2023

60 acres of green city forest oxygenating a major portion of South Delhi, called the Deer Park, is one of the few left over green belts in Delhi city. The park beholds archaeological monuments from yester era spanning 9-10 centuries along with innumerable variety of trees, birds, insects, deer, ducks, bats, snakes and a beautiful lake supporting 1000s of visitors including daily walkers, artists, sports enthusiasts along with toddlers and young children for whom forest is already a rarity in (…)

by Claude Rakisits*
5 July 2023
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor promised plenty when it launched. Ten years on, Islamabad faces a sobering reality check of its true cost.
The ambitious USD$60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which stretches almost 3000km from the port of Gwadar in Pakistan’s rugged southwestern province of Balochistan to Kashgar in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, was launched 10 years ago this July.
Labelled a “game changer” by its backers, the (…)

July 6, 2023
The virtual summit meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on July 4 welcomed Iran as its tenth member
To be out of sync with the contemporary life anywhere at anytime becomes indeed a despairing situation. That was the tragic predicament of the Austrian writer of the inter-war period, Stefan Zweig, who once wrote, “One must be convinced to convince, to have enthusiasm to stimulate the others” — alluding to the rising tide of fascism in Europe in the twenties and (…)

by Issa G. Shivji
Nov 02, 2017
Revolutionary intellectuals led our liberation movements. They initiated and organised the left and democratic formations. Thugs and mercenaries of imperialism and their hirelings have tortured and murdered revolutionary intellectuals all over the continent. But with Thomas Sankara they continue chanting: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” —The Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture 2017 University of Wits, South Africa (…)

6 July 2023
Khushwant Singh was far-sighted. Over 10 years back, before he passed away in 2014, he was worried about — RISE OF FASCISM in the country.
Khushwant Singh’s worries were several in terms of the political scenario in the country. He would talk and write of the communal poisoning spreading around, and the rise of the fascist forces, spreading fear.
Khushwant Singh brought to the fore this vital fact: ‘Don’t overlook the fact that before Jinnah had come up with the two-nation (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed by Matthew A. Hall (University of California, San Diego)
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Anti-Leftist Politics in Modern World History: Avoiding "Socialism" at All Costs
by Philip B. Minehan
Bloomsbury Academic 2022 - Illustrations. 288 pp. (cloth), ISBN 978-1-350-17064-3 (paper), ISBN 978-1-350-22979-2
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When Francisco Franco and other officers rose against the Spanish Republic in July 1936, it was above all the working class that fought the attempted coup d’etat to a (…)

* Modi Rule vs Nehru’s Era: Comparing the Incomparable | Arun Kumar
* How to Draw a Line on the Ground | Ravi Sinha
* Punjab’s Economic Development Undersiege | Singh & Shergill

Letter to the readers, Mainstream, July 1, 2023
It may be difficult to recall a moment from India’s political and administrative history when a region was gripped by violence & conflict and the Prime Minister of the country maintained pin drop silence. The summer 2023 ethnic strife in Manipur has gone on for two months causing 130 deaths, with hundreds of properties destroyed, some 200 tribal villages burnt and more than 300 churches burnt, over 4000 arms robbed from state armouries by (…)

Mr. Modi entered tenth year of his rule over India as PM on May 26. Nehru passed away 59 years back as PM on May 27. Mr. Modi has been highly critical of Nehru. Worse, he implies that India has only progressed in the last 9 years under his rule. This propaganda has gone deep down and is accepted by his followers. The BJP highlighted Mr. Modi’s achievements on the occasion while the Congress Party issued a booklet questioning them.
BJP claims, it has grown the economy, expanded road, rail (…)

I as a teacher had students from Manipur and friends teaching in DU and JNU, IGNOU, and Jamia have an understanding of Manipur. I have visited the state and found women merchants in the state to cater to the needs of others. Four months back I evaluated a thesis written by a woman scholar belonging to Kuki community and argued that in their community women are taking to trade and business like the Meitei community. It is a good development. Some time back as a teacher in School of Planning (…)