-TheWire.in Her writings are indispensable for anyone interested in learning about the history of agrarian change and labour in modern India. Professor Sheila Bhalla, professor emerita at the School of Social Sciences, JNU, a respected teacher, a labour economist of repute and a committed activist, passed away in Puducherry on September 5. Canadian by birth, she was introduced to trade union activities early in her life by her father. She studied at the...

-The Tribune Chandigarh: Amid the agitation over the contentious farm laws when the Punjab Government is projecting itself as the champion of farmers’ rights, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the “mighty state was required to be sensitive” towards the rights of poor farmers. The admonition came after the state was caught sitting over the land of farmers for the last 23 years “without paying a penny as compensation”. Rapping...

-The Tribune It must be recognised that a practice that has been going on for over 50 years cannot be stopped at once. Farmers need economically viable solutions. Farmers should have the choice to adopt a solution that best suits them. A sustainable agricultural system is one that produces abundant food without depleting the earth’s resources and without polluting the environment. Thus, it is best if crop stubble is incorporated into...

-Civil Society News, Gurugram THROUGHOUT the first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic, the extent of the tragedy in India was mostly unknown. How many people had really died? Were they men or women? Information was anecdotal and speculative. This April, there were queues at crematoriums and burial grounds, but even as bodies piled up there were no reliable figures to go by. We now have some figures based on data-hunting...

Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...