2023

PEOPLE’S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES
332, Patpar Ganj, Opp. Anand Lok Apartments, (Gate No. 2), Mayur Vihar-I, Delhi 110 091
Founder: Jayaprakash Narayan; Founding President: V M Tarkunde
President: Ms. Kavita Srivastava (Rajasthan); General Secretary: V Suresh (Tamil Nadu); E.mails:, Please visit our website: www.pucl.org
20th October, 2023
PUCL Statement:
Marriage Equality Judgment not on constitutional (…)

Binoy Viswam Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) 116, North Avenue New Delhi - 110 001 Mob: 9605766702 E-mail: binoyviswam55[at]gmail.com
PRESS STATEMENT Date: 17th October 2023
Denial of Rights to LGBTQ+ Community Unfortunate: CPI MP Binoy Viswam
The Supreme Court of India today passed a judgement on the issue of marriage equality for persons from the LGBTQ+ community. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in a split verdict of 3:2 have refused to instate the right to civil union for LGBTQ+ (…)

E A S Sarma Former Secretary to the Government of India
To
Shri Rajiv Kumar Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI)
Shri A C Pandey Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI)
Shri Arun Goel Election Commissioner Election Commission of India (ECI)
Dear S/Shri Rajiv Kumar/ Pandey/ Goel,
The Department of Personnel, vide F.no. 1-28047/8/2023 dated 17-10-2023 seemed to have instructed all Ministries to nominate senior officers as "District Rath (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by T. Vijayendra
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ONE: The Story of the Ultimate Myth
by Mansoor Khan
Harper Collins India 2023, Pp. 145
Available at Amazon Rs. 449/-
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It is a gem of a book! It is a small book, 145 pages. It is a fiction, a novella. Very satisfactory reading! Reminds me of the feeling I got after reading some of the great novellas - Lu Hsun’s ‘The True Story of Ah Q’ or Rajinder Singh Bedi’s ‘Ek Chadar Maili Si’. It has the touch of a film editor – not a single wasted (…)

BOOK REVIEW
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The Theory of the Basic Structure: Saviour of the Constitution and Democracy
by Vijay Kumar
Aakar Books Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 202 pages ISBN‏ : ‎ 9789350028278 Price: Rs.595/-
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The theory of the ‘basic structure’ of the constitution propounded by the largest–ever bench of 13 judge by the Supreme Court in historic Kesavanand Bharti is in news, not only for 50 years of its formulation, but also for well-orchestrated attack on the theory by the former Chief (…)

* A Political Man: Memories of Ranajit Guha | Dilip Simeon
* Karpoori Thakur: Social Justice and Its Limits | Thakur and Bhattacharjee
* Sustainable Consumption & Production versus Green capitalism | Geeta Sinha
* Can we fight Zionism, not Jews? | Jawed Naqvi

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, October 14, 2023
Following horrific assaults last week by Islamist militias of Hamas from Gaza in unprecedented raids across the border in Southern Israel that killed over a thousand civilians, Israel is now retaliating with a counter-offensive and has declared war, and the Israeli Defence Forces have been bombing and flattening Gaza. The Israeli military has issued an ultimatum to over 1.2 million inhabitants of Northern Gaza to move out of their (…)

7 October 2023
In June 2005, the Government of Orissa gave a contract to POSCO, a South Korean multinational corporation to invest approximately US$12 billion in an integrated steel venture. Due to public pressure and other factors, POSCO withdrew from the project in March 2017. Following POSCO’s exit, in June 2017, the Odisha government transferred the land to the JSW Utkal Steel Limited (JUSL). JUSL plans to build a 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant that will (…)

Honor killing is a terrible crime and a serious social problem. So anyone struggling against this in the middle of great hostility deserves help and sympathy. However in the case of Gulab Rajput this help is deserved even more as he has shown great courage and determination in continuing this struggle—he was himself the victim of a hit and run incident and in this seriously injured state he sat with his wife Kamla on a fast-cum-dharna for 10 days to demand justice. Despite his rapidly (…)

NB: This is an extended reminiscence of a conversation about Ranajit Guha and the Naxalite movement. The conversation was arranged at the request of the Bangla journal Anustup; and took place between me and a History honours student at the University of Delhi. (I am obliged to Anustup for having prompted this remembrance. It is due to appear in Bangla shortly). It is based on a transcript of that conversation, but has been considerably revised. It took place on July 16, 2023; which (…)