2023

China and India, while fighting with each other over their borders, have however recently become partners as ‘merchants of death’ in the global arena. While China has been accused of giving birth to a chemical that caused Covid-19 and exporting it all over the world, India on a minor scale has been found to be exporting pharmaceuticals that have led to the death of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan.
The term ’merchants of death’ was originally used to describe the bankers and arms (…)

Governor of Tamilnadu R N Ravi had accepted the Government drafted text of his address to the Assembly and on 9th January 2022 while reading out that text, as mandated by the Article 176 of the Constitution, skipped a paragraph containing, among others, “secularism”, “Dravidan model of Governance” and names of illustrious leaders modern India such as Periyar, Ambedkar, K Kamraj and Karunanidhi. He also spoke something on his own and it was not part of the address. It is rather paradoxical (…)

Hindutva aggression is the new leitmotif of the Sangh parivar. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat has declared this. But as the election to the 18th Lok Sabha approaches a little over year from now, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had started showing signs of this aggression from early 2022.
For more than a year since the BJP imported a former socialist S.R. Bommai’s son Basvaraj Bommai to head their government in Karnataka, merely to appease the (…)

Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind. The idea of affirmative action and its implementation in post-colonial India as reservation policy and various policies and programmes have not been sufficient enough to accommodate the normative and ethical concerns of egalitarianism and social justice. —B R Ambedkar
EQUALITY AND (…)

During recent months a determined struggle by villagers in Zira area of Ferozepur district, Punjab, has been demanding the removal of a highly polluting factory to save the soil and water of their region. As a result of this pollution water and soil have been badly damaged and groundwater was found to be very contaminated. The recent crackdown of the police on protestors has only strengthened their resolve to fight this pollution, and following this some organizations of farmers have also (…)

Sports should be made an essential part of the curriculum in schools and colleges. Sports like football, hockey, athletics, badminton, table tennis, tennis, swimming, cycling, etc are dynamic and should be an essential part of the training of our youth but also a major source of entertainment for children and adolescents. In my youth there was nothing I enjoyed as much as playing badminton, tennis, table tennis or swimming and cycling. Of course football and hockey would be one of the best (…)

by K. Gireesan *
‘Freebie’ refers to a thing that is provided or given free of charge. It is one of the most sought-after things in the political system, especially when the country or its sub-regional units go for elections. Here is a modest attempt to examine the ‘psychology’ of Freebies rather than analysing the ‘economics’ or ‘politics’ behind it, by sharing an interesting experience noted from Lakshadweep.
I wish to deliberate upon certain basic aspects, before going to the (…)

by Nand L. Dhameja, Manish Dhameja, Ridhi Khattar *
The last decade has been tumultuous in Indian history, one is the demonetisation of higher currency notes i.e., Rs. 1000 & Rs. 2000 in November 2016; covet-19 pandemic is another. The latter, no doubt, resulted in lakhs of casualties, it had led to many new developments. Work from Home (HFM) concept has brought in new ways of doing things and new way of life, it has introduced newer work culture and newer teaching methodology.
WFH (…)

by Anonymous
With Joshimath sinking, the worst prophecies I have made in the past about our disastrous policies for the ‘development’ of the Himalayas are sadly coming true. Joshimath is just the beginning. While I have much to say about how as a government as well as a civil society we continue to treat the destruction of Himalayan ecology with total disregard, the case of Joshimath, Kedarnath, and Badrinath and other sacred destinations has a different dimension.
This is related to (…)

From jagged lightning furious sounds emerged, falling on the earth, in drops so huge, they transmuted the entire landscape; from which there was no escape.
They said the cracks were due to a tectonic shift and glacial debris; notwithstanding the frenzy, the earth who had long been held captive in silence, could not withstand the enormity of the violence.
She finally spoke, ‘You have invented the new Ma!’ ‘Who is that?’ I asked in awe, ‘The new Ma-chine! now watch the sheen of the (…)