UK government is losing face on strikes; and millions of votes

Polly Toynbee This is deeply embarrassing. Today the Fire Brigades Union called off its planned strikes after being offered 7% for this year backdated, plus 5% next year, by the National Joint Council that negotiates for local authorities. Its members have yet to agree, but council workers settled for a similar deal because local authorities jointly are free to… Read More UK government is losing face on strikes; and millions of votes

A masterclass in blame avoidance

Bharat Bhushan Narendra Modi’s blame avoidance has been made possible not only by his oratorical skills, but by televised proceedings of Parliament. Live-streaming allows soap-box oratory to supplant accountability Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to address in Parliament the controversies and allegations surrounding businessman Gautam Adani’s meteoric rise and, now, his perceptible decline. By removing… Read More A masterclass in blame avoidance

Kingdom of God: Iran frees dissident Farhad Meysami after photos of his emaciated condition cause outrage online

NB: The Iranian theocracy is brutal, mindless and emblematic of the evil of authoritarian regimes the world over. DS An Iranian doctor and rights activist has been released from Tehran’s infamous Evin prison one week after photographs of his severely emaciated condition emerged on social media. Farhad Meysami was released from prison on Friday, according… Read More Kingdom of God: Iran frees dissident Farhad Meysami after photos of his emaciated condition cause outrage online

You saw a new Rahul Gandhi in Parliament. I saw the change in Kashmir

YOGENDRA YADAV This week the country saw a new Rahul Gandhi. Unlike his solo and strident attack on the Rafale scam before the 2019 Lok sabha election, his interrogation of PM Narendra Modi’s complicity in the Adani affair was at once sharper and calmer. This was not a piece of classical oratory. But he took… Read More You saw a new Rahul Gandhi in Parliament. I saw the change in Kashmir

Here are SC, HC judges with political pasts. Gowri’s unconstitutional views were the problem

RAJU RAMACHANDRAN The recent controversy over the appointment of advocate L Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court has raised the question as to whether people with political allegiances should be made judges. Disclosure: The author led the team of lawyers who challenged Gowri’s appointment before the Supreme Court. The challenge was not… Read More Here are SC, HC judges with political pasts. Gowri’s unconstitutional views were the problem

Living for Pleasure by Emily Austin: an Epicurean guide to happiness

A timely guide to the Greek philosopher – and rival to the Stoics – who saw freedom from anxiety as the ultimate goal Julian Baggini Epicurus’s distinctive feature is his insistence that pleasure is the source of all happiness and is the only truly good thing. Hence the modern use of “epicurean” to mean gourmand.… Read More Living for Pleasure by Emily Austin: an Epicurean guide to happiness

Assam’s ‘hargila army’: how 10,000 women saved India’s rarest stork

Today the greater adjutant is endangered, with fewer than 1,200 adult birds in its last strongholds – the Indian states of Assam and Bihar, and Cambodia. Most of the global population is found in Assam, making Barman and the hargila army’s work critical to its survival. Indian conservationist Purnima Devi Barman transformed attitudes to the bird –… Read More Assam’s ‘hargila army’: how 10,000 women saved India’s rarest stork