Modinomics = Falsonomics: Part I Prime Minister Modi has often claimed that the Indian economy during the past five years of his rule has transformed from one of world’s most fragile economies to the fastest growing economy in the world. Echoing him, the Finance Minister claimed in his 2019 budget speech: “We are the fastest…
Gender Audit of Union Budget 2019-2020 Introduction Women and girls face various forms of vulnerability throughout the life cycle. They may face discrimination before or after birth; violence, harassment or abuse; neglect due to dependence and lack of access to resources; social prejudice; and exploitation—whether economic, political, social or religious. They are vulnerable to…
Is India’s Democracy Being Sold Through Electoral Bonds? In response to the petition filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury before the Supreme Court with regards to the electoral bonds, the BJP-led central government said in an affidavit that the decision to issue electoral bonds would promote transparency in funding and…
Tosepan: Resistance and Renewal in Mexico Since the mid-1980s, Mexico has been a poster child for globalisation. Through free trade treaties and structural adjustment policies imposed by international financial institutions, the country has been “liberalised”—opened up to unfettered corporate investment and imports— to an extent matched by few other countries. Though the North American Free Trade…
Raghuram Rajan Says Capitalism is ‘Under Serious Threat’ Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday warned that capitalism is under “serious threat” of a “revolt” as the economic and political system has stopped providing for the people, especially after the 2008 global financial meltdown. Mr. Rajan, now a professor at the University of Chicago,…
Current Threats to the Constitution This is the text of the Krishna Bharadwaj Memorial Lecture, delivered by Prashant Bhushan at Jawaharlal Nehru University on March 14, 2019. Sixty nine years ago, we framed a constitution and founded a republic. The foundations of this republic are a democratically governed society with various fundamental rights guaranteed…
The People of Palestine Are on the March The bombs start again. Israel, as if on a timer, begins to pulverise Gaza. The bombs strike from one end of the country to another, a warning against the protests that have been ongoing for a year. There is a shudder from Gaza, phone calls to friends…
Modinomics = Falsonomics: Part II It is not just GDP data that the government is fudging. It is fudging or is blocking the publication of every kind of data related to the functioning of the economy that shows that the economy is not doing well and which therefore puts the BJP in a bad light….
And Now, It’s Lohia’s Turn! 23rd March is Dr. Rammanohar Lohia’s birthday. But it is said that he did not want people to celebrate the day because it was on this day that the revolutionaries—Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were executed by the British government. So most of his admirers and Indian socialists celebrate Lohia…
Might is Right Letters to Editor When Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State of the United States of America expresses hope that India will not buy oil from Venezuela, in diplomatic terms the ‘hope’ has to be understood as ‘warning’. The situation in Venezuela, created by the US and nurtured by the so-called civilized…
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!