2025

The Sanchar Saathi is the latest episode in the saga of Indian digital governance. It showcases a big shift from welfare-oriented digital platforms to more structural forms of state surveillance. Concerns about constitutional accountability and citizen autonomy have been raised. Sanchar Saathi came up at a time when digital governance is slowly changing everyday interactions with the state. Most public services these days employ some form of identification or verification. The centre of (…)

A discussion is underway regarding the remarks made by former Chief Justice of India, B.R. Gavai, suggesting that the creamy layer principle should also apply to reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC). Such comments are nothing new. The argument that reservations should be based on economic criteria rather than caste has been made by upper castes for a very long time. Now, the fact that even Justice B.R. Gavai

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Baba Adhav passed away at the age of 96 on Monday December 8. As one of the most successful organizers of workers from poorest and largely unorganized sections of society Baba Advav became a legend in his lifetime. The inspirational impact of the struggles he led and motivated is very wide.
One of the important reasons for this success was his very high personal integrity and deep commitment to the cause of workers which has been admired (…)

This article is in two parts. Part One was published in the December 6 issue.

India

by Dr. Gyan Pathak
(India Press Agency, December 12, 2025) Only five months after the Union Government had boasted in July 2025 that India was among the world

The 11th session of the governing body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) held November 2025 in Lima, Peru attempted to handover all genetic resources of developing Southern nations to global seed agribusiness. Thanks to active resistance from united South this malicious attempt was temporarily thwarted.
Like water, air, soil and seeds are commons owned by community. Since the beginning of civilization and advent of farming, (…)

Palestine / 23 October 2025
A first hand account by Uri Weltmann on a day in the life of peace activists from Israel, travelling to help Palestinians in the West Bank harvest their olives under threat from settlers and soldiers
It is the olive harvest season. Palestinian communities are preparing for it, as they have for generations. This is not only economically vital, but also a practice rooted in their history, culture, and traditions.
However, not all Palestinian farmers can simply (…)

[ 9 Dec 2025]
The Left parties strongly condemn the attempts by the BJP and other Hindutva communal forces to whip up communal tensions in Tamil Nadu by manufacturing a controversy around the religious sites situated on Tirupparankundram Hill in Madurai district, with a sinister eye on political gain.
Tirupparankundram Hill is home to three temples, a dargah, and several ancient Jain caves. For centuries, this hill has stood as a symbol of communal harmony and peaceful coexistence. (…)