By Simi Mehta Indo-Pacific today represents the reality that the dynamics of the Indian and Pacific oceans have merged and are becoming part of a whole. The IMPRI Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) organised a special lecture on ‘India and the Emerging Competition in Indo-Pacific’. The discussion was organized under #WebPolicyTalk series The State of International Affairs-#DiplomacyDialogue. The discussion had an esteemed panel of eminent professors and scholars consisting of Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America, Graeme Dobell, Journalist Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Dr Li Mingjiang, Associate Professor and Provost Chair in International Relations, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Jack Detsch, Pentagon and national security correspondent, Foreign Policy magazine, and Dr Felix Heiduk, Senior Associate, Asia Division, German Instit...

By DB Sagar*  The International Commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR) and civil rights groups are concerned about increasing “caste-based” housing discrimination, harassment, and intimidation in the United States. In 2021, ICDR received more than 150 complaints from across the country alleging housing discrimination due to caste while attempting to rent or renting a house or apartment.

RSS leaders in 1939 By Masidur Rahaman*  India’s history of anti-British struggle is glorious, with flowering youths accepting gallows, facing bullets, spurning a so-called comfortable life, women gathering on the streets and many boycotting promising jobs offered to them. Their one and only aim? To free India from the British stranglehold. 

By Harsh Thakor*  An astute Maoist, Raj Kishore, who died at the age of 89 on December 22 in Champaran, Bihar, after battling illness since 2014, may not have distanced himself from left sectarianism with regard to building broad based democratic mass movement and mass organisations and left adventurist military line. However, his work for the liberation of the masses was admired by diverse sections, including liberals.

A note by Bachpan Bachao Andolan on the contributions of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi in 2021: *** Today, more than half of the world’s poorest citizens are children and they are entering poverty and child labour at an unprecedented rate. COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in our world and the worst sufferers remained children in the past year, especially during the second wave of COVID-19. Kailash Satyarthi, one of the tallest leaders and the loudest voice in the global fight against exploitation of children, made efforts to highlight the plight of children on biggest and significant platforms during this time. 1. Marking the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, amid fears of rise in child labour due to social and economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, Kailash Satyarthi along with other Nobel Laureates, business leaders, UN agencies and other world leaders joined hands to launch the Fair Share to End Child Lab...

By Nishank*  Kerala’s flagship Silver Line project, a semi-high speed rail corridor passing through 11 districts between Thiruvananthpuram and Kasargod is not technically a “Bullet Train” like the one proposed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, but it has got into similar controversies as the much talked about deployment of the flagship Bullet Train in India.

Counterview Desk  The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), consisting of former civil servants of the All India and Central services who have worked with the Central and State governments in the course of their careers, voicing its apprehensions on the recently enacted legislation linking Voter IDs to Aadhaar numbers, has said that the move poses "a grave threat to the integrity of the electoral process."

By Deepanwita Gita Niyogi The Budhner Narmada Mahila Sangh , a federation consisting of 385 women’s self-help groups in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, is playing a major role in the planning and execution of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) work in several villages of Mohgaon block. Formed in 2012 for empowering rural women on livelihood issues, income enhancement, agriculture and livestock, the federation is the apex body governing all women’s groups which come under it.

By Nava Thakuria*  Public reactions against a news item in any newspaper or news channel may be usual in India, but public outrages in digital platforms against the mainstream media outlets for not covering a particular issue is definitely an unusual phenomenon. Far-eastern Indian State of Assam witnessed such a public fury against some of the editor-journalists for avoiding the press conferences by opposition political parties where they targeted the State chief minister for his family’s alleged land scam.

By Sudhansu R Das The majority of the Indians will overcome their sufferings if the social, educational, cultural and political institutions in India groom children to become morally and physically strong youth with finer human emotions like love, fellow feelings, kindness, courage and conviction. Those youth will be capable of reducing people’s sufferings through innovations, commitment and patriotism. The large scale sufferings of people attribute to the poor performance of those institutions. If our youth lack proper education, intellectual prowess, wisdom and do not experience the problems of the common man, they cannot give good governance. If they lack the human sensitivity they could convert the nation into a torture chamber. Over decades more than 10,000 lakes, ponds and water bodies have been wiped out in Mumbai, Pune, Calcutta, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and in New Delhi. Tens of thousands of water bodies have disappeared from many small cities and towns across the coun...

By  Prof CK Raju*   Truth presupposes knowledge, which depends on the education system. During colonialism the church captured the education system worldwide. Church power comes from myths and superstitions. Through its capture of the education system, the church is able to instil those myths and superstitions in the minds of children worldwide. This enables it to indoctrinate impressionable young children for 15 to 20 years. People expected only religious propaganda from the church. But the unexpected trick was that the church captured our education system by using a false history of science, which it initially erected during the Crusades. For example, in India, Macaulay used this false history of science in his Minute. The colonised never expected that the church propaganda could use a false history of science, to teach them to worship false gods of science. (Most of the colonised still believe the 19th century story that science and the church are at war.) In some two centu...

