By S. Sethuraman The stakes are so high for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deny the Congress, his arch-enemy, a second successive term in Karnataka – the only Southern state within the saffron grasp, if Kannadigas fall for his tantrums all the way. If the Modi vituperative...
Aditya Aamir The hunt for the ‘real core Hindu’ is on. Somebody ‘right’ asked the other day: ‘Will the real core Hindu please stand up?’ So far nobody has stood up. Resident Indian National Congress leader in Pakistan Mani Shankar Aiyar is not ‘real core Hindu’. He told...
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Campaigning for the Chengannur Assembly by-election has slipped into top gear with the polling date less than three weeks away. The by-election has been necessitated by the death of sitting MLA K K Ramachandran Nair of the CPI(M). The constituency is...
By Sushil Kutty A journalist friend got a gift a decade ago – an Emporio-Armani wrist watch which went round his wrist like a dream. One evening it went flying off his wrist into the four-deep raucous crowd lined up around the dance floor at the neighbourhood...
By Conor McCarthy Two hundred years have passed since the birth of Karl Marx. Few historical figures of any kind have been so influential ‑ surely no thinker has. Yet many now would dismiss his ideas as outdated, as flawed, as tending towards totalitarianism. Why should we remember...
By Aditya Aamir ‘Could Mayawati be the next PM?’ NDTV tweeted Sunday after Dr Pronoy Roy asked the question to Mayawati at a JD(S) rally in Karnataka. The BSP supremo smiled. Two JD(S) leaders on the stage with Mayawati smiled. Close Up it looked like a Colgate commercial!...
By K R Sudhaman A humongous problem that is being brushed under the carpet in India is the grave sickness in the banking industry, particularly the public sector banks. In fact, the banking scam is far bigger and widespread than coal scam or 2G spectrum scam. Diamond merchant...
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...