By Venkatesh Nayak*  The latest Economic Survey (ES) revives a 20-year-old idea of amending the Right to Information (RTI) Act to keep file notings, records of internal deliberations, and draft papers out of the citizenry’s reach. The UPA government had crafted an amendment proposal along similar lines in 2006 but could not muster enough political support to table it in Parliament. At the time, the NDA—particularly the BJP—was among the most vocal opponents of the move, alongside civil society groups.

By Rohit Chauhan*   On my first day at a labour rights NGO, I was given a monthly sales target: sixty memberships. Not sixty workers to organise, not sixty conversations about exploitation, not sixty political discussions. Sixty conversions. I remember staring at the whiteboard, wondering whether I had mistakenly walked into a multi-level marketing office instead of a trade union. The language was corporate, the urgency managerial, and the tone unmistakably transactional. It was my formal introduction to a strange truth I would slowly learn: in contemporary India, even rebellion runs on performance metrics.

By Jag Jivan   A new report sheds light on the urgent human rights challenges within India’s vast textile and garment industry, as global regulations increasingly demand corporate accountability in supply chains. Titled “Beneath the Seams,” the study reveals that despite the sector employing over 45 million people, systemic issues of poverty wages, unfair purchasing practices, and the exclusion of workers from decision-making persist, leaving millions vulnerable.

By Bharat Dogra  When those already committed to environmental protection advocate natural farming, it is certainly welcome. However, this alone will not lead to the widespread adoption of natural farming. The reason is simple: most Indian farmers are smallholders, and for them safeguarding their livelihoods is crucial. Their earnings are often barely sufficient for survival. No matter how beneficial or healthy a change may be, if it threatens to significantly reduce net income, most small farmers cannot afford to adopt it.

By Nishant Kumar*  Growing up in rural India, my grandmother would feed the village dog half a chapati and a bowl of milk each afternoon, surely insufficient for its needs. The dog survived by scavenging from nearby homes. Years later, living in Delhi, I encountered street dogs refusing biscuits, overfed by households competing to care for them.

By Deepika   A 55-year-old acquaintance passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. Why so many people are dying relatively young is a question being raised in several forums, and that debate is best reserved for another day. This individual was kept on a ventilator for nearly five months, after which the doctors and the family finally decided to let go. The cost of keeping a person on life support for such extended periods is enormous. Yet families continue to spend vast sums even when the chances of survival are minimal. Life, we are told, is precious, and nature itself strives to protect and sustain it.

By Ram Puniyani*  This year, on Martyrs’ Day (30 January 2026), as we remember Mahatma Gandhi, we are also conscious that sustained efforts are underway to weaken Gandhiji’s values and his legacy. The propaganda of communal forces is becoming sharper with each passing day, and the divisions within our society are deepening. Hindu–Muslim unity was the core mantra of Gandhiji’s life. Contemporary politics has caused immense harm to this mission of the great humanist. We cannot forget that the person who riddled Gandhiji’s chest with three bullets was a staunch supporter of the ideology of Hindu nationalism (Hindutva). This ideology was completely opposed to that of the national movement.

By Shamsul Islam * The world marks the 78th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, who was killed by Hindutva terrorists on January 30, 1948. The RSS—the most prominent flag-bearer of Hindutva politics, whose cadres occupy positions of power in India today—reacts angrily whenever the historical truth is stated: that those who assassinated Gandhiji shared the ideological worldview of the Hindu Mahasabha (led by V.D. Savarkar) and the RSS brand of Hindu nationalism, and were also connected with these organisations. Instead of expressing remorse for this heinous crime, the RSS resorts to denial and distortion—aptly captured by the proverb, the pot calling the kettle black.

By Atanu Roy*  It was Sunday at midnight. Around 30 migrant workers were in deep sleep after a hard day’s work. A devastating fire engulfed the godown where they were sleeping. There was no escape route for the workers, as the door was locked and no firefighting system was installed. Rules of the land were violated as usual. The fire continued for days, despite the sincere efforts of fire brigade personnel. The bodies were charred in the intense heat and were beyond identification, not fit for immediate forensic examination. As a result, nobody knows the exact death toll; estimates are hovering around 21 as of now.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The death of Mark Tully, former head of the BBC in India, marks the end of a kind of journalism that was deeply rooted in factual, on-the-ground reporting. I never met Mark Tully, but I followed his work closely from my growing-up years. We eagerly waited to listen to his dispatches from Delhi on the BBC. While the BBC’s Hindi service was extremely popular in rural India and many of us grew up listening to it, I also began tuning in to the BBC’s main services from London, which carried reports from correspondents across the world.

