By Dr. Gyan Pathak The four labour codes subsuming 29 labour laws that Modi government is vigorously pursuing to implement in the next fiscal 2022-23 are decidedly substandard, since it does not include a large number of standards that are already agreed by the international community. The codes primarily...
By Satyaki Chakraborty Leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro raced to an early big lead in the Honduran presidential election on Sunday November 28 positioning her to become the first female head of the Central American country. The wife of the former President Manuel Zelaya secured 53 per cent support...
By Sushil Kutty As Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray recuperated in hospital, recovering from a spine surgery, his three-legged Maha Vikas Aghadi government crept into its third year in power. It can be said, though, that the MVA dispensation could have done worse—it managed to stay afloat in the sea...
By Sagarneel Sinha The civic polls results of the state have provided the relief that the ruling party BJP, particularly chief minister Biplab Deb was looking for. Since the start of the election campaign, the civic polls have been marred by allegations of political violence. Even on the polling...
By Arun Kumar Shrivastav On Saturday, NITI Aayog released Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2021 that loudly claimed that Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh are the poorest among all Indian states. Bihar, in particular, topped most of the indices that represent the state in a negative light such as malnourishment....
By Matein Khalid Speculative manias in the financial markets invariably culminate in hysteria and greed run amok. So the 25 per cent fall in the $2.5 billion Paytm IPO, India’s celebrated fintech, could well be a cycle peak for the current zeitgeist, just as the busted IPO of Reliance...
By Andrew Kersley From conference speeches to multimillion-pound funds that have yet to materialize, we can’t stop hearing about “leveling up.” The British Conservative government’s flagship policy announced as part of its 2019 manifesto promised to redistribute wealth and jobs away from the capital and combat the widening level...
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Though the third wave of COVID-19 in India is delayed and experts say its severity would be much reduced compared to the first and second, if at all it strikes, we cannot afford any slackness in guarding ourselves. Scientists have just discovered a new more...
By K Raveendran Certain things grow on you without you even noticing it; it could be an emotion, an addiction or even a deadly disease like cancer. This has been the case with cryptocurrencies. Central banks, the very antithesis of cryptocurrencies, initially ignored its existence saying it was financial...
By Harihar Swarup The repeal of contentious farm laws is a significant moment and a major political defeat for the Prime Minister and his government. The government’s turnaround is all the more remarkable as it is unusual for the PM to backtrack from major policy decisions, even for instrumental...
By Sushil Kutty When Mamata Banerjee made nephew Abhishek Banerjee TMC’s general secretary in June of this year, they said she was following in the footsteps of ‘Behan’ Mayawati, who had appointed her brother to an important post in the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati, a spinster like Mamata, clarified...
By Rahil Nora Chopra In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that the decision to extend BSF’s jurisdiction in the state be withdrawn but the real game plan of Mamata is to unite the opposition parties and...
By Matein Khalid Brent crude is now down 11% to 73 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is now down a shocking 13% at 68. President Biden may wish to remember the old Persian proverb “do not wish for anything too badly. You may just get it”. Biden had green...
By Branko Marcetic Much of the press coverage of Cuba last week focused on the anti-government protests that didn’t eventuate. Less covered has been something of potentially greater global significance: its vaccination drive. After a dire twelve months, when a too hasty reopening sent the pandemic surging, deaths peaking,...
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Today, November 26, marks the one year of farmers’ historic struggle, with their numerous protests and rallies across the country that forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strategically retreat and announce the repeal of his three controversial farm laws on November 19, which he seemed...
By Sushil Kutty Ten gunmen, members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, carrying AK-47s and grenades, backpacks straining with dry-fruit. The 10 made a maritime entry into Mumbai, walking right through a waterfront village—pictures of curious villagers looking on surfaced later. At that time, on 26/11, the ’10’ were smiling and grinning,...
By Prabhat Patnaik Particular battles often have a significance that goes beyond the immediate context, of which even the combatants may not be fully aware at the time. One such was the Battle of Plassey, which was not even a battle since one side’s general had already been bribed...
By Subrata Majumder Make in India has lost steam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flaunted success stories from the rampart of Red Fort in the Independence Speech in 2019. Several attempts were made to rejuvenate Make in India, invoking major reforms like reduction in corporate taxes, land reforms at state...