2022

To: Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi 5 May 2022
Subject: Loss of women’s livelihoods and Jahangirpuri Demolitions
Dear Shri Kejriwal:
We the undersigned academics, policy advisors, and civil society practitioners, all working on aspects of Gender and the Economy in India, are deeply shocked by the spate of demolitions carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in the Jahangirpuri resettlement colony on April 20, 2022.
The most tragic victims of this targeted (…)

This paper examines the profit-shifting behaviour of emerging multinational firms from India. It is found that the before-tax profitability of subsidiaries differs according to whether they were established directly or via an Offshore Financial Centre (OFC).

by Alejandra Dinegro Martínez *
April 28, 2022
Eight months in, the administration of Pedro Castillo, whose victory in the 2021 elections was once a symbol of transformation and hope, is now closer to a nightmare. The dream of a government that could have laid the foundation for a process of structural transformation seems unattainable. This is a severe blow to the Left, just as it is for voters who share the current president’s background, habits, cultural practices, and common (…)

by Gautam Sen *
The Ukraine war or special military operations to de-militarise and de-Nazify Ukraine as termed by Russian president Vladimir Putin soon after he launched a multi-dimensional military campaign on 24th February 2022, is in its fourth month with no sign of it de-escalating. There is a pause or rather different orientation to the Russian assault since March 2022 end, but no de-escalation in the real sense. Western sources indicate a strong military noose put by the Russian (…)

By Ella Rossman April 25, 2022
Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine and the following establishment of de facto martial law in Russia, Russians have been protesting against the war. Though this protest is weak and fragmented and exposed to government repression, it is ongoing in many cities and towns of Russia. It includes not only street demonstrations and pickets but also invisible forms of resistance, like sabotage at work or different ways of distribution of information (…)

by Pablo Neruda
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
(Fisherman in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire, (…)

* A Mess Called India’s Health Sector | Govind Bhattacharjee
* Women Workers & Emerging Body Rules in Service Work in India | Asiya Islam
* BJP’s Propaganda Mechanism | Nagender Madavaram
* India’s Anti-Conversion Laws attack the Dignity of Dalits, Adivasis & Women | Joe Tharamangalam

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, April 30, 2022
In the past week, an extreme heatwave has engulfed large parts of the India and Pakistan region with temperatures in the range of 46 degrees C and above. Heatwaves are of course common for us every year in the region, but this year we have seen high temperatures starting in the month of March itself – the highest recorded average in a hundred years. Such extreme conditions are no doubt driven by global climate change, but a conscious and (…)

by Dr. Govind Bhattacharjee *
(I)
Nothing like the pandemic has ever exposed the decrepit state of India’s healthcare system and its extremely limited capacity. Even before the pandemic, it was not unknown— only authorities had failed to take any notice because of their inability to address the hopeless state of our public healthcare system. Underfunded and neglected for many decades, it couldn’t have been corrected within a short span of time. Some data will help to understand the (…)

Imagine a situation where a household celebrity of Karnataka such as B. S. Yediyurappa cannot be found. That is what happened in the ultra-modern state recently. There is a special court for the trial of cases involving MPs and MLAs. Officials attached to the court failed to serve summons on Yedi, accused in a land denotification case of 2012. Reason: The accused could not be found.
The official visited Yedi’s house on three different days. The big man was busy touring the state, (…)