By A Representative   An alliance of women’s rights activists has urged the National Commission for Women (NCW) to initiate legal action against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over an incident at a public function in Patna that they allege amounted to a grave violation of a Muslim woman’s dignity and constitutional rights. In a detailed complaint dated December 18, the All India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), part of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), sought the NCW’s immediate intervention following an episode on December 15 during the distribution of appointment letters to newly recruited AYUSH doctors in Patna. 

By Bharat Dogra   With the growing importance of climate resilience, it is becoming increasingly necessary to integrate the promotion and protection of rural livelihoods with this objective. This has emerged as a key concern of rural development initiatives. There is no question here of sacrificing development opportunities for small farmers or other livelihood groups. Rather, the challenge lies in more thoughtful planning to integrate several important objectives simultaneously.

By A Representative   A representation submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has raised serious concerns over what it describes as the rapid erosion of ecological safeguards within India’s legally protected areas, citing recent global research and the proposed approval of a major pumped storage project inside a wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  The proposed Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2025 marks a decisive shift in India’s food regulation landscape by seeking to place Halal certification exclusively under government control while criminalising all private Halal certification bodies. Although the Bill claims to promote “transparency” and “standardisation,” its structure and implications raise serious concerns about religious freedom, economic marginalisation, and the systematic dismantling of a long-established, Muslim-led Halal ecosystem in India.

By Nava Thakuria*  Renowned physician and healthcare visionary Dr Nomal Chandra Borah, founder of the GNRC Universal Health Mission and the GNRC Group of Hospitals, has been conferred with two prestigious national Lifetime Achievement Awards in recognition of his transformative contributions to neurology, nursing leadership, and community healthcare over the past five decades.

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  Russia has paid an enormous price for its invasion of Ukraine. Yet, it has secured very limited strategic gains and occupied far less territory than anticipated, especially when measured against the scale of human and material losses incurred over nearly four years of war. 

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) has strongly opposed the proposed Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, warning that it seeks to dismantle the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and replace a legally enforceable right to work with a discretionary, budget-capped scheme controlled by the Union government.  Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, NSM leaders, economists, workers and activists said the Bill had been introduced without consultation with workers or their organisations and would have far-reaching consequences for rural livelihoods across the country. According to NSM, the proposed legislation repeals MGNREGA, 2005, and empowers the Centre to fix annual, state-wise “normative allocations” for employment generation. Any expenditure beyond these pre-determined limits would have to be borne by state governments. Speakers at the press conference argued that this effectively c...

By Ram Puniyani*  The BJP thrives on identity issues. It deploys them to polarise society and reap electoral benefits. From the Babri Masjid–Ram Temple dispute to cow–beef politics, “love jihad” and other invented “jihads”, such themes have been its principal tools. Adding to this list, another issue has now been brought to the fore: the national song Vande Mataram.

By Vijay Prashad   Sitting in a lively room in the University of Amsterdam, I ask a question about the respect accorded by students to their former Prime Minister and now head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mark Rutte. The room is animated and funny. No-one seems to accord Rutte with the respect that he might deserve. They see him as an empty suit who served as Prime Minister from October 2010 to July 2024, a total of over five thousand days —the longest serving head of government in Dutch history.