-Frontline.in The argument that the Indian farmer is overburdened by “negative support” has become contentious in the context of the recent farm laws. In reality, this does not hold up to scrutiny. In the heat of the ongoing protests against the new farm laws, some views have emerged that the state has saddled the Indian farmer with excessive taxes. In support of this contention, methodology and data from the Organisation for Economic...

-Article-14.com Citing lack of data, India’s labour, railway, Agriculture ministers have claimed no one died because of a Covid-19 lockdown imposed at a four-hour notice a year ago. That is not true. At least 989—likely an underestimate— people died between March and July 2020, as per a database built by volunteers New Delhi, Bengaluru, Atlanta (US): A year after the announcement of India’s Covid-19 lockdown on 23 March 2020,  the effects of...

-CaravanMagazine.in On 21 February, over one lakh farmers and agricultural labourers gathered at a rally in Punjab’s Barnala district to pledge unity in the movement against the 2020 farm laws. The rally was organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, two of the biggest unions that represent the interests of the landless peasants and work in tandem with each other. The BKU (EU) president,...

-ThePrint.in From Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan, India has several indigenous water systems that have worked for centuries. As water runs out, we need to return to nature-based solutions. A 13th century stone edict, found inside the Perur Patteeswarar temple near Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore, describes the creation of a nearby lake and lays down rules for a water-sharing arrangement between upstream and downstream regions along the Noyyal river. Starting as early as 8th...

-Scroll.in Going against conventional wisdom, the Indian middle class is not a source of liberalism. A profound contradiction lies at the heart of contemporary India’s political economy. On the one hand, it embraces economic liberalism. In September 2020, it legislated laws aimed at liberalising Agriculture from state-guaranteed protections. The recent budget, passed in February, was high on promises of accelerating divestment of public sector undertakings. On the other hand, however, this enthusiasm...