2021

Reviewed by Lesley Masters (University of Derby)
S. Ravi Rajan, Lise Sedrez, eds. The Great Convergence: An Environmental History of BRICS.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. xix + 442 pp. $49.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-947937-5.
This edited volume presents a detailed account of the emerging field of environmental history within the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) states. While Jim O’Neill’s identification of these emerging states[1] may have been born from (…)

by Renaud Lambert*
The 2000s saw a pink tide sweep through Latin America as progressive governments replaced authoritarian ones and people’s satisfaction with democracy grew. But those leaders are all gone, and the battle for true democracy is far from over.
Alain Rouquié, former French ambassador to Brazil, summed up Latin America’s progress in 2010: ‘After decades of instability and dictatorship, democracy seems to have taken root everywhere.’ He had in mind the electoral victories of (…)

by Milan Kundera*
Excerpt from: L’Insoutenable Légèreté de l’être, - 1984
[…]
She came out into Old Town Square—the stern spires of Tyn Church, the irregular rectangle of Gothic and baroque houses. Old Town Hall, which dated from the fourteenth century and had once stretched over a whole side of the square, was in ruins and had been so for twenty-seven years. Warsaw, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Budapest—all were horribly scarred in the last war. But their inhabitants had built them up (…)

by Tatev Hovhannisyan Claire Provost
17 June 2021
Global organisations call on UN agencies to ‘stop access to decision-making’ for opponents of women’s and LGBT rights and warn of dangers ahead
A coalition of more than 20 global organisations are calling on UN agencies to “stop access to decision-making” for opponents of women’s and LGBT rights.
The Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)[[http://oursplatform.org] – which brings together groups including feminist NGO the (…)

Binoy Viswam Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) 116, North Avenue New Delhi - 110 001 Mob: 96057667022 E-mail: binoyviswam55[at]gmail.com
To Shri Narendra Modi Prime Minister Government of India, New Delhi. Respected Shri Narendra Modi ji
Date: 22.06.2021
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic caused immense havoc in the lives of every person across the country. With the spike in death tolls and rapid spread of the virus across the country, the best efforts of healthcare workers and (…)

Paschimbanga Khetmajoor Samity (PBKMS)
[June 25, 2021]
54 Thousand Workers From Duncans Gardens File Claims for 1538 Crores Dues With NCLT
With Duncans Industries Limited going into bankruptcy, the future of the workers of 17 gardens owned by Duncans is now in doldrums. Workers have been worried about their dues and whether they will ever receive their due wages, fringe benefits, gratuity and provident fund.
Responding to the workers’ concern, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) (…)

* Khadija’s Jail Time: A Prison Account from 1949 | Uma Chakravarti
* A Friend’s Tribute to Sharmistha Choudhury | Nandini Dhar
* Untold Stories of Scottish women in Calcutta’s colonial-era graveyard | Sayan Dey

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, June 19, 2021
In a very important development, this week, the Delhi High Court passed three separate orders on June 15, 2021, which pointed out misuse of police powers and the wrongful use of anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for arresting people who have not committed acts of terrorism. Three Indian student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha who had been arrested in May 2020, were granted bail (…)