2022

by P.S. Jayaramu *
5th July, 2022
Indian Parliamentary democracy is in its 75th year. While many things can be said about its positive aspects there are equally powerful arguments about the debasing of the system like the steep decline in the functioning of the Parliament as well as State legislatures manifested in frequent disruptions in the functioning of the Houses, dharnas, opposition members walking into the the well of the House, governments getting Bills passed in the din of the (…)

by A. M. Jose & Jos Chathukulam *
Abstract
A controversy has erupted in India over the formation of a new Ministry of Co-operation by the Union government. There has been widespread criticism that the Union government is weakening the ‘cooperative federalism’ by encroaching into an area of state government’s prerogative. This article looks into the merit of this controversy by examining the role of Cooperatives in an economy and what role the governments should play in making the (…)

by B. Skanthakumar
13 July 2022
Sri Lanka’s citizens’ movement known as the Janatha Aragalaya (‘Peoples’ Struggle’), notched its most significant victory yet, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced through the Speaker of Parliament that he would quit on 13 July, mid-way through his presidency. His admission of surrender, after resisting for months the central demand of public protests — #GotaGoHome — in the political fallout of the island’s devastating economic crisis
More than 100,000 (…)

by Ram Puniyani
The crisis in Sri Lanka has shaken not only the citizens of Sri Lanka but also the neighbors and the World as a whole. At one level there is a humanitarian crisis at another we can see the impact of autocratic discriminatory policies on the citizens, particularly workers, Tamil and Muslim minority and average people. The sight of thousands of people surrounding and occupying the house of President and putting private house of Prime Minister Ranilsinghe on fire is very (…)

by Arun Srivastava
The opposition leaders have not only abandoned their presidential candidate Yshwant Sinha but have betrayed him. After three senior leaders declined to be the opposition candidate to oppose the BJP’s nominee, Sinha was the fourth choice to fill the void. Opposition formally agreed on his name even before the BJP could finalise its candidate.
Ironically just after Narendra Modi announced the name of Draupadi Murmum the opposition leaders started sulking and distancing (…)

The Government is in the process of finalizing a new public health bill while repealing the 125-year-old Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897. While few will question the need for replacing such an old and outdated law, there is also urgent need for carefully studying the various provisions of the new bill so that it is not coercive and does not violate of basic rights of citizens. There are at least five reasons which prompt the need for such caution.
Firstly, in 2017 a different bill was (…)

Communist Party of India (CPI)
New Delhi,
July 11, 2022
Press Release
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued today (on July 11, 2022) the following statement on the Sri Lankan situation:
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India expresses solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka, who are on the streets against the authoritarian misrule of the corrupt ruling elite, which brought unprecedented economic and political crisis in the country.
The (…)

WITHDRAW THE TRUMPED-UP FIR FILED AGAINST MEDHA PATKAR AND OTHER TRUSTEES OF NARMADA NAV NIRMAN ABHIYAN
END THE PERSECUTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT ACTIVISTS FOR STANDING WITH THE OPPRESSED SECTIONS OF SOCIETY
11th July, 2022: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) strongly condemns the FIR filed against social activist Medha Patkar and 11 other trustees of Narmada Nav Nirman Abhiyan (NNNA), under Sec 420 IPC at the Badwani Police Station in MP, as widely reported in (…)

by Prof Gull Mohammad Wani
Referring to recent spate of civilian killings, the former Chief Minister, Mr. Omer Abdullah considers the failure of PM,s package a personal failure . He was the head of the government that brought employment package and implemented it. Every single person who goes back from here Abdullah considers to be a personal failure. Everything in jammu and Kashmir, he feels need not be weighed in terms of costs and benefits. Frankly, it is not the sentiment (…)

The island nation of Sri Lanka is caught in the whirlpool of a deep political and economic crisis. The State has collapsed and people are confronting a dire situation marked by massive shortage of food items, fuel, medicines, electricity and other essential supplies so indispensable to lead a normal life. Soaring inflation and the absence of even the semblance of Governmental authority to deal with the existential threat to the lives of people have made them restless. They have come to the (…)