2024

The greatest test these elections seem to spell is for the one who earlier never refrained from talking about his “56-inch chest” against whom his rivals bore no significance. Yes, this refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose political tone is no longer as confident as it was earlier this year and prior to preceding parliamentary elections, he won in 2014 and 2019. In fact, he had exuded confidence a few weeks ago while talking about his party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returning to (…)

Film actor Shatrughan Sinha and cricketer Kirti Azad are Trinamool’s candidates
May 10, 2024
Veterans of Trinamool Congress and BJP have locked horns in Burdwan-Durgapur-Asansol industrial belt of Bengal once the most go to place for a job seeking engineer or a manual labourer. A low voter turnout is not unlikely in these constituencies on May 13 -in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state. After years of cohabiting in the neighbourhood of closed Public Sector Units (PSUs) (…)

Political communication plays an important role in bridging a bond between a leader and the masses. In the 2024 election, one finds the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi who uses simple idioms to communicate with people. She brings the question of each life and its sufferings and then transforms their sufferings into political idioms where the crowd is keen on listening to her. She is able to put the ideology of the Congress party in simpler idioms. Rahul Gandhi is able to communicate party (…)

“The Leader principle, the stress on militarism, the doctrine of racial-cultural superiority, ultra-nationalism infused with religious idealism, the use of symbols of past greatness, the emphasis on national solidarity, the exclusion of religious or ethnic minorities from the nation concept-—all these features of the RSS are highly reminiscent of fascist movements in Europe.” —-Donald Smith, India As a Secular State, Oxford University Press,1963
Introduction
’It is time to impart (…)

Part 1: Is India Becoming a $5 Trillion Economy Soon?
In this three part series, we take a look at the economic situation in the country, in early 2024, in the context of the claims being made by the Modi Government regarding the state of the economy.
In Part 1 of this article series, we take a look at the claims being made about India becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy within the next few years.
The GDP Conundrum
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi famously envisioned that India (…)

Abstract
Here an attempt has been made to identify the most deprived /most vulnerable Village Panchayats in the State of Karnataka and recommends special assistance to these Panchayats from the Fifth Karnataka State Finance Commission. It’s crucial to identify and support these areas to ensure equitable development across the state. How does the Fifth Karnataka State Finance Commission plan to provide special assistance to these Panchayats?
Keywords: Karnataka, State Finance Commissions (…)

On the occasion of the 167th anniversary of the Rebellion of 1857
British rulers, historians, scholars, writers, and folklorists have referred to the Rebellion of 1857 that started from Meerut on 10 May 1857 by different names. This diversity of nomenclature reflects people’s different attitudes towards the Rebellion. In the War of the nomenclature, the Rebellion has been described with derogatory terms such as ’Ghadar’ by the Britishers on the one hand and ’India’s First War of (…)

On the occasion of Lenin’s 154th birth anniversary Lenin, and crisis in natural sciences and philosophy today
Anil Rajimwale
The discoveries in the natural sciences at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries led Lenin to write one of the most celebrated works in sciences and philosophy: Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. The immediate instigation for the work was the ‘split’ in the atom and the consequent intense debates among the scientists and the philosophers, as new particles (…)

May 8, 2024
Baby formula manufacturers have a history of aggressive marketing and exploiting women’s anxieties to wean them off breastfeeding.
There is a breastfeeding crisis unfolding in Indonesia that results in the deaths of thousands of toddlers and mothers each year.
Fewer mums are breastfeeding according to World Health Organization recommendations and this steep decline, combined with a surge in the use of commercially manufactured milk formula, is being blamed.
Data from the (…)

Fires spreading out across the hills of Uttarakhand yet there’s little of the expected hue and cry! Not even by those particular politicians who otherwise miss no opportunity talking of environment, having video films shot in and around tiger reserves… Today as fires rage across the hills of Uttarakhand, one can well imagine the plight of the tigers and rest of the animals (human beings included!), surviving in and around the Corbett Park belt and far beyond. Not to be overlooked this vital (…)