By A Representative   Addressing media in New Delhi, advocacy group Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) representatives have called for a substantial increase in public spending on health and urging the Union government to honour commitments made under the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017. The press conference, details of which were shared through a press note, a presentation and a publicly accessible video link , coincided with the release of a demand letter endorsed by around 350 organisations and individuals from across the country.

By A Representative   The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while reviewing the Economic Survey in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the rapid growth of gig and platform workers in India. According to the Survey, the number of gig workers has increased from 7.7 million to around 12 million, marking a growth of about 55 percent. Their share in the overall workforce is projected to rise from 2 percent to 6.7 percent, with gig workers expected to contribute approximately ₹2.35 lakh crore to the GDP by 2030. The Survey also noted that over 40 percent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.

By Jag Jivan   The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services. 

By Rosamma Thomas*  The announcement that veteran actor Mammootty has been awarded the Padma Bhushan—an award that recognises “distinguished service of high order”—was welcome. The question movie-watchers in Kerala were asking, though, was whether the award was actually for the actor or an olive branch held out to the people of Kerala by the Union government.

By A Representative   Gram Sabhas across several states used Republic Day observances on January 26 to register strong opposition to the VB-GRAMG Act and to demand the restoration and strengthening of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA). MGNREGA workers and rural residents raised these demands through resolutions adopted in Gram Sabhas held in states including Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

By N.S. Venkataraman*  In India, despite steady growth in industrial, infrastructure and service sectors—including the software industry—in recent years, the economy essentially remains agriculture-based. Agriculture continues to be a strong, sustainable and stabilising force in the Indian economy, and this reality is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. Any policy approach that undermines this foundation, therefore, calls for serious scrutiny.

By Suyash Gupta*  India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

By Ilya Ganpantsura  Does university discourse shape public opinion? And can the discourse of humanitarian and cultural institutions influence military planning? Today, I will attempt to answer these questions by examining one of the most unexpected yet all-encompassing trends in this context — the issue of decolonization. In my view, however, this issue has become particularly complex in Ukraine. Here, in order to communicate with society, the authorities have traditionally sought a support group and, by relying on it, have opposed not only an external enemy but also certain groups within the population who, by their nature, are not enemies of Ukraine. Rather, these groups are oriented toward creating something that goes beyond a strictly national Ukrainian framework and are not solely focused on confrontation with Russia or the promotion of national-patriotic ideas. Yet the ideological tool chosen by the current Ukrainian government is not aimed at maintaining a national-patrioti...

By A Representative   The India-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) has strongly condemned the announcement of a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza and Palestine by former US President Donald J. Trump, calling it an initiative that “condones war crimes against children and women” and “rubs salt in Palestinian wounds.”

By Vikas Meshram   For several decades, Iran has been under a rigid religious regime, with voices of resistance surfacing periodically. Yet the current wave of protests stands among the most intense and widespread in recent memory. Despite brutal crackdowns, threats of execution, and attempts to brand dissenters as “enemies of God,” public anger shows no sign of subsiding. 

By Vijay Prashad   The agreement that brought the Syrian Kurdish enclave to an end has been marketed by its signatories as a pragmatic settlement, but in reality it marks a decisive political defeat for Syria’s Kurdish formations. The swift advance of armed groups loyal to President Ahmad al-Sharaa overwhelmed the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), yet this outcome cannot be understood without acknowledging the full backing extended by the United States to the Syrian government against its former Kurdish allies. 

By Harsh Thakor*  Vladimir Fock occupies a distinctive place in the history of twentieth-century science, not only for his profound contributions to theoretical physics but also for his sustained effort to reconcile the most advanced scientific theories of his time with Marxist philosophy. Born in 1898 and active through some of the most turbulent decades of Soviet history, Fock became a central figure in demonstrating that quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity need not be viewed as hostile to dialectical materialism. His life’s work unfolded at the intersection of science, philosophy, and ideology, where intellectual courage often carried personal risk.

