Nature’s Latest Grand Spectacle Reaffirms its Dialectical & Materialist Character

THE world’s scientific community, especially astronomers and cosmologists, is abuzz about the signals from a mega event that rang, quite literally, not only around the globe but also beyond it. This was the “sighting” of a collision between two neutron stars 130 million light years away! What was so significant about it that it took the scientific community by storm and led to unprecedented messaging and tweeting all across the globe?

Employment Suffers in Digital India

SPEAKING at the Digital Haryana Summit in September 2017, the minster for electronics and information technology, Ravi Shankar Pratap Singh said that “the country’s digital economy is growing fast and by 2020 it is expected to provide job opportunities to about 50 to 70 lakh youth”. This pipe dream let lose by the minister may make one think that the automation and digitalisation process may create new opportunities to tap the so-called ‘demographic dividend’ of the country.

Jotting of My Life

Day – Minus six months: My mother was taken to a hospital. A test was done. They found out I was inside her womb. My father and his parents forced her to a surgery. I was killed, before I could see you.Day – My birth: I had just come out of my mother’s womb. I was crying. They saw me. Instead of milk, the put some seeds in my mouth. My birthday was my death day.November 22, 2015: I was three months old. My uncle who is 50 years old took me away from my house where I was sleeping.

Oil Price Hike in the Time of BJP

THE country is suffering again as the average price of petrol has reached Rs 75 per litre and the average diesel price has reached Rs 62 per litre by the mid-September. The retail price of petrol was this high during the second half of 2013 and the first half of 2014 i.e., during the last year of the UPA-2 government. The average international price of crude oil was more than 140 US dollar per barrel (one barrel=159 litres approximately) then. The NDA government was formed in the end of May 2014.

Railway Reforms: Pursuit of Profit Trumps Public Interest

NEO-LIBERAL economic policies are set to unbound the Indian Railways, the country’s largest public transport. “Rail by market and not by the government” is the mantra of the Modi regime. The Indian Railways is crying for funds for capacity expansion and safety, but the government refuses to acknowledge it. Why should this network be a “Sarkari monolith”?

Privacy is now an inherent right, but will Parliament act?

BY ruling not just that privacy is a fundamental right but that it is an integral part of the right to liberty, a nine judge bench of the Supreme Court, on August 24, held unanimously that the right to privacy would come under both the right to life, liberty (Article 14, Article 21 of the Constitution) and therefore part III of the constitution. The fundamental reasoning behind the verdicts delivered separately and as a collective was that these rights are the inherent rights of man, born with him, not granted by statute (even the constitution) and hence cannot be suspended or taken away.

Roads of Battle Greet G-20 Summit

THE recent protests that welcomed the G20 Summit are a reflection of the brewing discontent against the continuing global economic crisis. With their future at stake, young people constituting the majority of the protesters led the way in expressing dissent. They stood up bravely to police brutality. Creativity was on wide display during all the days of protest before and during the Summit.Preparations for the protest started months in advance.

My Fears

THESE days, I am very afraid. My fears are getting the better of me. Let me explain.I always had this fear of walking alone. There are many pests around, who keep on stalking, abusing and harassing whenever I go out. I always wanted to wear nice, beautiful dresses that I really loved. I could not. I was warned not to wear them. People around, frightened me. Dress, it seems, will invite more harassment and teasing. I had to accept. That’s fear. Now with the ‘anti-Romeo’ squads, this fear doubled and trebled.

That Attraction...Socialism

A RECENT media report revealed a startling fact: “Around 580,000 respondents in 35 countries were asked the question: Would you actively participate in large-scale uprising against the generation in power if it happened in the next days or months? More than half of 18-34 year-olds said yes”. This shows the latent discontent among the youth today. And it is not without reason.Youth unemployment rose to never seen highs in the recent past.

The Communal Path to Neoliberalism

THE BJP and the RSS are not only whipping up a frenzy of communalism and nationalism, but also using such sentiments to aid neoliberalism. With all the hue and cry over the central government’s jolting decisions in the recent past, what comes to fore is the discussion on communalism and nationalism, while its direct correlation to neoliberalism is being sidelined, which is precisely what the primary focus should be on.If we look at what has happened to agriculture over the last few years, it is a telling tale of government apathy and disinterest.

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