Climate Disaster Relief Fund: Need of the Hour

INDIA experienced extreme weather events on 322 out of the 366 days in 2024, surpassing the 318 days in 2023 and 314 days in 2022. Nearly 88 per cent of the previous year saw extreme weather in one or more parts of the country, up from 87 per cent in 2023 and 86 per cent in 2022. These extreme weather events have resulted in severe human and economic losses, with 3,472 fatalities in 2024, up from 3,287 in 2023 and 3,026 in 2022 – an increase of 15 per cent in three years.

Savarkar – Myth and Reality

ON Independence Day this year, a social media post by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas caused outrage and revulsion across the country. Under the title ‘Happy Independence Day’ it depicted four faces – V D Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Shaheed Bhagat Singh. At the bottom was the slogan – ‘Freedom was their gift/Shaping the future is our mission’. The outrage was understandable.

Put Humans First: End the Stray Dog Menace

A SUPREME Court directive on August 11, 2025 to remove stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-NCR has brought an issue that causes immense suffering to people across India to the spotlight. The stray dog menace causes millions of dog bites in India every year, resulting in injuries, disabilities, trauma, and death to untold numbers of people. Although a larger bench of the Supreme Court has subsequently modified the August 11th directive, the judicial intervention has created an environment where effective solutions to the stray dog menace can be discussed widely.

All-Out Authoritarianism

ON August 20, 2025, the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. Similar amendments have been proposed to the laws that govern the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry as well. Following their introduction, the bills were referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny.Being constitution amendment bills, they would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Parliament for their passage. However, it is very clear that the BJP nor the NDA have the required numbers at present.

Money Lenders (Sahukars) In A New Avatar

THE decade-long rule of the BJP-RSS has extensively damaged the lives of lakhs of families, with women precariously clinging on to any mirage of help just to keep alive. Women in India are trying to figure out how to even provide the basic needs for the family. They have to borrow money to buy food or medicines, or for education of their children. Anybody lending money in such times becomes a ‘saviour’. The micro finance institutions – non-banking financial companies enter the scene wearing the garb of such ‘saviours’ – like vultures waiting to pounce on their prey!

Malegaon Bombing – The ‘Innocence’ of Saffron Extremists

IN the early 2000’s a series of bomb blasts targeting Muslims rocked the country. These were Malegaon (2006, 2008), the Samjhauta Express (2007), Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid (2007), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (2007) and Modasa (2008). Before that, there had been several bomb blasts in public places that were claimed by Islamist groups. It was thought that the later blasts were revenge attacks perpetrated by Hindu fanatics. But this proved to be just a pretext because later investigations revealed an insanely more dangerous vision and plan, as we will see below.

Manifested to Manufactured History

ON the 79th Independence Day, after hoisting India’s national flag at the ramparts of the Red Fort, Narendra Modi delivered the prime minister’s ceremonial address to the nation. Curiously, he used the solemn occasion to extol the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Modi said, “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s 100 years of service to the nation is a truly glorious and golden chapter.”A moment that truly epitomised the RSS’s service to the nation was the eve of India’s independence.

Intelligence and Genocides

ISRAELI officials are using dehumanising language to justify the ongoing horrifying genocide in Gaza. They paint Palestinians as morally and intellectually deficient. "We are fighting human animals," said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, depriving Palestinians of their humanity and reiterating genocidal ideas. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued a call to "Erase all of Gaza from the face of the earth." "There are no innocent people in Gaza," said Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of Israel Beytenu party.

The US-isation of India?

THE recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar can rightly be described as an exercise in disenfranchisement. Strikingly, there are many similarities between this exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India and similar actions that have occurred – and continue to occur – in the United States. A comparison of the two clearly reveals that far-right forces across the world operate in similar ways and with similar agendas.THE US CASEVoter suppression has long been a staple tactic of right-wing forces in the US.

Education Policy Bent to Promote a Hindu Rashtra Agenda

ANYONE who wishes to pursue PhD research in India must appear for the UGC-NET (National Eligibility Test), which, until 2024-25, was conducted to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the posts of ‘Assistant Professor’ and ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor’ in Indian universities and colleges.In 2024, the union government – under the guise of “standardising” and “enhancing” the quality of research programmes – made NET scores a key criterion for PhD admissions.

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