Widening disparity between the rich and the poor

A report released by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) reveals that in the past 16 years, the rich have grown richer and the poor poorer. According to the report, the top 20% of our country's population has more than 50% share of the national income in 2009-2010, as compared to the 36.7 % it had in 1993-1994.

Continue reading

Support the just struggle of the Kashmiri people!

In the last few weeks, masses of Kashmiri youth, men, women and children have poured out onto the streets of Srinagar and towns and villages across the Kashmir Valley in protest against the Indian state. The intensity and extent of their revolt has increased from day to day. They have defied repeated firing by the police and paramilitary forces, which has left a shocking 43 dead in the last 52 days.

Continue reading

Support the just struggle of the Kashmiri people!

In the last few weeks, masses of Kashmiri youth, men, women and children have poured out onto the streets of Srinagar and towns and villages across the Kashmir Valley in protest against the Indian state. The intensity and extent of their revolt has increased from day to day. They have defied repeated firing by the police and paramilitary forces, which has left a shocking 43 dead in the last 52 days.

Continue reading

Prime Minister’s message on Kashmir

Two months after the latest round of furious protests by the Kashmiri people began, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finally chose to address the issue. This was at an “all-party” meeting convened in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Kashmir, from which many parties to the struggle there were conspicuously absent. Manmohan Singh’s remarks at the meeting were enough to dispel any illusions that his government was going to launch any fresh initiatives to solve the problem.

Continue reading

Whose Games are these?

Imagine the US turning Washington DC into a large and dusty excavation site to greet the world as hosts of the international championships in kabaddi. Or picture China spending ten times its total sports budget on conducting a rugby championship, one of the few games the Chinese have not yet shown interest in.

Continue reading

Making the people pay

Several new taxes were introduced in the state budget (March 2010) and again in May that have imposed a heavy burden on the working people. Noting the increase in expenditure on projects and schemes related to the CWG, the Delhi Minister for Finance, Dr.Walia said, "Our revenue collection through taxes has not been adequate due to recession. Therefore, it has become essential to look for measures to generate additional revenue to sustain development."

Continue reading