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One year has passed since the sad demise of Shameem Faizee, a versatile and valuable Comrade and colleague.

Integrity and credibility of the media has degenerated to such an extent that now the police, not the judiciary, will issue its diktat and seek clarification who has given it the right and m whether it enjoys the privilege guaranteed by the constitution to criticise the government and question its action.

If your train’s on the wrong track, every station you come to is the wrong station
-- Dernard Malamud

If one looks at the functioning of Indian democracy today, one is shocked to see complete erosion of democratic institutions to the detriment of Constitutional democracy and public interest. To begin with, Election Commission of India (ECI), created under Article 324 of the Constitution of India read with two laws, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 respectively, a plethora of rules and regulations and a Model Code of Conduct, all with a reservoir of unbridled power to conduct fair and free elections in the country, has been degraded by an authoritarian fascist NDA Union Government so much so that people have lost faith in its efficacy as a credible institution of the very foundation of democracy as conceived and envisioned by the founding fathers of the Constitution.

The lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh runs and spreads both ways. Yep, those are the words that should be used when discussing and commenting on criminals, both active and dormant hoodlums, in this hugest state of the Indian Union. Uttar Pradesh itself is a sprawling stretch of real estate and home to what’s called the ‘Ganga-Yamuna Tehzeeb.’ Well, this ‘tehzeeb’ also includes a counter-culture of thuggery and violent criminal takeovers – confiscation of life and of wealth, including the honest hard-earned earnings of common people, who sometimes didn’t even get to know they were about to be upended!

Arrogance comes with a false sense of security and control on the fulcrum of power. So far the accusation of being arrogant was being levelled against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the fact is the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar does not lag behind.

The Covid pandemic has come as a great leveller. It has downed powerful heads of state and commonest man on the street, irrespective of caste, creed, colour and climate. Covid has held a mirror to the dark underbellies of societies, which have so far remained hidden from public knowledge. It has also unearthed the gross inequalities that have come as a blot on man’s claim of progress and prosperity.

It can only be described as providential intervention that the Modi government’s plan to make money on the sly using the spike in the global crude prices is likely to come to nought. The prospects of a second wave of Covid outbreak is forcing oil analysts to project an alternative price scenario, where crude is expected to be under stress in the remaining part of the year.

New Delhi: The public sector undertakings (PSU), government’s strongest-ever asset should be invoke d forthwith to not only revive the COVID19 pandemic infested economy but also drive the nation as a catalyst towards growth and development.

Guardian editorials are often ponderous affairs bordering on the pious but a commentary on the ending of lockdown at the beginning of July suddenly opined that “Revolutions are not inevitable” and went on to note that sharp jolts to the system often saw “normality” return later.