New Jobs Not for Workers The never-ending growth stories still hang on the impact demonetisation and GST have had on the economy. Not only the political opposition, the economists in general are also questioning the rising figures of gross domestic product (GDP), while the central government continues to maintain that there was no adverse effect…
Instead of Defending India, the Raksha Mantri is Instigating Violence Within I have been thinking about the statement defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman made this week lamenting the presence of “anti-national elements” within the student community of her alma mater, Jawaharlal Nehru University. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced her…
Venezuelan Commune Activists Vow to ‘Take the Offensive’ Representatives of 74 communes—institutions of popular power elected from grassroots communal councils—from across Venezuela gathered in Lara state towards the end of August to participate in the inaugural National Assembly of Communes. The meeting of more than 300 commune activists was held to try to strengthen…
Freedom Movement, Savarkar and RSS The rise to dominance of the RSS in the political sphere has been accompanied by its claim of being most patriotic organisation and that it has contributed to nation building and to the freedom movement. It has also been trying to act as an aggressive judge, classifying people as patriots…
The Prophet Betrayed: Gandhi and Partition How is one to understand the attitude of Gandhi to the partition of India in 1947? Much like other facets of Gandhi’s politics, this too is nothing short of an enigma. Gandhi was the first to concede the idea of Pakistan in principle, soon after the demand was made…
It is heartening to note from recent media reports that the Indian government is unlikely to give approval to the highly hazardous technology of genetically modified mosquitoes or genetic control of mosquitoes. A recent front-page report in the Business Line (August 20, 2018) titled “Govt. may swat GM Mosquitoes” written by Rahul Wadke said, “The…
The invitation by the High Priest of Dawoodi Bohras, a Shia Muslim sub-sect, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address their religious congregation on 14 September 2018 on the occasion of Muharram, and the PM accepting the invite, can only be described as the theatre of absurd. Prime Minister Modi is the leader of a…
If Maoist Violence is Illegitimate, How is Hindutva Violence and State Violence Justified? There was major police action against Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varvara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on 28 August 2018. Before this, the police had arrested Professor Shoma Sen, Adocate Sudhir Gadling, Sudhir Dhawle, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson on 6…
Growth at 8.2%, Yet All Is Not Well India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown at a robust 8.2% in the first quarter of the current financial year, according to recently released official data. This is the highest in the last two years which has seen two shocks to the economy in the form of…
दिल्लीत सुरु असलेल्या शेतकरी आंदोलनाच्या पार्श्वभूमीवर या लहान पुस्तिकेचे प्रकाशन लोकायत मार्फत करण्यात आले आहे. शेतकरी आंदोलन आणि त्यातल्या मागण्या या केवळ शेतकऱ्यांपुरत्याच नसून विविध अंगांनी सर्व सामान्य जनतेच्या हिताच्या आहेत, याबाबत मांडणी करणारी ही पुस्तिका!