Counterview Desk  Seeking a ban trade in hazardous wastes, a Position Paper by the ToxicsWatch Alliance ( TWA ), an independent research and advocacy alliance which claims to focus on corporate crimes, disasters, hazardous technologies, hazardous substances and wastes, has insisted that India should ratify Ban Amendment to UN’s Basel Convention in order to “end its romance with International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO’s) Hong Kong Convention."

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  A very effective strategy of fascists and dictators from time immemorial is to denigrate, demonize, divide and destroy the other. This is particularly true where the 'other' are those who dissent , those who do selfless work which they are unable to do or simply those they are unable to deal with.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Uttarakhand is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The video of a meeting of the so-called Dharma Sansad in Hardwar has gone viral on social media, where the speakers, masquerading as leaders, showing concern for “Hindus”, used absolutely filthy, gutter level, genocidal language against minorities, particularly Muslims.

By Rumi Aijaz The state of the Peri-Urban is evolving by the day in India. Multiple large cities in the country are experiencing a gradual or sudden influx of migrants into their cities or state. This increases the demand for more land to create accommodation for the new inhabitants of the city. In such a situation, the market forces drive up the prices for land in primary areas within the city. This forces people to find space in the “peripherals” of the city. They mostly come under the city’s geographical limits and are the concern of the city administration. With the growing occupation of these areas, there is a large pressure on the development of these places. The rise of the Peri-Urban has been observed in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, etc. The expansion of the Peri-Urban has created many issues and challenges for the city administration. To further discuss the topic, IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted a #WebPolicyTalk conducted by the Centr...

By Sudhansu R Das  Widespread apprehensions about the decline of Hinduism do not appear to be far from the truth. The disappearance of Sanskrit scholars, absence of reformers, lack of research on Hindus scriptures, poor maintenance and mismanagement of a large number of Hindu temples, theft of idols and priceless artefacts from temples, sale of temple lands, encroachment of temple premises for non-religious activities, lack of cleanliness and aggressive commercialization of pilgrim places etc are the reasons why Hinduism is at the receiving end.

By A Representative  A top Tamil Nadu-based advocacy group had demanded that there should be “zero tolerance to violence by uniformed services” in the State. The demand came following a recent Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) order which recognized the version of 15 members of the Irula community, who it said were falsely implicated in acts of molestation, assault, torture and unlawful detention about ten years ago by then Inspector of Police, Thirukovilur, R Srinivasan, along with four other policemen.

By Arjun Kumar The job market scenario in India for the last few? years has been quite shaky, to say the least. The Pandemic has further complicated that shaky scenario more intensely. Today, the country remains in a critical position, where on the one hand it is trying to mitigate the risks added by the pandemic in its economy and on the other trying to bounce back. On that line of thought, #IMPRI Center for Work and Welfare (CWW), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, Indian Social Institute (ISI), New Delhi, and Counterview, organized a #webpolicytalk on Employment and Unemployment Scenario: Where Are We and Where Are We Going? COVID 19 and the toll of job loss The session was opened by the Moderator Prof K R Shyam Sundar, Professor, HRM Area, XLRI – Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. He reiterated the concerns that the pandemic has brought, in the employment-unemployment scenario of the country. The PLFS 2019-2020, reported a substantial rise of 3.5 % in wor...

By Harsh Thakor*  No third world leader in the last century can be said to have shaped the history of a nation to the extent of Mao Zedong did in China. One who tried to elevate Marxism-Leninism to a higher stage, taking massline of Leninism to unexplored regions, even today his writings are a guiding force in many third world countries where globalisation is at the helm.

Counterview Desk  Well-known Delhi-based human rights organisation Anhad, taking strong exception to the so-called Dharm Sansad, held in Haridwar, has said that its only aim was "spread hate" against the Muslim minorities by allegedly giving an "open call for genocide" ahead of elections in several States, including Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

“The SHRC order came just after the film Jai Bhim” By Henri Tiphagne* People’s Watch has the greatest pleasure to welcome and acknowledge the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for its order dated 21.12.2021 upholding the version of victims Lakshmi, Rathika, Vaigeswari and Karthika, members of the Irular community, about acts of molestation, assault, torture, unlawful detention and false implication in theft cases that was made out totally against 15 victims by the then Inspector of Police, Thirukovilur, R Srinivasan, along with four other policemen. It is appreciated that not only compensation was recommended but the Hon’ble Commission has also directed speedy departmental action against the police officials in three months and the immediate filing of a final report in the criminal case registered against the policemen in the Thirukovilur Police Station under several provisions of the IPC including 376 and the provisions of the SC/ST PoA Act, 2016, ten years ago. It is pe...

