Venezuela Defines the Future of the Region

Venezuela Defines the Future of the Region

Venezuela Defines the Future of the Region Guaidó’s self-proclamation as Venezuelan president is the most ridiculous and dangerous coup attempt in recent years. With the shameless backing of Washington, the Venezuelan rightwing intends to place a complete stranger at the helm of the state.   This time around, the starting signal was neither a terrorist…

Imran Khan and Minorities in Pakistan and India

Imran Khan and Minorities in Pakistan and India

Imran Khan and Minorities in Pakistan and India Imran Khan, the Prime Minster of Pakistan, seems to be unaware of the trajectory of state of minorities in Pakistan. While addressing a ceremony, Khan stated that his government would ensure that minorities in Pakistan get equal status and rights. Good intentions! At the same time he…

Remembering Kaifi Azmi

Remembering Kaifi Azmi

Remembering Kaifi Azmi This is the centenary year of the indefatigable poet-activist, Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002). ‘I was born in a slave India,grew up in an Independent India and would like to die in a Socialist India’ was his dream. Unfortunately, when he died, the socialist / left movement in the country was on a downswing,…

Terrifying Assessment of a Himalayan Melting

Terrifying Assessment of a Himalayan Melting

Terrifying Assessment of a Himalayan Melting While the global media’s attention is on the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and eastern Antarctica, a landmark report released this week shows that the Himalaya will face catastrophic meltdown during this century if there is no immediate effort to reduce the world’s carbon emissions.   The voluminous 627-page…

A New Temple, a New Mosque

A New Temple, a New Mosque

A New Temple, a New Mosque Even as a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court seems ready to hear the case about the Ayodhya site where the Babri mosque (said to have been built in the 1520s) stood until its demolition in December 1992, the central government has asked the Court to release from its…

Modi’s Startling Pre-Election Budget, Massaged by Creative Accounting

Modi’s Startling Pre-Election Budget, Massaged by Creative Accounting

Modi’s Startling Pre-Election Budget, Massaged by Creative Accounting Let’s get one thing clear. This is not an interim Budget, whatever the government finally agreed to call it. The sweeping promises made on both expenditure and taxation fronts are well beyond the limited minor changes that are supposed to be allowed in a vote-on-account or interim…

Budget 2019: Neither Interim, nor Substantial

Budget 2019: Neither Interim, nor Substantial

Budget 2019: Neither Interim, nor Substantial In a pre-election budget speech filled with propaganda about the supposed developmental achievements of the Narendra Modi government, acting finance minister Piyush Goyal read out a text that both window-dressed the revised estimates and violated all norms that should apply to an interim Budget.   Even while engaged in…