-Down to Earth We must get out of ‘beyond disaster response’ mode in the Sundarbans and take urgent action to save it The world seems to pay attention to the Sundarbans only when catastrophe hits. In the aftermath of both supercyclones Amphan and Yaas that ravaged the Sundarbans, non-profits, celebrities, clubs and citizens had organised several crowd funding initiatives to get the financial support to distribute relief materials to the cyclone victims. It...

-The Hindu Its retrieval of the old secular political language openly counters the BJP’s divisive and communal politics On September 5, 2021, in Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of farmers gathered at Muzaffarnagar’s government inter-college ground for the kisan mahapanchayat organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). At the mahapanchayat, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait reiterated the farmers’ demands to repeal the three farm laws and for the “legal guarantee of MSP...

-Down to Earth Wheat and barley see the lowest increase in MSP announced by government; red lentils the highest The farmers’ protests in Delhi and north India are in their tenth month, with the guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops as one of the main demands. Even as they rage on, the Union government September 8, 2021 approved to increase the MSP for rabi 2022-23. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,...

-Hindustan Times Thousands of farmers surrounded a key government building in Haryana chief minister’s bastion of Karnal on Tuesday evening, holding a massive show of strength and intensifying their protest over controversial police action on agitating cultivators last month Karnal/ Chandigarh: Farmers gathered at a mahapanchayat venue in Karnal, and later marched on foot to the mini secretariat building five kilometers away. They jumped over some barricades but didn’t face any serious...

-Hindustan Times A corrosive culture distances the State from the public and legitimises demands for public ‘discipline’ to achieve policy goals Caught on a now viral video, ordering police to “break the heads” of farmer protesters, Haryana bureaucrat Ayush Sinha achieved notoriety last week. The incident, coupled with the Haryana chief minister (CM)’s condemnation of the “choice of words” while insisting on “strictness” to maintain law and order, speaks volumes for how...