Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic and political crisis has created new kinds of solidarities among citizens, as they try and help each other ride through fuel and food shortages in the absence of assistance or information from the government. Take the fuel queues that stretch for a kilometer or more outside petrol pumps in every direction, for example. Vehicles have to[Read More...]
[In Part One of this article, we examined the restrictions in extending Rs.50 lakh compensation to the next of kin of Covid-19 frontline warriors who died after contracting Covid-19 while on duty. In this second and concluding part, we will try to summarize the first-person accounts of some women health workers—mainly nurses and ASHA workers—on the extreme exploitative working conditions[Read More...]
“Whatever the government kept claiming, our income has not increased. Poverty has increased after the Covid pandemic. Yes, it is true that cheap food grains are still available from the government, but if you use up all the food, then you will not be able to pay the rent for the house, books for the children’s education and other expenses.[Read More...]
“Is beemari se bachne ke liye jo hamare dhaal hain jaise hamare doctor, swasthyakarmi, safai karmachari aur police aadi, unka samman karen, unhen sahyog den. In yoddhaon ki karo dekhbhaal to desh jeetega corona se har haal” [Translation: To save ourselves from this disease, those who are our armours…like our doctors, health workers, sanitation workers and police etc., respect them[Read More...]
In Maharashtra, it was first the uncertainty of the weather. Then followed the hailstorm and now it is the heavy rains that have spoiled the calculations of the state’s farmers. They had just sowed the Kharif crop when heavy rains hit and destroyed their hard work in a matter of a few days. To the extent that they may have[Read More...]
People following the 2022 Sri Lanka political-economy crisis will be able to decipher that the two are closely linked. Political eruptions in Sri Lanka since April have usually followed intense periods of economic shortages. In March there were crippling 12-hour power cuts, resulting in small demonstrations that culminated on 9 April when thousands gathered at the Galle Face Greens. This[Read More...]
Bhutnath Kumbhakar, a master terracotta craftsman, heard that an emergency situation had developed and so he would not be permitted go out of the campus. The nationwide lockdown started due to the Covid pandemic while he was working as a resident artist in the NSHM campus in Durgapur. He along with several other artists continued their work inside the campus.[Read More...]
Indiscriminate road building and hydropower projects are increasing the vulnerability of the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand to the impact of climate change that is manifesting in the form of cloud bursts and flash floods in recent years. With every passing year, both frequency and magnitude of the disasters is getting more severe. An example of how this is affecting the[Read More...]
As government efforts to contain it fails even in rich nations, the world’s hunger and livelihoods crisis is rapidly escalating into an emergency. Western leaders and media have been blaming Russia and the war in Ukraine for this unfolding catastrophe, but the facts say otherwise. A month ago, the Food and Work Network, a coalition of academics, community activists, and[Read More...]
While population and average wealth of residents grows in India’s metros, malnutrition and hunger too are spreading equally fast in their periphery. Mumbai, considered to be the country’s financial capital is a good example where the state legislative council was informed late last year that more than 4,000 children were found suffering from acute malnutrition. Women and Child Development[Read More...]
