By Nantoo Bnerjee NITI Aayog’s warning that India should rethink about joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) forum could not have come at a more appropriate time. The government’s key think-tank had reportedly argued, in a note on free trade agreements (FTAs) and their costs to highly...
By Gyan Pathak ‘Electrification’ of India was completed on April 28, 2018, according to a tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which claimed the government has ‘fulfilled a commitment’. However, the subsequent government clarifications revealed that there were several villages ‘not-electrified’ and electrification work was in progress. As...
By C.J. Atkins Marx is back. For his 200th birthday, the socialist revolutionary’s bearded image is popping up everywhere. Books, seminars, and conferences devoted to his legacy and enduring relevance abound across the capitalist world—from Brooklyn to London to Berlin—as well as in the countries which still declare...
By K Raveendran Conclusions of a global survey on jobs by Gallup are set to further embarrass the Modi government in the ‘pakoda’ debate. And the timing of the report provides least comfort to the government as its record in creating new jobs is facing scrutiny in an...
By Sitaram Yechury Marxism is unique in the sense that it can be transcended only when its agenda is realised; the agenda of realising a classless Communist social order. Specifically under capitalism, its understanding of capitalism is alone thorough enough for it to comprehend the historical possibilities that...
By Harihar Swarup The campaign in Karnataka Assembly elections has touched a new low with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi descending to personal level. Such a low level of campaign has never been before seen. In no-holds-barred attack on each other, neither Modi nor...
By Dr Arun Mitra Every year 6.3 crore people of our country are pushed below poverty line because of out of pocket expenditure on health. This fact is admitted by the National Health Policy document 2017. Nearly 67% of this expenditure is incurred on drugs. Therefore, it is...
By Barun Das Gupta Ignoring Washington’s frown, India has decided to turn to old and time-tested friend Russia to acquire state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf missile air defence system at a cost of about Rs. 40,000 crore. Washington is against the deal not only because it has imposed a sanction...
By Aditya Aamir One dare invites another. That is the order of dares. And the gods were no different. What, the challenge set to win the hands of Sita and Draupadi were itself dares! Then again, everybody worth a tongue and a slight to complain dares. Yellow-bellies walk...
By L S Herdenia BHOPAL: Kamal Nath’s visit to Bhopal and the mammoth reception he got opened a new chapter in the politics of Madhya Pradesh. The mature way he behaved has forced the ruling BJP to realise that the challenge was real and it can’t afford to...
By Sushil Kutty Chinese President for life Xi Jinping has given thumbs up to Marxism in China. But even he will admit that if the Chinese people don’t get their individual material needs, Marx will be out the window of Chinese history. And so shall Xi be. The...
By Robert Griffiths What forces shape today’s world and why? How can they be harnessed and directed in the interests of the people and our planet? In 2017, the majority of the world’s 150 biggest economic entities were giant capitalist corporations. The largest 25 were countries,...
By Rahil Nora Chopra As the BJP faces a formidable challenge in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 due to the Samajwadi Party-BSP tie-up, political observers are watching keenly what counter move BJP president Amit Shah has up his sleeve. As a first step the party is seen likely...
By Arun Srivastava The Karnataka BJP leaders have pinned their hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure defeat of the Congress. But the speeches of Modi have not enthused them much. Though they love his taunts and acerbic comments about Rahul, in private they question whether it...
By Pradeep Kapoor LUCKNOW: Enthused by the success in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, opposition parties are working on a formula to field joint candidates against BJP in Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpor Assembly by-elections due on May 28. The by-elections have been necessitated by the death of Hukum Singh...
By Aditya Aamir For quite a while, Arvind Panagariya was deputy chairman of Niti Aayog. That was his ‘job’. Then, he quit this job and moved on. That is what happens. Most people with jobs are always looking for another job. Call it the ‘restlessness of the job...
By Sushil Kutty Young Indian men are squabbling outside the Aligarh Muslim University campus over a portrait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the wall of the AMU Students’ Union office. It has so far not become one ‘helluva fight’. But it will if the portrait, removed from the...
By Sushil Kutty Finally, the day came for journalist Jey Dey to get justice. Mafia don and Dawood eyesore Chhota ‘Chindi’ Rajan got convicted along with 9 others while another journalist, alleged femme fatale and jealous professional Jigna Vora walked free. She was out on bail, so that...