IN these times of pandemic, a new phrase has entered our lexicon of contemporary discourse – ‘new normal’. There is an imperative need to understand this phraseology for comprehending its full import. Defining feature of this pandemic affected situation is the severe restriction on collective public action. Given the fact, that such restrictions are necessitated by requirements of containing the spread, the need for scrutinising actions and measures of the governments is imperative to counteract the current aggressive unilateralism.

THE BJP-led NDA government at the centre is leading the common people into an eventual bankruptcy with a plethora of anti-people measures. What is being pushed into circulation by the centre, is the rhetoric of jingoistic nationalism and communal agenda that dubiously hides the plight of toiling masses.

MASSIVE resistance has been built up by the peasantry against the three anti-farmer ordinances/bills. The intense struggles across the country and especially in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh also created enough pressure to force a union minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal to resign from the union cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. If the legislations are “pro-farmer” as Modi claims, why are farmers coming out in united protests against these measures?

THE recently published National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report brought into notice the issue of suicides by daily wage workers. The NCRB has started categorising daily wage workers in the ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides’ data since 2014. Though the number of suicides by daily wage workers has been continuously increasing since then, this was widely covered only this year.

ANKHI Das, a name, which all of a sudden became popular in the country continues to make headlines in the media. Public policy chief of Facebook for South and Central Asia, Das is known for her proximity to the BJP and also to the point how she shaped Facebook’s policy, more aligned to the BJP. Her remarks do not just limit to this alignment brought about to win the general elections in 2014 but go deeper to the ideological hostility to which she is wedded/ linked to. And that ideological leaning provides her a fitting joint to be with the BJP.