As the dead pile up in Gujarat, the state’s media is on a warpath with the government over Covid-19 // Soutik Biswas: How India failed to prevent a deadly second wave

On Tuesday, as the second wave of Covid-19 continued surging across India, Gujarat reported 6,690 new cases and 67 deaths across the state – the highest single-day tallies since the start of the pandemic last year. These official figures are grim in themselves, but the reality on the ground is much, much worse, video footage, news… Read More As the dead pile up in Gujarat, the state’s media is on a warpath with the government over Covid-19 // Soutik Biswas: How India failed to prevent a deadly second wave

Dilip

NAPM – Condemn Arbitrary Raids on Activists’ Homes in AP and Telangana

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) condemns in the strongest possible terms the high-handed manner of ‘raids’ by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) at the homes of over 16 activists of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, acting on dubious FIRs registered a couple of months back. We express our solidarity with all these activists and advocates… Read More NAPM – Condemn Arbitrary Raids on Activists’ Homes in AP and Telangana

Dilip

Concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% // The evolution of wealth inequalities over the last two centuries

Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an indispensable book for anyone interested in learning more about the unequal distribution of wealth in the world today. As I read this major 950-page study, which is supplemented by a large amount of statistical data and tables available on Internet), it became obvious that the Occupy Wall Street movement… Read More Concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% // The evolution of wealth inequalities over the last two centuries

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Fixing India's global image

NB: Our establishment is more concerned about India’s image than about the reality of Indian life, the reality of shambolic mis-governance. Incidentally, the word image – a favourite with our media and politicians, means appearance, a perception, something other than the reality. Why are we so bothered about our ‘image’? Why not change social reality rather than… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Fixing India's global image

Dilip

RUCHI KUMAR: In India’s Bohra community, a battle over genital mutilation

The woman took Johari and lifted her frock while her mother held her down on a mattress on the floor; minutes later her clitoral hood had been cut, in accordance with the ancient tradition of khafz, or female genital cutting (FGC). “I was in a lot of pain and I remember crying inconsolably,” says Johari,… Read More RUCHI KUMAR: In India’s Bohra community, a battle over genital mutilation

Dilip

Simon Jenkins: What did 20 years of western intervention in Afghanistan achieve? Ruination

Twenty years ago the United States decided to relieve its 9/11 agony not just by blasting Osama bin Laden’s base in the Afghan mountains, but by toppling the entire Afghan regime. This was despite young Taliban moderates declaring Bin Laden an “unwelcome guest” and the regime demanding he leave. The US then decided not just to… Read More Simon Jenkins: What did 20 years of western intervention in Afghanistan achieve? Ruination

Dilip

John Palattella – Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times

Very few among us can crawl or climb to the depths and heights of deep time…  And so today, when there is no snow on the ground, I am thinking again about icebergs. Along with the work of Bishop, Stevens and several contemporary poets, I’ve often turned to Underland during the past year as an alternative to… Read More John Palattella – Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times

Dilip

TOM ENGELHARDT: The United States as a Mass-Killing Machine / Ioan Grillo: US-made guns are ripping Central America apart and driving migration

On this planet of ours, America is the emperor of weaponry, even if in ways we normally tend not to put together. There’s really no question about it. The all-American powers-that-be and the arms makers that go with them dream up, produce, and sell weaponry, domestically and internationally, in an unmatched fashion. You’ll undoubtedly be… Read More TOM ENGELHARDT: The United States as a Mass-Killing Machine / Ioan Grillo: US-made guns are ripping Central America apart and driving migration

Dilip