2024

The traffic signals are the major source of livelihood for transgender persons in Delhi. Apart from earning, they face various issues at such places.
In Delhi, millions of vehicles move on roads in different parts of the capital every day. A large chunk of the population of this city works in public and private offices, small and medium industrial units, shops, restaurants, etc. People in this city generally travel on their bikes, cars, public buses, cabs, and autos. All such vehicles move (…)

8 February 2024
In the midst of all the surcharged communal poisoning unleashed all around, last week there stood out one great heart-touching picture…Coming from Jammu, it showed a young Sikh gentleman rushing with an umbrella towards an elderly Muslim man offering namaaz along the roadside, unmoving even in the midst of a sudden downpour! I kept gazing at those visuals for minutes at a stretch. Even right now, just before starting to write this column I kept seeing those visuals. (…)

As is well known, Interim Budget / Vote on account is meant to seek authorization of Parliament to carry on spending on important schemes until the new government assumes office. But this is a pre-election document. It is not expected to make any major policy announcements though this is not strictly adhered to, The FM has seized the opportunity to showcase the achievements of the government since the BJP government came to power almost ten years ago.
Interim Budget was cast in the (…)

As India is a leading developing country there is considerable interest worldwide in its fiscal policy and budgets and any interesting ideas generated here attract much wider attention. To give just two examples, India’s ability to start a rural employment guarantee scheme (even though the guarantee part has not been implemented in the true spirit) and more recently to extend the free food grain rations started during COVID times for a further five years (even though nutrition problems (…)

Press Release 08 February 2024
Speaking on the 2024-25 interim budget CPI parliamentary party leader Binoy Viswam said in Rajya Sabha that apart from giving farce promises, the government has failed in making a productive and fruitful interim budget that targets the welfare of the people. He said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman is going on making guarantees akin to Narendra Modi. “The country has the right to ask the government what happened to the previous guarantees made by BJP (…)

Press Release 06 February 2024
CPI parliamentary party leader Binoy Viswam while speaking on the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment Bill), 2024 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment Bill) 2024 launched a frontal attack on Narendra Modi led BJP Government for its anti-tribal positions. The BJP government is controlled by the RSS, which believes in the ideology of Manuvad, said Viswam. BJP’s claims on tribal welfare are false and they exhibit a (…)

On the occasion of the birth centenary of Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924–17 February 1988), several programs have been organized at different parts of the country from January 2023 till now. But the coverage of those programs in the mainstream media was negligible. Information about those programs was available only on social media. Articles and comments discussing Karpoori Thakur’s personality, politics and ideology were also published on social media and in a few small magazines. As soon (…)

I am a casteless man. Those who oppose me are die-hard casteists.The Constitution provides for reservation for the educationally and socially backward. It has been implemented in several states. We have included the economically backward as well. This has not been done in other states. —Karpoori Thakur in an interview with Arul B. Louis, India Today, December 31, 1978
The real subaltern hero and one of the tallest legislators and the tallest chief minister of Bihar, Karpoori Thakur died an (…)

Food security remains a critical global concern, with accessibility to nutritious food still elusive for many. Significant challenges persist despite the United Nations’ ambitious target to provide food for everyone by 2030. The staple carbohydrates on which humanity heavily relies lack essential amino acids and minerals crucial for optimal nutrition. This deficiency in diet contributes to the prevalence of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. Millets, in (…)

[fond noir][blanc]SATIREblanc]fond noir] __0__
by L K Sharma
The Modi-devotees applauded the Jangpura Extension Residents Welfare Association for asking the Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar and his non-resident daughter to move out of the colony for hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindus. (Ms. Suranya Aiyar had provoked the RWA by going on a fast for communal harmony and expressing her views on Ayodhya’s new Ram Temple.) The RWA President got hundreds of bouquets and one (…)