By A Representative   Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

By Vikas Meshram   As we marked the 77th Republic Day, the occasion called for introspection not only for those in power but also for the citizens of the country. Undoubtedly, the stature of the world’s largest democracy is ensured by the people-centric and accountable nature of our constitutional institutions. However, it is essential that democracy is not overshadowed by the dominance of systems and structures. Citizens’ lives must remain smooth, and they should not face barriers in accessing power and administration. At the same time, citizens must closely monitor the functioning and accountability of constitutional institutions.

By A Representative   A new Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report has highlighted gaps in India’s reporting framework that could raise compliance costs and restrict access to global capital.  As climate transition planning becomes a central requirement for global investors and lenders, many Indian corporates are increasingly apprehensive about deeper climate-related disclosures, citing regulatory uncertainty, higher compliance burdens and potential exposure of business risks. The IEEFA assessment explains why these concerns persist and how gaps in India’s sustainability reporting framework may compound them.

By A Representative   Delhi–NCR’s air pollution crisis has shifted from a seasonal challenge to a structurally embedded, year-round problem, according to a new data-driven analysis released by Grant Thornton Bharat. The report states that long-term air quality data show a clear inflexion point between 2009 and 2011, after which pollution levels stopped responding to incremental policy interventions and began deteriorating persistently.

By A Representative   Several social activists, lawyers and minority rights representatives have raised serious concerns over the alleged lack of transparency in the selection process of State Hajj Inspectors (SHIs) for Haj 2026. In a joint representation submitted to the Chief Executive Officer of the Hajj Committee of India (HCI), Mumbai, they questioned the secrecy surrounding written examination results, interview outcomes and the repeated selection of the same candidates.

​ By Ram Puniyani   ​What is Indian culture? Is it purely Hindu, or a blend of many influences? Today, Hindu right-wing advocates of Hindutva claim that Indian culture is synonymous with Hindu culture, which supposedly resisted "Muslim invaders" for centuries. This debate resurfaced recently in Kolkata at a seminar titled "The Need to Protect Hinduism from Hindutva."

By Sunil Kumar*  Bihar has long been a “labour-exporting” state—during colonial rule and after Independence. Bihari workers have travelled far and wide, within India and overseas, selling their labour to survive. Today, their numbers in the Middle East have grown substantially. Within India too, a disproportionate share of workers killed in industrial accidents come from Bihar. This is why migration emerged as a major issue in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, prompting the government to announce measures to curb out-migration from the state.

By Martin Macwan*  It was the year 1865. Nearly one-third of the land area of what we now know as the UK—the “United Kingdom”—was the country called Scotland. In Scotland, there were two main means of livelihood for the poor: fishing and agricultural labor.

By Palla Trinadha Rao   The question “Who is an Adivasi?” lacks a precise, definitive answer within India's administrative and constitutional framework. Terms like Adivasi, Girijan, Vanavasi, Moolvasi, and Indigenous are common in public debate, political rhetoric, and activism. Yet the Constitution provides no explicit definition for any of them. Even the official legal category—Scheduled Tribes (ST)—lacks detailed constitutional explanation or fixed criteria.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Tamil Nadu is set to go to the polls in April 2026, and the political battle lines are beginning to take shape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on January 23, 2026, marked the formal launch of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Addressing multiple public meetings, the Prime Minister accused the DMK government of corruption, criminality, and dynastic politics, and called for Tamil Nadu to be “freed from DMK’s chains.” PM Modi alleged that the DMK had turned Tamil Nadu into a drug-ridden state and betrayed public trust by governing through what he described as “Corruption, Mafia and Crime,” derisively terming it “CMC rule.” He claimed that despite making numerous promises, the DMK had failed to deliver meaningful development. He also targeted what he described as the party’s dynastic character, arguing that the government functioned primarily for the benefit of a single family a...

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C.  In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan   In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

By Atanu Roy*  A recent visit to a government-aided Bengali-medium school in Birbhum district of West Bengal proved to be an unsettling experience. Conversations with students from primary and secondary classes revealed significant gaps in language proficiency and basic computing skills, far below what should reasonably be expected at those levels. What initially appeared to be an isolated problem soon pointed to a deeper structural issue within the state’s school education system.

By Sudhir Katiyar, Mallica Patel*  The sudden dismantling of MGNREGA once again exposes the limits of progressive legislation in the absence of transformation of a casteist, semi-feudal rural society. Over two days in the winter session, the Modi government dismantled one of the most progressive legislations of the UPA regime—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

By Dr Jayant Kumar*  Rural employment programmes have played a pivotal role in shaping India’s socio-economic landscape . Beyond providing income security to vulnerable households, they have contributed to asset creation, village development, and social stability. However, persistent challenges—such as seasonal unemployment, income volatility, administrative inefficiencies, and corruption—have limited the transformative potential of earlier schemes.

