High Food Prices Destroying Family Nutrition in Already Stressed Times
Prices of basic sources of protein like meat, eggs, pulses, and cooking oils have zoomed up, as has the cost of cooking gas.
Modi Govt’s Policy to Reduce Oil Imports: Subsidise the Rich, Burden the Poor!
Rice meant for the poor will be sold at subsidised rates to privately-owned ethanol distilleries. The industries will be given cheap loans and exempted from Environmental Clearances.
Why Even Capitalists are Now Pitching for Cash Transfers
The absurdity of conservative economic policy leading to shortage of people’s purchasing power is now becoming clear, even to capitalists, though not to Modi government.
Famished: Why Indians are Still Starving 75 Years After Independence
India ranked among the ten largest food producers globally. Yet, India’s rank in the Global Hunger Index has been falling over the years. Why is India unable to distribute food to its own people?
The Challenge of Saying How Many Excess Deaths Could be Due to Covid-19
Five states saw over 460,000 excess deaths in the first five months of 2021, but the official Covid-19 toll in these states in this period accounts for only 6% of these excess deaths. How many of the remaining 94% are ‘missed’ Covid-19 deaths will not be easy to disentangle.
Emergency: Then and Now – Two Articles
The last seven years show that democracy, rules and regulations can be the perfect cover to suspend democratic values and civil rights. Plus review of a new book on the Emergency by Christophe Jaffrelot and Pratinav Anil.
Government Must Spend More to Help People in This Hour of Crisis
As India has been facing a demand crunch since before the pandemic, prominent economists and activists have been relentlessly asking the government to pump up spending to stimulate demand.
The Larger Issues Underlying the Claim of Cairn Energy on Air India
Cairn Energy, a UK-based corporation, has filed a suit in New York to claim the international assets of Air India. A discussion of the larger issues involved, such as the relationship between big capital, especially international capital, and the State; and also the nature of the corporation itself.
COVID-19: Report Reveals Severity of Food Crisis Faced by India’s Poor in 2020
Report by prominent economist Jean Dreze and Anmol Somanchi highlights the severe economic distress and food crisis suffered by a vast majority of Indian poor following the 2020 lockdown. It demands a stronger wave of relief measures to avoid a repeat of the crisis.
One Year Later, Whither Atmanirbharta in Defence?
Just 12 months after being announced by India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the raft of defence industry reforms and policies lie in tatters.