In the past year, Roc Sandford has left the tiny Scottish island which is his off-grid home only once, to get a Covid vaccination. The rest of the time he has been alone with the birds, sheep and open skies. His days are busy but evenings can be lonely; cooking for one is “very sad”,… Read More Harriet Sherwood: The man orchestrating climate protest … from a shed in the Hebrides
NB: God bless you RamKaran ji. Om Shanti. RamKaran Mishra is a Hindu priest who performs the last rites at the Ghazipur crematorium in east Delhi, on the frontline of India’s Covid crisis. He’s been cremating up to 150 bodies day after day, working long hours into the night. With no end in sight,… Read More The Hindu priest struggling to cremate India’s Covid dead – video
90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the German concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she fought Hitler’s Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. For 74 years, she has refused to step foot in Germany, but that changes when a young history student named Lucie enters… Read More Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism – Oscars 2021 Short Documentary Winner
NB: There is another comment on the recent election in the same portal, by Ashutosh, which avers that the RSS will be happy with Mamata’s victory because it wants to Hinduise Indian political culture. This is how he puts it: “Modi and BJP are political entities. Their endgame is winning elections, forming governments. But for… Read More Swati Chaturvedi: It Was BJP Who Made It Mamata vs Modi. Too Far
Recently the former District Communication Chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for Delhi tweeted “There is fire everywhere in Delhi, has any Dilliwala seen BJP Delhi? Where is BJP4Delhi? Or is the state body dissolved?” Rajendra Tuli’s question could as well be put to the BJP and its leaders, generally missing from the fight… Read More Bharat Bhushan – Covid-19 drugs: Eager beavers of BJP play God
यदचेतनोऽपि पादै: स्पृष्ट: प्रज्वलति सवितुरिनकान्त: तत्तेजस्वी पुरुष: परकृतनिकृतिं कथं सहते yad acetano ‘pi pādaiḥ spṛṣṭaḥ prajvalati savitur inakāntaḥ tat tejasvī puruṣaḥ parakṛtanikṛtiṃ kathaṃ sahate Even an inert crystal blazes with heat when touched by the sun’s rays. So how can brilliant people stand idly by when others commit atrocities? – Bhartrihari (5th century CE, translated… Read More Public Appeal by Hindus for Human Rights, USA
England is due to host the next football World Cup, and in preparation for this most prestigious of sporting events, the stadium in Wembley has undergone a makeover. The refurbished stadium is ready a year before the tournament is scheduled to kick off. The Football Association’s chief executive boasts that this is now the largest… Read More Ramachandra Guha: The unmaking of India
NB: Today is International Labour Day, May 1, 2021. As a tribute to India’s workers, I post a chapter from my monograph on the history of the labour movement in Jharkhand during the 1930’s. It was titled The Politics of Labour Under Late Colonialism: Workers,Unions, and the State in Chota Nagpur, 1928-1939. The ongoing kisan struggle has… Read More 1938: the year Indian workers fought for themselves
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A forum of scientific advisers set up by the government warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters. Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the federal… Read More Devjyot Ghoshal, Krishna Das. Exclusive: Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge // Kapil Komireddi: Modi Fiddles While India Burns
It is time to liberate our media systems from the political and economic forces that have long subtly controlled them Monday will mark World Press Freedom Day. It’s a moment to celebrate the work that journalism does in holding power to account. It’s also a moment to raise awareness of the dangers facing journalists in… Read More Dan Hind – 1400 journalists have been murdered since 1991: Rewrite journalism to achieve press freedom
