2021

by Mohd Shahwaiz *
In September 2020, Parliament of India brought three acts in order to newly legislate or we can say reform the agriculture sector of India. This reform is nothing but another move in the direction of Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization (LPG) policy of the 1990s. The ultimate purpose of the latest reform in agriculture, according to government, is to ’doubling the farmer’s income’ by 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisages the new farm laws as historic (…)

It is very good that the farmers’ movement has given a call for observing February 27 as Day of Unity of Farmers and Workers. On this day the nation is observing Sant Ravidas Jayanti. Along with other saints of the Bhakti and Sufi movements Sant Ravidas stood for devotion and spirituality which contributes for justice and welfare for all humanity and indeed for all forms of life. Several centuries have passed but if India follows the path of bhakti and sufi movements, the path of Guru (…)

by Dr Arun Mitra
February 24, 2021
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has raised very pertinent objections to the promotion of CORONIL by the Health Minister on the grounds of science as well as medical ethics. The Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is an ENT Surgeon trained in modern medicine. It would be naïve to believe that he is unaware of the number of and types of clinical trials any new medicine/ vaccine has to pass through before being put to use.
During the present COVID (…)

IMPRESSIONS
What a mess our country is in? A college student, all of 22 years old, is picked up from her home and taken to Delhi without prescribed legal papers. Her crime? She used internet devices to support the farmers’ march. This girl, Disha Ravi, is not in politics. She belongs to no party. She is just a young girl with enough civic sense to be interested in environmental issues. Many young people are similarly concerned these days and that is one of the strengths of (…)

by Arun Srivastava
The little girl Disha Ravi who was slapped with the charge of sedition, accused of conspiring against the sovereignty of the country, projected as the biggest anti-national and eventually was placed in custody for nine days has exposed the dirty designs of the Delhi police to frame innocent youth and students opposing Narendra Modi in false and fabricated cases.
But the Delhi court exposed a number of holes in the conspiracy theory of the police and granted her bail. (…)

by Mustafa Khan
Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light — Bertrand Russell
February 17 2021 Winter haze or smog could potentially continue in India until the spring — Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“Things fall apart” when culture is fossilized in a place. The Supreme Court of India on February 18, 2021 shut the suo motu proceedings against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi in the 2019 sexual harassment case is nothing but (…)

The eminent anthropologist, Talal Asad, in his published interview in 2007, made some seminal arguments. He argued:
It is precisely in a secular state - which is supposed to be totally separated from religion — that it is essential for state law to define, again and again, what genuine religion is, and where its boundaries should properly be...The state (a political entity/realm) has the function of defining the acceptable public face of “religion”.
Asad further observed how religion (…)

First time in the history of independent India, in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel has shocked the nation by glorifying MS Golwalkar, the 2nd Supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote:
“Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & (…)

by Suadat Hussain Wani*
Political Relationship:
India was among the first few countries (first non-communist in Asia) to recognize China in 1950. In early times, there was much enthusiasm about bilateral cooperation and in 1954, panchsheel (five principles of peaceful coexistence) was signed. During this period of cooperation, Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai slogan was popular. However, inspite of enthusiasm to increase cooperation in many fields, border dispute emerged as main issue in early (…)

by Abraham Joseph *
What is dialectical materialism? Considerable scepticism and doubts have been raised over the years regarding the meaning and relevance of dialectical materialism. In fact, the continuous assault on dialectical materialism has been an ongoing project of a class society unable to explain the contradictions of capitalism and the progressive development of human history. No socially conscious individual can ever deny the relevance of dialectical materialism, a philosophy (…)