Gandhi and Savarkar: Falsifying History

THE Indian Express, October 13, 2021, tells us that Rajnath Singh, the Indian defence minister, has claimed that “A lot of falsehood was spread against Savarkar. It was repeatedly said that he filed multiple mercy petitions before the British government. The truth is he did not file these petitions for his release. Generally a prisoner has right to file a mercy petition. Mahatma Gandhi had asked that you file a mercy petition. It was on Gandhi’s suggestion that he filed a mercy petition. And Mahatma Gandhi had appealed that Savarkar ji should be released.

Restore Inter-State Migrant Workers Act

DURING the pandemic when the plight and sufferings of migrant workers had turned into the greatest human disaster, the Modi regime has, without any remorse, repealed the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 (ISMW Act, 1979) by “amalgamating” it with the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSHWC Code).

Petrol/Diesel & Cooking Gas: Modi’s Weapons of Mass Loot

COOKING gas (LPG) cylinder prices were jacked up again a week back. Average price across four metros of the usual 14.2 kg cylinder is now an astonishing Rs906.38. One year ago, in October 2020, the cylinder’s average price was Rs604.63. This is data for Indane gas, as recorded in the website of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), a government undertaking.So, in just one year, its price has zoomed up by Rs301.75.

Federalism and Economic Justice

THE Goods and Services Taxation regime is antithetical to the very idea of cooperative federalism. The rightwing is conducting an all-out campaign to impose one tax across the country ignoring the need for diversity and local autonomy.The report submitted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission points out that in the year 2018-19, 62.7 per cent of the total tax revenue is collected by the union government.

SBM 2.0, Sequel of Failure of 1.0

ON October 1st – a day before the Gandhi Jayanti – the prime minister made a big announcement. The flagship and the equally lauded - critiqued central government programme: Swachh Bharat Mission will now have a sequel. The prime minister said that with the Swachh Bharat 2.0 Mission, his government aims to make the “urban areas garbage-free”.

Patents and Price of Covid Vaccines

THE corporate media also had to note the beating that PM Modi’s and BJP’s image got due to failure in management/mismanagement of Covid-19 pandemic; bringing in stark reality the absence of public healthcare infrastructure both in urban and rural India; lack of equipment, oxygen and medicines and healthcare personnel; and lakhs of counted and uncounted deaths as aptly penned by ParulKhakkar in Shab-Bahini Ganga and the king becoming ‘Nanga’.Realising this opposite under-current prior to four states assembly elections coming within few months, BJP launched a high profile ca

National Monetisation Pipeline and Forest Regulation

THE ministry of environment, forests and climate change, government of India has recently circulated a proposed ‘Public Consultation Paper on Proposed Amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980’ (hereafter FCA) on October 2, 2021.

On Caste Census

THE central government in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on September 23, stated that it is not possible to carry out caste census in the 2021 census operation. It also made it clear that this was a ‘conscious policy decision’. The reasons advanced by the central government for its rejection of the widely supported demand for conducting caste census as a part of the general census are flimsy and trivial.

Recent IP Regime Review by Parliament

THE process of India’s public engagement with the intellectual property (IP) regime including Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is a matter of worldwide interest. With the latest development on the front of public engagement with IP policy and strategy it is apparent that India stands on the verge of abandoning its opposition to the imposition of strong IP on the people of this country.

The Visva Bharati Fiasco: A Struggle to Protect Tagore’s Ideas

"Where the mind is without fearand the head is held high...where the mind is led forward by theeinto ever-widening thought and actionInto that heaven of freedom my fatherLet my country awake "Tagore's verse is the greatest metaphor that this diverse country can ever be adorned with. Bulldozing his inclusive ideals by playing the lapdog of sectarian forces is the last thing the VC of Visva Bharati should resort to.

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