Counterview

By Harsh Thakor*  With election fervour at full pitch, some organisations are making effort to plant the seeds of democratic alternative in Punjab. They have reposed no faith in established political parties’ agenda. Refraining from giving tacit support to their candidates, including those put up by some constituents of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the main thrust of their programme is to expose the nature of the present social order, with the main accent on basic farmers’ issues such as scrapping debts, loan waivers, remunerative prices, land rights and communalism.

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  For the people of El Salvador, January 22, 2022 will be more than just a red-letter day. Three of their sons, Jesuit Fr Rutilio Grande and his two lay associates 72-year-old Manuel Solorzano and 15-year-old Nelson Rutilio Lemus (and Italian Franciscan missionary Fr Cosme Spessotto who was also martyred) will be beatified in San Salvador.

By Our Representative  Findings by two Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, scholars, Sampurna Kundu and Prof Sanghmitra Sheel Acharya, has revealed that despite the efforts of the Reproductive and Child Health Services, that provided free or nominal cost public health services, the average out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) per delivery in public health facilities has increased for many states.

By Our Representative  Ahead of his hearing on January 21, 2022, CIVICUS , a global civil society alliance with more than 10,000 members worldwide, has called upon the Government of India to “immediately and unconditionally” release human rights defender Khurram Parvez. “The judicial harassment he is facing highlights the repressive environment for activists and critics in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir”, it said in a statement.

By Rajiv Shah  Will Gujarat also see demands to replace mosques and dargahs with Hindu temples? It would seem so, if a new fact-finding team conclusion is any indication. Apprehending the “danger” of communal conflagration, it has cited the claim on a 15th century dargah was originally a Hindu temple – allegedly quite on line with what has been happening in UP following the Supreme Court verdict on Babri Mosque.

Sree Narayana Guru By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The Republic Day celebrations on January 26 will not have State tableaux from Tamilnadu, Kerala, West Bengal as well as Delhi. There might be possibility that some other States too would get the rejection slip.

By Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj, Jagdeep Chhokar*  On January 18, 2022, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court (SC) regarding non-compliance by the Central and State governments with directions given in the suo motu migrant workers case. 

By Prashant Kumar Chaudhary, Ajit Kumar Jaiswal*  At present, technology plays an increasingly crucial part in modelling human existence by offering a variety of solutions to many of the challenges individuals confront in the real world. As a result, every branch of research works to provides means to solve these difficulties precisely and efficiently. The Central government works along the same lines as well.

By Shamsul Islam*  Justice Abdul Nazeer is not only one of the judges with longest term at the Supreme Court (SC) of India but also the one, only 3rd in the history of SC, who was elevated to the highest court in 2017 (to retire on October 20, 2023) without being chief justice of any High Court.