2023

BOOK REVIEW
by Aamir Raza
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Last among equals: Power, Caste and Politics in Bihar’s Villages
by M.R Sharan Westland Publications 2021 / 229 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9390679664 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9390679669 __0__
In India, the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) were established to promote self-governance at the grassroots level and facilitate the social and economic development of rural areas. However, despite initial enthusiasm for this decentralization movement, the system has (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by Joydip Ghosal __0__
Saving the World from Hitler by R. Prasannan
Manorama Books
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8189004395 • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8189004392
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Saving the World from Hitler, India’s battle in world war II a recent contribution to the literature of the second world war is a valuable account that sheds light on the unknown aspect i.e. the gallantry and display of valour on the battlefield by Indian soldiers. Written in a racy style and interspersed with curious (…)

* Karnataka electorate cast their franchise | P. S. Jayaramu
* Crime and Indulgence | Faraz Ahmad
* Wireless & 5G—Concerns for Health, Environment & Children | Bharat Dogra
* Ukraine War & Why a Ceasefire Is the First Step Toward Lasting Peace | Phyllis Bennis
* Believing and Making People Believe | Michel de Certeau

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, May 13 –19, 2023
The results of the 2023 Karnataka state Assembly elections have just been declared and the Congress Party has surged ahead with a resounding victory over the unpopular BJP government. Many of the prominent figures of the BJP government have lost the elections. Sustained campaign work over nearly a year has paid off for hundreds of volunteers of the Congress party that focused on pro-poor and local issues and drew up a manifesto to address (…)

by P.S. Jayaramu *
May 16, 2023
The results of the Karnataka Assembly elections, which were keenly watched both within the state and at the national level (including the NRIs) point to a comprehensive victory by the Congress Party, a humiliating defeat for the BJP, and a near extinction of the Janata Dal ( Secular). The results merit analysis.
Let me first take up the case of the Congress Party. For the discernible observers, it is clear that the Party leadership at the state level (…)

May 14, 2023
The urban elite inclined right wards economically but a bit embarrassed of the communal fascist side of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, keeps grumbling helplessly that There Is No Alternative (TINA) to Modi, even if his antics and acts are unpalatable to many of them. And they say that people vote Modi out of sheer lack of an alternative.
The Prime Minister wrapped up his rallies, road shows campaign for his BJP with 19 (…)

May 14, 2023
Rahul Gandhi’s padayatra made him a humble and cultured politician of India who could start conversations with farmers, students, and workers. His humility and determination to fight the arrogance of the ruling power are getting public support. Karnataka has come forward to support the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi to go for a long march in fighting communal authoritarianism. “Nafrat Ka Bazaar (The Market of Hate) has closed down and Mohabbat ki dukaaneien (Shops of Love) (…)

by P. S. Jayaramu *
May 10, 2023
The high voltage campaigning for the Assembly elections got over on 7th May. The candidates campaigned on 8th quietly going from door to door asking for votes. The 5.3 crore voters (2.66 crore male, 2.3 female, and 4927 others) have cast their vote. Thanks to the decision of the EC, the election in the state took place on one day, unlike the 2018 polls which were spread over two phases.
Let me quickly take a look at the three contenders for power—the (…)

It is getting to be a fortnight since the national wrestlers led by young women and girls, are sitting on dharna at Jantar Mantar, a stone’s throw from the new Parliament building in the Central Vista readied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to welcome the accused in the wrestlers’ complaint, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the current president of the Wrestling Federation of India(WFI) to mock these girls’ charge of sexual exploitation by Singh and their demand to arrest this BJP (…)

During the last decade, religious slogans are being raised with frightening regularity in India in a calculated manner to mobilise people for political and electoral purposes and intimidate those of minority communities and unleash violence against them. Several leaders do it but disproportionately most BJP leaders including Prime Minister Modi and those from Hindutva organisations are also engaged in such activities. These constitute an assault on secularism and secular values sustaining (…)