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  Oxfam ’s latest report, known for unsettling complacent minds across the world, is once again before us. Released as a warning on the opening day of the World Economic Forum being held from 19 to 23 January, the report strips bare the reality of global economic development. A fundamental question confronts us: is economic prosperity measured through GDP actually succeeding in keeping the ordinary inhabitants of this planet alive with dignity? What does Oxfam’s report say on this?

By Vikas Meshram   A quiet yet powerful social movement is unfolding in the Banswara district of southern Rajasthan—one that seeks to prepare tribal society for contemporary challenges without severing its roots in tradition. Through a series of social reform meetings organised under the banner of the Krushi avm Aadivasi Swaraj Sangathan of Vaagdhara, tribal communities have come together to collectively address long-standing social problems and chart a new path forward.

By Raqif Makhdoomi*  Recent unrest in Iran has generated sharply divergent interpretations among governments, analysts, and commentators. While some international actors and media outlets have described the events as anti-government or pro-democracy protests, others frame them as an externally influenced effort to destabilize the Islamic Republic. These competing narratives reflect broader geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran’s political system, regional conflicts, and energy resources.

By Nava Thakuria*  Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027.  However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

By Harsh Thakor*  Gabriel Rockhill ’s new book, ‘ Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? ’, presents a challenging thesis that has sparked debate within left-wing intellectual circles. The work investigates the historical and financial foundations of a strand of thought often labeled “Western Marxism,” arguing that its development was significantly shaped by institutions aligned with Western capitalist and foreign policy interests during the Cold War.

By A Representative   The scale of voter deletions during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Gujarat marks a sharp departure from the pattern observed during the previous full-scale SIR conducted in 2001–02, official records indicate.

By Onkareshwar Pandey   In the era of a self-proclaimed Hindu dispensation—under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath—a Shankaracharya has been asked by Mela officials to “prove” his spiritual legitimacy. This alone should alarm anyone who understands the Constitution, Hindu tradition, or the limits of state power.

By A Representative   With Narmada Jayanti set to be observed on January 25 this year, a formal representation has been submitted to the Bharuch Collector urging the release of water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam to facilitate religious observances along the Narmada river in Gujarat. The request has been forwarded through the Collector to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the Chairman and Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited.

By A Representative   The Minority Coordination Committee Gujarat has submitted a formal complaint to the Director General of Police, Gujarat, seeking the registration of an FIR and urgent preventive action over an alleged social media post that it claims contains public threats, incitement to violence, and the spread of communal hatred.

By A Representative  India’s residential real estate market moved into a phase of measured normalisation in calendar year 2025, with housing demand moderating after two years of strong post-pandemic recovery, even as prices across major cities remained firm, according to PropTiger.com’s annual report Real Insight – Residential CY 2025. The report indicates that while buyer activity softened, the market avoided stress due to disciplined supply, resilient end-user demand, and sustained cost pressures that supported pricing.

By A Representative   The advocacy group, Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), has criticised the proposed Draft Social Security Rules, 2025 and the Draft Code on Wages, alleging that they significantly dilute workers’ rights and weaken state accountability in labour welfare. In a detailed analysis shared with stakeholders, the CFA said the proposed changes mark a shift “from inspection to facilitation, from rights to paperwork, and from welfare to accounting,” with serious consequences for construction workers, women workers, and low-wage earners.

By Vikas Meshram   Climate change has emerged as one of the greatest challenges of our time, profoundly affecting the global economy, ecosystems, and human life. Yet the burden of this planetary emergency is not shared equally. The crisis is more than environmental; it is social, economic, and moral. Its harshest consequences fall on those who contributed the least—poor and developing nations.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  A study released by the Mumbai-based Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), supported by data from India Hate Lab, documents incidents of violence and targeting of Muslims across India in 2025. The report compiles press accounts and fact-finding material to highlight broad trends in communal conflict, mob attacks, and hate speech.

By Harasankar Adhikari   Religion has become a visible subject in India’s public discourse, particularly where it intersects with political debate. Recent events, including a mass Gita chanting programme in Kolkata and other incidents involving public expressions of faith, have drawn attention to how religion features in everyday life. These developments have raised questions about the relationship between modern technological progress and traditional religious practice.