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan in 2018, said that a Congress leader used to wear a rose on his jacket but had no knowledge of farming. Modi didn’t name Jawaharlal Nehru. He has always been quick at peremptorily hurling political jibes (…)