India

First Amendment to the Indian Constitution: Is Nehru a hero or a villain?

Our present BJP-RSS rulers are trying overtime to change the Constitution of India in the interest of themselves and their party. They are trying to convince people that if Nehru can amend the Constitution within the first fifteen months of its adoption in the interest of his party, then why can’t they? Well, the constitution is not Shalgramshila (a solid[Read More...]

Unshackle the youth to realize a Republic

If we were to imagine our journey towards the 73rd Republic Day as a long, tiring and sometimes treacherous trek through the Himalayas, then looking back we can be proud that we managed to survive some dangerous terrain. The mountains were right at the beginning where we were air-dropped by the colonial powers, into the death-zone. The lack of adequate[Read More...]

Punjab Election and the farmers

History looks like repeating itself  like in the 2012 and 2017 elections where the central programme of farmers groups was attended by around 12-15000 persons., which I personally witnessed in Barnala and Bathinda.The tactic of active political campaign  proved correct with those calling for boycott or participating making negligible impact. It effectively raised the democratic political consciousness of the peasants[Read More...]

Hate is normal in India today, thanks to social media

The Indian ruling party, BJP, believes in using unscrupulous means to achieve and retain power. This includes instigating riots and achieving polarization by dividing people on religious and social lines. It also believes in the use of new technology to disseminate hate. Way back in 2005, it used short messages (SMS’s) in Assam to evict so-called “Bangladeshis” from Dibrugarh in[Read More...]

Rapidly growing economic inequalities in India

On January 16, 2022, Oxfam, a non-profit organization, released a report on the rapidly growing economic inequalities in the world ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The findings of the report on the rapidly growing economic inequalities in India show that the country’s wealth is being rapidly grabbed by billionaires and  the common man[Read More...]

Is The TAPI Pipeline Finally Ready To Go?

Zero Hedge | January 19, 2022 Submitted by James Durso, Managing Director of Corsair LLC, a supply chain consultancy. The Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline has been long aborning, but its prospects recently got a shot in the arm. The 1100-mile, $10 billion project has seen numerous delays since the pipeline consortium was announced in late 2014, […]

The Acquittal Of Kerala Bishop Is Best Example Of A Bad Judgement

It is good that an official appeal is to be filed against the judgement of the Additional Sessions Judge in Kerala exonerating Bishop Franco of all charges of multiple rape of a nun who was his subordinate. Hopefully, the appeal will lead to a restoration of justice and dignity to not only the complainant in this case, but also to[Read More...]

While acquitting Franco Mulakkal, trial court puts victim on trial

A reading of the elaborate 289-page judgment delivered by additional sessions judge, Kottayam, G Gopakumar, acquitting rape accused Franco Mulakkal, former Bishop of Jalandhar diocese, makes it seem that time has stood still since the infamous Mathura judgment in 1978 (Tukaram And Anr vs State Of Maharashtra, AIR 1979 SC 185), which triggered the women’s movement in India. In that[Read More...]

Promoting Amity in the Times of Hate

Last month has seen a series of incidents which are very disturbing, to say the least. They have been promoting hatred, promoting misogyny, targeting Muslim women and abusing the ‘Father of the nation’. Along with this we also came to know the immaculate investigation by The Wire, which tells us the frightening Tek Fog app capable of creating a storm[Read More...]

So, was the doubling of farmers’ income just another jumla?

Rhetoric not matched by budget allocations so far The government admitted in July 2019 in a reply in the Rajya Sabha that doubling of farmers’ income was not possible by 2022 at the current rate of growth in the agriculture sector, but added that it was trying to promote the growth of allied sectors to achieve the target. (see PTI[Read More...]