Counterview Desk  In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, about 1200+ citizens ranging from farmers to housemakers to academics, retired bureaucrats and senior citizens to civil society activists, doctors and lawyers to journalists, have endorsed a statement seeking his intervention for the repeal of the Citizens Amendment Act-National Population Register-National Register of Citizens (CAA-NPR-NRC) immediately.

By A Representative  A Pakistan-backed Kashmiri diaspora group based in the US is terribly perturbed. Calling itself World Kashmir Awareness Forum, its general secretary Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, a controversial figure who was sentenced to two years’ prison for working as an agent of the Pakistan government in the US without disclosing his affiliation, has sharply criticised the US administration for maintaining a "largely leave-it-alone posture" towards the Kashmiri problem.

The Open Forum, with the participation of migrant workers, organisations and individuals working among them, provided an opportunity to collectively reflect on what needs to be done to secure a life of dignity for the migrant workers, their children and families. A note: *** In solidarity with migrant workers, “Open Forum: Accompanying Distress Migrants” was held in Delhi to bring to public consciousness their plight, experiences and challenges. It was organised in commemoration of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by UN General Assembly on 18 December, 1990. Dr Rashmi Singh, Special Secretary cum Director, Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Government of National Capital Territory Delhi (GNCTD) in her address shared that “Migrants, who are involved in various sectors of the economy, make significant contribution to the life in our cities. This day reminds ourselve...

By CK Raju*  In the context of the huge controversy the last few days over the "USA Today" article whether math is racist, some people might be happy to know about the following. My keynote/ distinguished lecture on "Euclid must fall" at the Universities of Tübingen and Pretoria is now published as two articles: “Euclid” Must Fall: The “Pythagorean” “Theorem” and the Rant of Racist and Civilizational Superiority — Part 1 ,0Arụmarụka: Journal of Conversational Thinking 1, no. 1 (2021): 127–55. “Euclid” Must Fall: The “Pythagorean” “Theorem” and the Rant of Racist and Civilizational Superiority — Part 2 . Arụmarụka: Journal of Conversational Thinking 1, no. 2 (2021): 57–105. The first article explains the church origins of racism through the church instigation and support for genocide and slavery in Americas, and the systematic build-up of a false history of science, since the Crusades, to assert Christian/White/Western superiority as justification for genocide, sl...

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  In the age of rising tide of neoliberal authoritarianism and populist reactionary religious politics, the electoral victory of left brings smiles to all progressive forces beyond Chile. The people of Chile defeated José Antonio Kast -- a committed follower of the country’s former dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet who established neoliberal authoritarianism in Chile before it spread worldwide.

Consumer organisations unanimously demanded for immediate notification of FoPL Regulations in the interest of public health. A note: *** In a bid to allow consumers to correctly, quickly, and easily identify products that contain excessive amount of sugars, fats, and sodium, consumer organisations across the country unanimously adopted an eight point Charter of Demands in the National Consumer Convention (CCC), held at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi on December 19, 2021. The Charter will be submitted to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). National Consumer Convention was organised by Consumer Protection Association Agartala in partnership with Consumer Coordination Council (CCC) of India, an apex body of consumer organisations in the country. CUTS facilitated a session on FoPL. 30 Consumer organisations from 20 States attended th convention. This charter highlighted immediate steps to be taken for the earliest notification of Front of Package Labelling (FoPL) ...

By Ratna Thakur  A letter is currently doing the rounds, seeking signatures from Indian citizens who wish to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end the so-called “vaccination drive” against Covid-19. The researchers and citizens who have prepared the letter have attached a 62-page document to the PM, with all the evidence for why a decision to stop vaccination would be the medically correct course of action.

Reproduced below is an open letter to jailed former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt by his daughter and son Aakashi and Shantanu Sanjiv Bhatt. Bhatt is in Palanpur Jail after being awarded life imprisonment by a Jamnagar sessions court in 2019 for a custodial death way back in November 1990. Known to have said, Narendra Modi as chief minister directed Gujarat cops to allow Hindus to vent their anger, Bhatt was suspended in 2011 for allegedly remaining absent without permission and misuse of official vehicles, and thereafter sacked in August 2015. *** Dearest Dad, Today, as you complete 58 glorious years of your life, we wish we could hug you to never let go and smother you with wishes and love, while you celebrated your birthday surrounded by friends and family. There was a time, not too long ago, when each birthday was celebrated as a wonderful year gone by, and an open armed welcome to the new exciting year ahead; however, today as we stand here, staring into the abyss of the last 3 years, ...

By A Representative  Even as the Omicron threat looms large over Gujarat, as in other parts of India, independent and permanent board members of the Chinai Maternity and Sarabhai General Hospitals (VSH), Ahmedabad, have sharply criticized the city corporation authorities for closing down VSH and transferring its beds, equipment and staff to the newly built adjacent “profit-oriented” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Hospital bypassing them, allegedly for promoting medical tourism.