2023

The classical Odia literature, art, architecture, stone carvings, and its historical and cultural heritage, along with distinct philosophical musings, stand as testaments to Odia renaissance of the state, society, and polity in Odisha. The internationalist outlook is embedded within its easy-going and laid-back attitude towards everyday life. Resilience and determination define the Odia renaissance, where the acceptance of the ’other’ as its ’own’ delineates its unique cultural heritage and (…)

December 4, 2023
The much awaited results of the Assembly elections were out a few days ago. It is time to analyse where things went right and wrong for the Political Parties which were in the race to retain power or acquire power. It is also necessary to reflect on the impact of the results on the Lok Sabha elections due in May 2024.
First let me deal with the results in major States like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where it was a bipolar contest between the BJP and the Congress (…)

The Congress party has raised the bar for victory in the Telangana state assembly elections held on November 30, 2023. The slogan "change is needed" given by the Congress party has gone strong among the people. The anti-incumbency to the ten-year rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Party had an impact. The Congress won 64 of the 119 legislative assembly seats and won by four more than the magic figure of at least 60 seats needed to form the government. BRS, which contested in 119 seats, (…)

The ongoing saga of rape and murder in Manipur is now widely known but little is known about the laws and the cops that lets them go on, namely The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, (AFSPA) 1958 and the central paramilitary agency Assam Rifles (AR) 1835. Please see my books ‘Security, Governance and Democratic Rights: says on the Northeast’ (ed.) Niyogi, 2014, and ‘State, Policy and Conflicts, Essays in NE India’ Routledge, 2016. We are not dealing here with the rest of the Northeast though (…)

The Government of Kerala (GoK) initiated a public outreach program ‘Nava Kerala Sadas’, where the Chief Minister and all other Ministers traveled through all assembly constituencies of the State. This program aims to highlight the achievements of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government that has been in power in the State since 2016. The entire Cabinet will be traveling together from 18 November to 24 December 2023, addressing the public, listening to their grievances, showcasing future (…)

7 December 2023
I started writing this column yesterday late evening - 6 December. I do realize that years have passed by after the Babri Masjid demolition but that particular year and date cannot ever be erased or even side-tracked, as it’s the turning point in the recent history of the country. That demolition which took place on 6 December 1992, with the indirect or direct support of the Right-Wing forces within and outside the government, sowed the poisonous seeds of polarization and (…)

The father figure in the field of modern Oriental research in India, Mahamahopadhaya (MM) Haraprasad Shastri (1853-1931) belonged to one of the ancient Bengali Bramhin Pandit families. His original name was Sarat Chandra. His father Ramkamal Lalratna and mother Chandramani Devi used to live in Naihati in West Bengal where the great Bengali literateur Bankim Chandra Chatterjee lived. His elder brother Nanda Kumar was a close friend of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Later Haraprasad also became (…)

[marron][Isaac Deutscher was a Polish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom before the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs —from Wikipedia][/marron]
Text of 1967 Interview with Isaac Deutscher by members of the editorial staff of New Left Review
As an introduction, could you sum up your general view of the Israeli-Arab war?
The war and the (…)

PRESS RELEASE
8th December, 2023
To,
Shri Nitish Kumar ji,
Hon’ble Chief Minister, Bihar state.
Sub : Settle the ongoing strike of the Anganwadi Workers in Bihar state by discussing with the Joint Action Committee formed by all unions.
Respected Sir,
We are the Joint Platform of ten Central Trade Unions, namely, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC. We are concerned about the anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national stand taken by the Central (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Review by Joydip Ghosal
__0__ The Lone Wolf The Untold Story of the Rescue of Sheikh Hasina by Neha Dwivedi
Penguin Veer 2021 ISBN: 9780143452720 https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-lone-wolf/
__0__
Neha Dwivedi was the daughter of a Kargil martyr. After her father’s untimely demise she found solace in writing. She is a child feeding specialist and child birth educator. She deeply believes in inspirational healing power of stories. Her book The Lone Wolf : The Untold (…)