Madhu Sudan Chatterjee The word ’Sir’ in some areas of West Bengal represents officers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) who come to collect money from low-income families. If these families cannot pay, they are allegedly met with continued threats. In some ways, this was depicted in a 2017 movie by Nila Madhab Panda called ’Kadvi Hawa’.… Read More Microfinance Institutions in West Bengal: A Death Trap?
NB: This is an excellent portal for regular political/economic commentary on world affairs. This one has many essays on South Asia. The generalised implosion of political institutions is a symptom of the endemic unsustainability of global capitalism. Unfortunately this state of affairs will continue (ie the ruling establishments will carry on with their ‘austerity economics’; violent… Read More CADTM-Newsletter: Indian labourers, France’s mobilisations, Illegitimate debts, Vulture funds…
Pakistan is facing one of the worst economic and political crises at present. The political crisis is best manifested by the fact that almost half the members of the National Assembly (the lower house of the parliament) have resigned, while two of the four provincial parliaments were dissolved a year before the elections otherwise due… Read More Pakistan Collapsing
Whether defending human rights on an international stage, checking facts from the frontline, processing traumatic experiences over a lifetime, or even questioning the language you have spoken since childhood – all matter in the collective fight for justice. Eurozine Editorial – Sarah Waring Invading and absconding with children, indoctrinating them, destroying artefacts and literature, forcibly… Read More Breaking the cycle
“Past greatness and weep narrating it”. This verse by Solomos perfectly condenses and captures the feeling left – by enemies and friends alike – by this year’s 9 May parade in Moscow’s Red Square before Mr Putin and other members of his regime. Why? Because what distinguished this year’s parade was its desperate poverty compared… Read More Putin: from victory to victory until the final catastrophe!
Ankita Chakravarti If you swear by ChatGPT, you should know that ChatGPT is not always accurate. The AI models hallucinate and can present fiction like facts. As per a Reddit thread, a professor at a Texas university has failed his entire class after an AI tool falsely told him that the essays they submitted were… Read More Professor fails entire class after ChatGPT falsely told him that essays by students were written by AI
by Yorgos Mitralias At a time when those who declare, even among the French elites (!), that we are witnessing the emergence of a “new May 68” are multiplying, while noting that in the country now reigns …. “an insurrectional atmosphere”, one can now reasonably ask: to what extent does March 2023 resemble May 1968? [1]… Read More May 1968 – March 2023!
Laura Paddison, CNN More than half of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs have lost significant amounts of water over the last three decades, according to a new study, which pins the blame largely on climate change and excessive water use. Roughly one-quarter of the world’s population lives in the basin of a drying lake, according to the study… Read More Why the world’s largest lakes are shrinking dramatically
Alan Morinis In February, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, had expressed his great joy at the revival of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in the locality of Tribeni in Hooghly district, West Bengal. At the time, Modi said, “[D]o you know why it is so special? It is special, since this practice has been revived after… Read More Toxic agenda
Debayan Roy The Supreme Court Wednesday came down upon the Manipur High Court for its recent judgment which had called for inclusion of the Meetei/ Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list. The judgment had triggered violent clashes between tribal and non-tribal communities. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said… Read More Manipur Violence: SC pulls up Manipur High Court for judgment to include Meitei community in ST list
After the truth-shower 