2022

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a big name in Latin American Literature. One may be interested to know how he made his entry into the world of literature. To put it in his own words: “It had never occurred to me that I could be a writer, but in my student days Eduardo Zalamea Borda, editor of the literary supplement of ElEspectador, in Bogota, published a note in which he said that the younger generation of writers had nothing to offer, that a new short-story writer, a new novelist, could not be (…)

The searing and prolonged economic-political crisis in Sri Lanka has now expectedly turned into a refugee exodus from the island-nation to India, whch is the traditional haven for Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka.
The failure of the Sri Lankan government to tackle the economic crisis even two years after the first rumblings of deep discontent were heard has now gulvanised Sri Lankan society---consisting of all the three main religions, Sinhalese Buddhists, Hindu Tamils, and Muslims, and (…)

The combination of information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology (IT-BT-NT) is the cutting edge of civilizational transformation in the on-going “digital era”. This technological trio is based upon digitizing and manipulating data. [Ref.1]
IT-BT-NT are becoming primary tools for research in the physical, natural, and social sciences, and connected technologies.
Perhaps the most influential technologies created by IT-BT-NT in the social, economic and political spheres of human (…)

25 May 2022
UNIC / PRESS RELEASE / 110-2022
FROM THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
UN Security Council’s Statement on the situation in Afghanistan
The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern regarding the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban, including through imposition of restrictions that limit access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and women’s full, equal and meaningful (…)

IMPRESSIONS
Narendra Modi is undoubtedly the most p. r. conscious Prime Minister in Indian history. Extensive use of TV channels, Twitter and Facebook has always been part of his routine. Doctored images presenting him in glamorous ways have been common. A story once appeared in the papers saying that he saved 15,000 Gujarati pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand. Another invented story was that Modi was declared incorruptible by Wikileaks founder.
Now we have a whole new book. (…)

25 May 2022
With the Yogi Adityanath government’s acceptance of the state cabinet’s proposal to exclude new madrasas in the state of Uttar Pradesh, from the government’s grant list, it is getting to be more than obvious the establishment of the day will not extend support or give grants for educational facilities for children run by the minority community.
After all, what are madrasas? An affordable place for learning, both religious text as well as mainstream education. Though in (…)

All India Catholic Union
Dated: 23/05/2022
Volcanic Islands of hate have brought India to a boil, warns Catholic Union AICU says Government must act urgently to reverse trend, check targeted violence
PRESS STATEMENT
The All India Catholic Union is deeply disturbed at the targeted hate against religious minorities which has in recent months erupted like so many volcanos in the sea of religious harmony in India. If not checked now, it may do untold damage to national peace and (…)

COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE AND RELEASE OF DR. G. N. SAIBABA PRESS STATEMENT
26 May 2022
Immediately resolve the hunger strike Demands of Dr. G.N. Saibaba and save his life in the jail
Dr. G.N. Saibaba, a 90% physically disabled person languishing in Nagpur central Jail started a hunger strike for the second time from Saturday 21st May 2022 seeking immediate resolution of his demands. Dr. G.N. Saibaba, also sat on hunger strike one and half years ago during lockdown in the jail demanding (…)

Book Review by M.R. Narayan Swamy __0__
Field Notes from a Waterborne Land: Bengal Beyond the Bhadralok
by Parimal Bhattacharya
HarperCollins India;
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9354894372 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9354894374
299 pages; Price: Rs 499
This is an extraordinary book, written with a passion about those who are not normally ignored and who, as the title reveals, live in far-flung areas where Bengal’s mostly upper-caste Hindu Bhadralok are normally absent. The book is a mirror to the (…)

Reviewed by: Chanda Rani and Aamir Raza
__0__ The Struggle for Equality: India’s Muslims and Rethinking the UPA Experience by Heewon Kim
Cambridge University Press 2019 Pages‘s: 247 Online ISBN: 9781108235839
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The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government (2004-14) led by the congress came to power with strong policy initiative for the religious minorities of India more specifically aiming at Muslims. A series of measure were identified for the implementation to create (…)