Jammu and Kashmir was the first state in the country to introduce land reforms. There were two components of J&K’s land reforms. First, the system of absentee landlordism,that had prevailed during the Maharaja’s time was completely done away with. The…
The Indian establishment’s obsession with GDP growth and stock market performance to the exception of all else, especially economic and social deprivation, is coming home to roost. Recent media reports on the state of the economy have highlighted three supposedly…
In justification of the move to end Kashmir’s special status, Amit Shah in his speech in the Rajya Sabha brought in the question of Kashmir’s “development”, arguing that closer integration with the rest of India will bring in much investment…
One of the immanent tendencies of capital is to commoditize every sphere of life; and under neo-liberal capitalism where the immanent tendencies of capital are given full play, we find the sway of commoditization reaching into new areas. The commoditization…
First it was the Finance Secretary who said that if the government borrowed less then more savings would be available for the private sector to borrow. Then it was the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India who talked…
While the neoliberal focus has been on attempts to “shrink the state” on the grounds of corruption and inefficiency, sensible people have long recognised that high levels of public employment tend to be associated with better quality of life for…
Fifty years ago on July 19, 1969, fourteen large private banks had been nationalized. Ironically the Golden Jubilee of that event, which had been a significant step in the process of building up a new financial architecture for the country,…
The central government has finally allowed the release of the report of the 2017-18 Periodic Labour Force Survey. The previous government had blocked its release before elections because the survey showed a massive increase in the unemployment rate, worst in…
The result of the recent Indian elections, which gave Narendra Modi’s Hindu Supremacist Party a second five-year term, confirms the basic argument regarding the nature of fascism. There is a fundamental difference between the 2014 elections that brought Modi to…
We often miss this aspect in our discussions, but Modi’s re-election is part of a global Right-ward shift that is taking place. Netanyahu got re-elected in Israel. Erdogan got massively re-elected in Turkey. The Conservative government came back to power…
