By Nabeela Jamil The case of demolitions, first and foremost, is a case of State and societal apathy. One central question that is missing from most discussions is why these people ‘occupying’ the ‘illegal encroachments’ to be demolished had to live as they did, to begin with? Why do...
By Hugo Guzman No-one dares to say with any certainty what will be the result of the plebiscite on September 4 to approve or reject the new constitution of Chile. Despite the fact that in last year’s consultation, 79 per cent of Chileans voted in favour of a new...
By C.J. Atkins BERLIN: “It’s going to be a choice many of us will have to face when winter comes: freeze or starve.” So says Günter Pohl, a glassworker from the the town of Sprockhövel in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region. “The sanctions are supposedly targeting Russia, but they’re hitting...
By Nantoo Banerjee It is good to know that Russia and India are in an advanced stage of discussion on accepting each other’s debit and credit cards. Should the two countries agree, Indian ATMs (automated teller machines) will soon accept Russian MIR cards. And, Indian RuPay cards will be...
By Sushil Kutty “Towers of corruption demolished”, the shrill voice rising above the plumes of billowing dust. Somebody called it “spectacle demolition”, no less symbolic than the 1992 demolition of a 500-year-old mosque. The voice had its roots in Uttar Pradesh. The Supertech Twin Towers of corruption were brought...
By Arun Srivastava Next month September will bring about a major turnaround in Indian polity with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar determined to launch the colossal task of bringing together the opposition parties on one common platform amidst the scenario of perverse failure of Modi-Shah design to keep him confined ...
By Dr. Arun Mitra The war between Russia and Ukraine with an overt involvement of the NATO has killed thousands, pushed millions to refugee status and caused immense destruction of resources. Much in danger are the nuclear power plants in Ukraine which if damaged by intentional attack, accident, technology...
By Ashis Biswas With Nepal disallowing the Indian Army’s proposal to recruit Gorkhas to join its new Agneepath scheme, India’s uneasy relations with its regional neighbours have surfaced again. Under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, often perceived as being ‘right wing’, India cannot apparently avoid its diplomatic missteps in...
By Sankar Ray Pakistan is currently devastated by an unprecedented floods leading to the death of more than 1,000 persons till now. The struggling coalition of government of Shabaz Sharif is desperately trying to meet the challenge of this sudden natural calamity which has further given a jolt to...
By Mindy Isser While there are plenty of important primary elections happening now, and even bigger general elections happening in the fall, Senator Bernie Sanders’s rallies in Philadelphia and Boston earlier this month were focused on something entirely different: the struggles of the working class and the importance of...
By K Raveendran The sudden twist in the Supreme Court stand on the confidentiality of the report of the expert committee that probed the use of Pegasus spyware to snoop on politicians and people in public life has added more mystery to the imbroglio. The decision to keep the...
By Sushil Kutty In the mid-1990s, Ghulam Nabi Azad used to talk to journalists who had just then taken to television journalism. Azad was those days a top voice for the Congress and much sought after by journalists. Note that none of the then “TV reporters” were live to...
By James M Dorsey At first glance, a potential bid by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two of the world’s worst human rights violators, together with Greece, to host the 2030 World Cup sounds like an invitation to a perfect public relations fiasco. That is undoubtedly true if one looks...
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Two-day National Labour Conference of labour ministers and labour secretaries of states and UTs concluded at Tirupati on August 26 which almost evaded the real issues against which the Joint Platform of the 10 Central Trade Unions have been agitating since 2019 when the Modi...
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing Governor-Government standoff, the fishermen’s agitation against the Vizhinjam international seaport and the Lok Ayukta imbroglio have roiled Kerala politics as never before, deepening the confrontationist ambience. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has further upped the ante by refusing to meet political staff of the...
By Harihar Swarup In 2008, an Indian author (proper Indian, not just Indian-origin) won the Booker prize. Usually, this prestigious international literary award comes with an exaggerated sense of adulation. Not so, for Arvind Adiga’s the White Tiger. In reviews, essays and the quite supercilious conversations at parties of...
By Dr. Gyan Pathak It was only last month in the first week of July, the leader of the opposition BJP in neighbouring West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari revealed his party’s gameplan after the successful Maharashtra experience to form government in Jharkhand. The BJP leadership had already started the “Operation...
By Sushil Kutty There is no hard and fast rule that says the son should be like father. Otherwise, Aurangzeb would not have taken his own ship to the horizon after sinking Shahjahan’s luxury yacht. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is accused of dumping his father’s socialism for BJP’s...