Bharat Bhushan One in four suicides in India is committed by a daily wage worker. Farmer suicides come way down the list, below the self-employed, salaried, unemployed, students, business and private sector suicides. Yet, unlike farmers, suicides by daily wagers do not grab media attention. Bharat Bhushan writes. On February 14, the Ministry of Labour… Read More Daily wage worker suicides unlikely to end soon
Between ageing populations, shifting attitudes and challenges to capitalist beliefs, workers have unprecedented power James Meadway As strikes and labour disputes surge around the world, we appear to be at the beginning of a period in which the balance of power in workplaces and labour markets swings in favour of workers, having long been skewed… Read More Covid reshaped the global labour market – these strikes are just the start
First posted April 06, 2020 George Russell Lakey (born 2 November 1937) is an activist, sociologist, and writer who added academic underpinning to the concept of nonviolent revolution. He also refined the practice of experiential training for activists which he calls “Direct Education”. A Quaker, he has co-founded and led numerous organizations and campaigns for justice and peace.” Emergencies… Read More George Lakey on Capitalism, public health and the Nordic model / Noam Chomsky nails the most overlooked element of the pandemic
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, said hard-pressed families were being treated like “cash machines” and would “rightly feel furious”. Calling for higher windfall taxes on oil and gas companies, he added: “As millions struggle to heat their homes and put food on the table, BP are laughing all the way to the… Read More British Petroleum scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn
Nesrine Malik According to Oxfam’s annual inequality report, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, the richest 1% of people have captured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world combined since the pandemic. Their fortune soared by $26tn, increasing their share of new wealth from 50% to two-thirds. The… Read More Look at how the world’s super-rich are doing now, and tell me the system isn’t rigged
P.V. RAMESH Medical education in India does not prepare doctors to effectively manage contemporary health challenges, let alone emerging ones. What we need is a comprehensive overhaul to align medical education with the needs of the country and the goal of universal healthcare. The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked unprecedented havoc on the lives and livelihoods of… Read More How’s India Doing in Medical Education for Universal Healthcare?
Renowned Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, who currently lives in Portugal with his Chinese wife and their child, sees China‘s reaction to the pandemic over the past three years as the “most stringent constraints on human behavior in Chinese history and in human history,” which are restricting human rights and personal autonomy, he told DW in an email interview.… Read More Ai Weiwei on China’s protests
Wilfred Chan Rose Tang was stunned when she saw videos last week of crowds in China chanting in Mandarin, “Give me liberty or give me death.” It was a phrase the Brooklyn resident had last heard more than three decades ago, when she was one of the student leaders at the pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.… Read More ‘Freedom in China is precious’: Tiananmen Square protest veteran salutes new generation
In 2020, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced one of the harshest Covid lockdowns in the world, causing nearly 200 million migrant labourers to be stranded without wages, food and housing. Many undertook long journeys to return to their home villages, while others, caught in limbo with their families, were forced to wait, living… Read More The Great Abandonment: the extraordinary exodus of India’s migrant labourers
By Laura He Internet users in China will soon be held liable for liking posts deemed illegal or harmful, sparking fears that the world’s second largest economy plans to control social media like never before. China’s internet watchdog is stepping up its regulation of cyberspace as authorities intensify their crackdown on online dissent amid growing public anger against the country’s… Read More China to punish internet users for ‘liking’ posts in crackdown after zero-Covid protests
After the truth-shower 