View Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way to live and work once the crisis has passed. Most importantly, it will make us question our modes of consumption and question the market forces that drive peoples choices. But as the author points out, the choice is a class issue, for the millions’, there is no choice, living on the margins of existence. It compels us to look at the post corona world as a better world to live in.

Donald Trump, the most abrasive president the US has ever had, is the true representative, nay villain, of corporate capitalism with deep-ridden imperialist culture. He will do anything to defend the profits of corporations and his chair in the White House, including sacrificing the lives of his own people. The unfortunate result of his bullyismis that the US has become the biggest target of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hard to imagine life without a lockdown in these days of corona! The feeling will remain for as long as we do not get on the back of this killer contagion. Particularly, in the absence of a vaccine. And the vaccine could be as many as 18 months away. Can economies survive such a long period of hibernation?

India is perhaps first nation that has identified and inscribed in her constitution the fundamental rights of not only citizens but also criminals and outsiders. The American constitution also mentions civil liberties, economic independence and right of expression to all but not voting rights. Indian constitution as conceived by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is the first ever written document to recognize and grant equality to all regardless of their religious affiliation, economic ability, social distinction or individual beliefs.

Ever since the Right to Food campaign has approached the Supreme Court of India, in what is commonly revered to as the right to food security petition, the relevance of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 has become more apparent. Food procurement and minimum price support to farmers are one of the finest examples of what a socialist state should do. In this article, the author explains how the Essential Commodities Act is relevant to the pandemic, expose neo-liberal arguments and has argued for a return to the foundational values of the constitution.

BHOPAL: After tragic death of five gas victims the Madhya Pradesh government was forced to revoke its earlier order of reserving Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) for Corona patients. Not only BMHRC was reserved for Corona patients but all the indoor patients were shifted to other hospitals or to their homes.

It was merely a coincidence: Just seconds ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation announcing extension of the lockdown to May 3, in a video a woman was seen bitterly crying and cursing herself for being unable to breast feed her 20 day kid. It was a heart breaking scene. She said that her breast has no milk as she was not having food during these days. Her husband sitting by her side was looking desolate and incessantly crying at the helplessness he was facing. The couple, both daily wage earners, said they were not having food for nearly a week as they were not getting work.

The frontline health personnel, including doctors and nurses, fighting COVID-19 are braving the highest risk of being infected by coronavirus amid acute global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in general, and India in particular. Many of them got infected, died, suffered bias of the people against them and roughed up, but their war from the forefront continues triggering hope that we will overcome the crisis. Only disturbing thing is that supply chain has broken, bottlenecks continues, and governance falls short of the requirement of the multidimensional crisis at the time when lockdowns has created twin crisis of medical and food supplies to those who need them most.

The sudden gathering of migrant workers at Bombay’s Bandra railway station, when the prime minister was addressing the nation, drives home the point about lack of communications. It also underlines what a tricky situation we are in.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samajwadi Party national president Mayawati had demanded strict action against BJP MP from Kannauj Subrata Tripathi for beating up a Dalit official.