2023

As India gets ready for the much debated annual budget of the union government (which will be presented on February 1), this may be a good time to consider some aspects of budget analysis.
It is of course very clear that budget analysis can be a very useful exercise as the mass of statistics and information contained in the budget can be examined in terms of what is most important for people and to what extent the needs and priorities of ordinary people have been fulfilled, with special (…)

The cover story of the latest issue of The Week began with the following observation: “As a response to the belligerence of Pakistan and lately China, a military-industrial complex seems to be fast taking shape in India” (January 22, 2023). This observation bears testimony to the dominant discourse of Hindu nationalism.
In fact, the signature of militant Hindu nationalism is distinctly visible in the recent statement of the RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat: “You see, Hindu society has been at war (…)

by Boaz Atzili *
January 5, 2023
Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.
The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on (…)

New Delhi,
Communist Party of India
January 17, 2023
Press Release
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued the following statement today (on January 17, 2023):
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India has expressed its deep concern about the recent government decision to stop giving food grains being given to the poor under the Food Security Act.
The decision will adversely impact the poor and compel them to go to market for their food (…)

The Editors Guild of India
PRESS STATEMENT
January 18th, 2023
The Editors Guild of India is deeply concerned by the draft amendment made to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY) that gives authority to the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to determine the veracity of news reports, and anything termed ‘fake’ will have to be taken down by online intermediaries, including social media platforms. The amendment was uploaded on the Ministry’s (…)

BOOK REVIEW
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The Rafale Deal-Flying Lies:
The Role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s Biggest Defence Scandal
by Ravi Nair & Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Publisher: Paranjoy
Pages:560
Price: Rs 795
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IN 1987, VP SINGH, the ruling party’s Rajya Sabha leader and a sitting minister (who had held powerful portfolios like finance and defence) in a popularly elected government went around pointing to a chit in his pocket. My parliament reporter friends used to (…)

Reviewed by KS Subramanian
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The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom by P Sainath
(Penguin India) 2022
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The book is dedicated to the author’s mother whose stories of freedom fighters including those of her father who spent years in British jails inspired him. The author’s grandfather was VV Giri who became President of India after its independence.
While at university, the author had learnt that almost all the major uprisings against the British had begun in the (…)

BOOK REVIEW
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1971, 1999 War Stories
by Air Commodore Nitin Sathe
Vitasta
Pages: 223; Price: Rs 525
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Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava survived Pakistani custody in the 1971 war because — believe it or not — he had a cricket coach who had helped him once play for the Ranji Trophy.
Bhargava was flying an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jet over Pakistan when it got hit by ground fire and he ejected using a parachute. He was captured after hitting the land.
“Dalle nu (…)

* China and India - as ’merchants of death’ | Sumanta Banerjee
* The Multi-Billion Dollar Sports Money Machine | Kobad Ghandy
* Destruction of Nature and Disneyfication of Himalayan Pilgimage Sites | Anon
* Ukraine: Letter on behalf of the trolleybus drivers of Kharkiv | Vitaliy

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Jan 14, 2023
Attacking Democracy Fashionable, After Assaults in Washington and Brasila, Where next?
The Presidential elections in Brazil of October 2, 2022 were very hotly contested. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a leading figure on the Left, did finally win the election getting 50.90 percent of the vote and the losing candidate, the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro representing the Far-Right camp getting a little over 49 percent. Both candidates had been (…)