2022

In her seminal book, Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia (Cambridge University Press, 1995), Ayesha Jalal warned us: “Far from representing a neat and sharp dichotomy, democracy and authoritarianism are reflective of ongoing struggles between dominance and resistance. Without blurring the distinction between them it is important to acknowledge that they may frequently overlap irrespective of the formal designation of polities and states as democratic or authoritarian.”
Very (…)

6 December 2022
I’m writing this column as 6th December fades into another day. I’m reminded of this day of 1992, when thirty years back the Babri Masjid was destroyed by political villains. A painful day…unleashing turbulence, divides,violence and much more along the strain.
As the well- known historian, Professor Irfan Habib — former chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research and former Professor of History at the Centre for Advanced Study in History at AMU — had told me, (…)

by Ram Puniyani
Ram Madhav, the RSS leader in his article “Know your History” (I.E. December 3, 2022) argues that Rahul Gandhi (RG) does not understand about Ambedkar and Savarkar. He was criticizing R G’s statement in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, birth place of Dr. Ambedkar. As per Madhav, contrary to RG’s saying that RSS is showing fake sympathy for Babasaheb Ambedkar and is stabbing him in the back; it is Congress which has ‘front stabbed’ Ambedkar. To prove his point he gives half quotes from (…)

In last five years Rs. 10,09,510 crores taken as loans by various companies from banks in India has been declared as Non Performing Assets, an euphemism for writing them off. Out of this State Bank of India alone wrote off Rs. 2,04,486 crores. Only about 13% of the total written off amount was recovered.
Identity of the defaulting borrowers, most of whom are influential corporates, is not revealed. Compare this to the loans taken by farmers. The names of defaulting farmers is displayed on (…)

by Beena Sarwar
Dec 3, 2022
Imran Aslam (January 05, 1952 – December 02, 2022) It would be hard to find a more unassuming ‘President’ of anything. No imposing office for the lanky Imran Aslam, President of Geo TV and Jang Group. His perch was a little cubicle on the floor along with others – wood frame and glass. A desktop computer, an ashtry, and minimal clutter. A ready smile, a laugh in his voice.
He had been Geo TV since before the channel’s launch in 2002. Twenty years later, (…)

by Bhabani Shankar Nayak *
Rishi Sunak’s electoral victory within the Conservative Party and his entry into the 10 Downing Street as the PM of United Kingdom is celebrated across the political and ideological isles as a case for post racial Britain. It is a historic moment in the political and national life of Britain. The politically correct under-carpet racists celebrated it as a sign of diversity and political empowerment of British ethnic minorities. There is no doubt that the rise of (…)

BBC News
By Charlie Haynes & Lucy Pawle
BBC HARDtalk
The Russian co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has said Kremlin authorities told him to turn down the award.
Yan Rachinsky, who heads Memorial, said he was told not to accept the prize because the two other co-laureates - a Ukrainian human rights organisation and jailed Belarusian rights defender - were deemed "inappropriate".
Memorial is one of Russia’s oldest civil rights groups, and was shut down by the government (…)

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK)
India’s official claim is to the entire region of the pre-Independence “Princely State of Kashmir & Jammu” — namely, Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh — as an integral part of India. This includes Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Pakistan entered into a boundary Agreement with China in March 1963 to settle its border differences, and ceded the Shaksgam Valley of the Hunza region of POK to China.
Article 6 of the Agreement states: “... the two Parties have agreed (…)

Contents Preface................................................................................. 7 Foreword Verónica Gago .................................................................... 9 Introduction International Research Group on Authoritarianism & Counter-Strategies................... 13 Embedded Authoritarianism Sovereignty, Coloniality, and Democracy in Latin America Pedro Salgado ........................................................................... 25 Hindu (…)

by Jakke Tamminen *
Have you ever watched a duck sleep and wondered how it keeps one eye open? Ducks, like many other birds, sleep with one half of the brain awake while the other half sleeps. This is called “unihemispheric sleep” and allows the animal to monitor the environment for predators while getting the rest it needs.
Advances in sleep science show that the human brain also monitors its surroundings during sleep. Since our eyes are closed, this monitoring must rely mostly on (…)