Contrast this exchange against the utterly crass and debased rhetoric, both during the election season and otherwise, that India’s political and cultural leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, employ.
The narratives elucidate how historical marginalisation, compounded by contemporary socio-economic inequities, lays fertile ground for the propagation of Naxalite ideology, which promises liberation from caste-based oppression and economic deprivation.
The war clouds just keep getting thicker and darker. And the warmongers have so far outshouted those pleading for peace. The leaders have failed to bring any sanity, let alone ceasefire or peace talks. All this does not bode well for the Indian economy, which has already been struggling with the challenges of inflation, stagnant private investment, high youth unemployment and widening inequality.
This is the inner rottenness of India’s growth story, a self-imposed colonisation of a nation that has lost its standing, never mind the growing GDP.
Thus, more than one third of the world’s hungry and undernourished people are in India, which is alarming and embarrassing, if not shameful. India’s rank in the global hunger index also (GHI) has dropped to 101 out of 116 countries
Days are ahead when the rupee will tend to become fully convertible. Full convertibility means fully capital account convertibility in the balance of payment. It opens the market for foreign investors, businessmen and trade partners
Bangladesh is going through a tough economic situation; the government’s two largest sources of foreign currency revenues are the export of readymade garment products and remittances from overseas. Remittances are already suffering
This is part of a long tradition of celebrating the two countries’ independence days together, started by activists like the late Dr Mubashir Hasan, Nirmala Deshpande, Asma Jahangir, Kuldip Nayar, and others. Peace groups on either side have been doing this for a couple of decades now, even as administrations in both countries try to prevent them
The basis of all Indian philosophy is the recognition of divinity in the human species and giving respect to all faiths and shades of opinion
Over the years, women officers in the Indian armed forces have begun notching various types of achievements
It must be understood that welfare spending is essential to partly redress the widening inequality in Indian society
Release prisoners on completion of jail term, decriminalise inadvertent border crossings, especially for fisherfolk and minors
Uncontrolled proliferation of the existing combat uniform has led to many cases of breach of security of military establishments and personnel and, while it has been a cause of concern, not enough action has been initiated
The country is already one of the worst places in the world to be a child, And, in the past year, the situation has become grimmer because of crippling poverty, violence, and drought, according to UNICEF.
His remarks came days after some media reports indicated that the Pakistan Army could try to facilitate a dialogue or deal between Khan and the ruling coalition to create a consensus on early elections, which remains Khan's primary demand, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
The decision to oust Imran Khan ultimately allowed him to hijack the anti-establishment tag in his favour. Khan’s repeated reference to the government as the “imported government” and to the military as “neutrals” further reinforced his perception as a popular civilian leader
In that sense, her choice by the dispensation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, otherwise seen as an autocratic leader who has been accused of undermining many of India's democratic institutions, is seen as nothing sort of revolutionary, both by the standard of the country's conservative political and social norms
In India over 75 per cent of electricity is generated from coal-based thermal plants. Oil accounts for less than 2 percent of electric power, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
The simplest solution will be to change working hours by advancing it to 0700 hours and ending the workday at 1530 hours, so that the entire working hours are during daylight hours, writes Amb Sarvajit Chakravarti (retd) for South Asia Monitor
