2023

As India enters a 25-year-long journey towards its centenary, policy makers must have greater responsibilities not only to enhance economic growth but also to ensure an inclusive and sustainable development. One of the major concerns is to prioritise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to promote sustainable agriculture, conservation and regeneration of forests, combating desertification, reversing land degradation and biodiversity loss, and sustainable use of oceans, seas, (…)

Bola Bola Hari, Khay Magur machar jhola
— Sri Chaitanya Dev
The medieval Bhakti Cult spiritual leader from Nadia in Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534, whose followers are today known as the Hare-Krishna Cult and promote the ISKON movement) had initially pleaded with people for vegetarianism but failing to convince the coastal fish-eating people of Odisha and Bengal, later in life changed his view on vegetarianism. He then told the people, ‘Bola Bola Hari, Khay Magur machar jhola’, (…)

While reviewing a recent book, To Kill a Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism (Macmillan,2021), authored by Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane, the eminent Dalit scholar, Anand Teltumbde, observed: “The Modi rule since 2014 has certainly accelerated its degeneration towards despotism on account of its anxiety to accomplish its long cherished dream of the Hindu rashtra in a compressed time frame”. (The Wire, March 14, 2023)
Anand Teltumbde substantiated his argument about (…)

24 March 2023
Latest news reports state that the Uttar Pradesh government has informed that more than 10,000 encounters have taken place between police and criminals in the state in the past six years during which 63 criminals had been killed while a brave cop had also been martyred, according to the data released by the government.
To quote the details from one of the news reports: "The UP Police has conducted 10713 encounters since 2017 of which the highest 3152 were conducted by the (…)

by Gyan Prakash *
In the face of ever-weakening forces of democracy and liberal values across the globe, V-Dem’s recently published report acts as an eye-opener for all of us. As per the report, 72 percent of humanity is being ruled by autocracies and 28 percent of them are living under dictatorial regimes. During the last ten years from 2012 to 2022, the share of the global population living under autocracies has moved up sharply from 46 percent to 72 percent. The same report says that (…)

by Arun Srivastava
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has the intrinsic right to maintain equidistance from BJP and Congress. But his decision must have some rationale. His decision to keep away from Congress, made public after his meeting with Mamata Benarjee in Calcutta, where he was last week to attend his party’s national executive meet, puts his political wisdom under the scanner. Does he think that like the BJP, Congress also practices divisive and communal politics and has been (…)

Professor Jagmohan Singh is one of the prominent conscience-keepers of our times. He is also Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s nephew. As a public intellectual, he has been studying Bhagat Singh’s life and work over the last several decades with deep intensity. His archival scholarship has opened a new intellectual horizon for understanding Bhagat Singh as a thinker and revolutionary. Currently, he is Director, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Creativity Centre, Ludhiana, Punjab.
Naren Singh Rao spoke to him (…)

Four Excerpts from Writings of M N Roy selected by ND Pancholi *
(1) Political religion of Nationalism
“They speak grandiloquently of national interest, national honour and national spirit; behind all these high-sounding phrases are hidden the selfish interests of the minority. Drugged by the political religion, called Nationalism, a people becomes the Nation which claims and obtains the effacement of individuals composing the people. Rising and capturing power on the authority of the (…)

the full PDF version of the report is here: https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf
see also:
Headline Statements from the IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report, released on March 20, 2023.
UN Climate Report: Scientists release survival guide to avert climate change - BBC report https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65000182

by Michel Wieviorka *
March 16, 2023
It was the nuclear option Emmanuel Macron’s government was hoping not to have to resort to. Speaking at the National Assembly over boos and chants of the national anthem, on the afternoon of Thursday 17 March, France’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced that the government would force through its controversial pension reform plans without a vote, a procedure enabled by article 49, paragraph 3 of the French constitution.
The latest scenes of (…)