Tag: current affairs – India

DANIEL BLOCK: How the Facebook-Reliance combine and the farm laws pave the way for digital colonisation

In April 2020, Facebook purchased a 10-percent stake in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, the telecommunications arm of the Reliance empire. In addition to dominating telecom, Reliance is the largest player in petrochemicals and in retail. When its latest acquisition is complete, the company will control 40 percent – a large plurality – of India’s organised groceries sector. That could… Read More DANIEL BLOCK: How the Facebook-Reliance combine and the farm laws pave the way for digital colonisation

Dilip

Chitrangada Choudhury: In a passing, the larger picture of dispossession

Blaming ‘the system’ alone for Fr. Swamy’s death obscures how India’s political economy is linked to deprival. When an officer from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) came to interrogate Father Stan Swamy last monsoon, the Jesuit sociologist, then 83, in turn asked him about police integrity, and why a father-son duo (P. Jayaraj and Bennicks)… Read More Chitrangada Choudhury: In a passing, the larger picture of dispossession

Dilip

ASHUTOSH BHARDWAJ: Latest war cries against Naxals are absurd. Go visit Bastar, a war is already on

The most-quoted statement about the Naxal insurgency to demand an ‘all-out assault’ on the rebels, a statement that is again in currency following the recent Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, has come from a prime minister not really known for his assertiveness. But what complicates the irony are the events before Manmohan Singh termed Naxals the “single biggest internal security… Read More ASHUTOSH BHARDWAJ: Latest war cries against Naxals are absurd. Go visit Bastar, a war is already on

Dilip

MAHESH DONIA – Profit and Gloss Massive concealment of production and profits by aluminium giants

AT THE START of India’s struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aditya Birla Group and Vedanta Limited were among the first corporate donors to the PM CARES Fund—the emergency-relief fund helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which his government has shielded from all public scrutiny amid questions over how it has been managed and spent. Within… Read More MAHESH DONIA – Profit and Gloss Massive concealment of production and profits by aluminium giants

Dilip

Delhi violence: Court pulls up police for “callous and farcical” investigation, imposes Rs 25,000 as fine

A sessions court in Delhi on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the police in a case related to the violence in the national Capital in February 2020, Bar and Bench reported. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav of the Karkardooma Court said that the investigation carried out in the matter was “callous and farcical”. The court was… Read More Delhi violence: Court pulls up police for “callous and farcical” investigation, imposes Rs 25,000 as fine

Dilip

Former Civil Servants Bemoan 'Complete Breakdown' of Governance in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: A group of former civil servants has written an open letter condemning the ‘complete breakdown’ of governance and blatant violation of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh, saying the Yogi Adityanath government has “ushered in a model of governance which swerves further and further away from the values of the constitution and… Read More Former Civil Servants Bemoan 'Complete Breakdown' of Governance in Uttar Pradesh

Dilip

Farah Naqvi: Father Stan, UAPA and the Performative Solidarity of Politicians

“Stan Smith (84) passes away. The system sucks. UAPA. No bail. Little hope of early trial. Others too languish in jail. Lawyers , Academics , Social Activists ….raise their voices for the voiceless. They too are now “voiceless”. The State calls them “ terrorists,” Kapil Sibal, Congress MP, tweeted on July 5, 2021. Sibal got the name wrong.… Read More Farah Naqvi: Father Stan, UAPA and the Performative Solidarity of Politicians

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan – Rafale deal: Could French investigations turn up a Bofors?

A judicial probe has been ordered in France into the corruption surrounding the Rafale fighter jet deal with India. In India, the Supreme Court and the Comptroller and Auditor General have already given a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government in the deal. The Parquet National Financier (PNF) responsible for tracking down complex economic… Read More Bharat Bhushan – Rafale deal: Could French investigations turn up a Bofors?

Dilip

"I will probably die" – Express Editorial on Stan Swamy // A Requiem for Father Stan Swamy: Justice of the Supreme Court (Retd) Madan Lokur

“If justice perishes, human life on earth has lost its meaning” – Immanuel Kant “Once crime was as solitary as a cry of protest; now it is as universal as science. Yesterday it was put on trial; today it determines the law” – Albert Camus The death of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy in judicial custody Monday brings… Read More "I will probably die" – Express Editorial on Stan Swamy // A Requiem for Father Stan Swamy: Justice of the Supreme Court (Retd) Madan Lokur

Dilip