Tag: critical commentary

Shyam Saran: If Modi really sees India as a democracy, then he must stop the labelling exercise / Sukhbir Badal says BJP is ‘real tukde tukde gang, has smashed national unity’

At the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the country’s new Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that in a vibrant democracy like India, there was room for differences, but not disconnect. This is a welcome acknowledgement of the Argumentative Indian who loves debate, who is curious about the world around them and is open to… Read More Shyam Saran: If Modi really sees India as a democracy, then he must stop the labelling exercise / Sukhbir Badal says BJP is ‘real tukde tukde gang, has smashed national unity’

Dilip

Discussion on Indian Agriculture and the ongoing Kisan agitation

NB: Here are some observations which I have received from friends (or passed on by them) on Indian agriculture. The observations have been provoked by the current farmer agitation. The comments are placed in the order I received them. Some are in the public domain, and helped spark off the debate. Five of these are listed… Read More Discussion on Indian Agriculture and the ongoing Kisan agitation

Dilip

Jonathan Freedland – The magnifying glass: how Covid revealed the truth about our world

The pandemic has illuminated deprivation, inequalities and political unrest, while reminding us of the power and beauty of nature and humanity..  A fitting symbol of this global pandemic would be a magnifying glass. For while the virus ended and upended so many lives, and spawned a whole new vocabulary – social distancing, furlough, herd immunity,… Read More Jonathan Freedland – The magnifying glass: how Covid revealed the truth about our world

Dilip

STATE OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA REPORT 2020. By the Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies

This report is an attempt to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of the state of contemporary rural India. It focuses on the key structural factors, especially policies and trends, that have marked rural India’s economic and ecological conditions. Through this report we wish to share alternative ideas, paradigms and methodologies to address these entrenched… Read More STATE OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA REPORT 2020. By the Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies

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P. Sainath: Did You Think the New Laws Were Only About the Farmers? // SCBA president says farm laws 'unconstitutional', offers free services as lawyer to agitating farmers

“No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Central Government or the State Government, or any officer of the Central Government or the State Government or any other person in respect of anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or of any rules or… Read More P. Sainath: Did You Think the New Laws Were Only About the Farmers? // SCBA president says farm laws 'unconstitutional', offers free services as lawyer to agitating farmers

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Amandeep Sandhu on Arthiyas – extract from PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines

PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines   One of the biggest argument the government is putting forth for new Farm Laws is that it will eliminate middle-men. These middle-men, per the government are the arthiya – the commission agent and money-lender. The Farmer Unions are defining the arthiyas as ‘service providers’. Here is a peek from my book… Read More Amandeep Sandhu on Arthiyas – extract from PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines

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Why should Indian agriculture be liberalised when in most countries governments subsidise it? By Christophe Jaffrelot , Hemal Thakker

On September 27, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to three contentious farm bills passed by Parliament — The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (FAPAFS), the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (FPTC) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 (EC). These… Read More Why should Indian agriculture be liberalised when in most countries governments subsidise it? By Christophe Jaffrelot , Hemal Thakker

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Matthew Rozsa: This Marxist philosopher foresaw the rise of Trumpism more than 80 years ago

His name was Walter Benjamin; born to a Jewish family in Berlin, Benjamin was present for a pivotal moment in history, and watched Hitler rise to power. By the time he wrote his most famous essay, he was an exile living in France amidst financial hardships, having recognized that the Reichstag fire three years earlier… Read More Matthew Rozsa: This Marxist philosopher foresaw the rise of Trumpism more than 80 years ago

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Tom Engelhardt: The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire Or What It Means to Fall on a Failing Planet

As in Election Campaign 2016, Donald Trump isn’t the cause but a symptom (though what a symptom!) of an American world going down. Then as now, he somehow gathered into his one-and-only self so many of the worst impulses of a country that, in this century, found itself eternally at war not just with Afghans… Read More Tom Engelhardt: The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire Or What It Means to Fall on a Failing Planet

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