India Under Modi: Shrinking Democracy, Growing Inequalities

Narendra Modi’s decade in power has seen an erosion of democracy alongside soaring inequality. While religious nationalism diverts public attention, the super-rich add to their wealth. Economic performance remains lacklustre, welfare spending stagnant, and authoritarian tactics silence dissent. Atul Kohli; Kanta Murali —Growing economic inequalities under Congress governments after 1991 fractured the party’s voter base,… Read More India Under Modi: Shrinking Democracy, Growing Inequalities

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How serial war became the American way of life (2009)

By David Bromwich Here’s part of the way that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently defended his decision to stop production of the F-22 Raptor, the U.S. Air Force’s giant boondoggle of a fighter jet. “Consider,” the secretary of defense said, “that by 2020, the United States is projected to have nearly 2,500 manned combat aircraft of all kinds. Of… Read More How serial war became the American way of life (2009)

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Gitanjali Angmo’s ‘surveillance’ raises question on personal freedoms of NSA detainee’s family members

Krishnadas Rajagopal Sonam Wangchuk’s wife told the Supreme Court that she was accompanied by security personnel, her meetings supervised, not allowed to meet anyone in Jodhpur and was ‘taken’ to the railway station, ‘constantly’ surveilled in Delhi, among other infringements of her ‘fundamental rights as a free citizen of India’ A complaint by Gitanjali Angmo,… Read More Gitanjali Angmo’s ‘surveillance’ raises question on personal freedoms of NSA detainee’s family members

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Stopping Francesca Orsini From Entering India is an Insult to the Very Concept and Culture of Knowledge

NB: Vishwaguru’s India: Thou shalt not think without prior clearance from the Headquarters of Truth, located in Nagpur. DS What happened to Orsini may appear, on the surface, to be an ordinary incident, but the signs it carries are deeply frightening. Yogesh Pratap Shekhar The morning after the festival of lights, Diwali, came news of… Read More Stopping Francesca Orsini From Entering India is an Insult to the Very Concept and Culture of Knowledge

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At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians had been held at notorious Israeli jail, say Gaza officials

Documents indicate they came from Sde Teiman, which already faces allegations of torture and unlawful deaths Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem and Seham Tantesh in Gaza At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel to Gaza had been held in a notorious detention centre already facing allegations of torture and unlawful deaths in custody, officials from Gaza’s health ministry… Read More At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians had been held at notorious Israeli jail, say Gaza officials

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Can the Humanities Be Saved?

How are professors hired or fired? It’s based on their knowledge productivity—this is how the idea of the “knowledge worker” and “knowledge economy” emerges. This is the thing that really interests me as a philosopher: that the gold standard, the epistemic norm is expertise; it’s no longer wisdom or something broader that everyone is thought… Read More Can the Humanities Be Saved?

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Ashutosh Bhardwaj: On Diwali, Ramayana show us the light

First posted October 26, 2019 Soon after Rama enters the aranya, Sita delivers a lecture on Kshatriya dharma. A rare instance.. when Sita advises her husband to be cautious… Sita warns that his use of force may damage the forest and his own reputation. Of three grave evils, she notes, two – the “habit of telling specious… Read More Ashutosh Bhardwaj: On Diwali, Ramayana show us the light

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Norman Finkelstein’s talk at UMass: Gaza, Truth & the Battle for Free Speech

The biggest insult to the memory of the Holocaust is not denying it, but using it as an excuse to justify the genocide of the Palestinian people – Norman Finkelstein Acclaimed scholar & author Norman Finkelstein delivered a powerful and defiant address at UMass, Amherst, on Sept. 24, 2025. Speaking before a packed audience, Finkelstein… Read More Norman Finkelstein’s talk at UMass: Gaza, Truth & the Battle for Free Speech

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In the Rush to Move On, Who Will Make Israel Face Its Moral Failures?

Israeli society is prepared to process the failures of Oct. 7 in technical terms – military intel, army, logistics – but refuses to confront its own moral blindness. This is where the ‘other Israel’ must step in Eran Rolnik “The other Germany” is a phrase that entered public discourse in Israel in the early 1950s,… Read More In the Rush to Move On, Who Will Make Israel Face Its Moral Failures?

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