-TheWire.in The documentary serves as an uncomfortable reminder of how ill-equipped we are to deal with the complex material realities of oppressed communities, especially when they implicate us at a fundamental level. Writing with Fire by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh is another addition to the bourgeoning mainstream media engagement with caste in India. The documentary has garnered accolades  – including an (ultimately unsuccessful) Oscar nomination – for its depiction of the...

-Countercurrents.org The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by both the houses of parliament in July 2019. The opposition parties had been arguing against the proposed changes in the Right to Information Act of 2005 through this amendment. The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act, 2005) came in existence after a long movement against transparency and accountability in governance. It enabled all citizens of India the right to...

The increase in the total number of suicides committed in India during 2020 in comparison to the previous years has hit the headlines recently. While some media commentators have stated that the economic distress (caused by job loss, income loss, failure of business, and growing hunger, among other things) in 2020 could have led to more suicides being committed, others have said that home isolation and deteriorating mental health (associated...

-Newslaundry.com From a media blackout to carrying government handouts, Bangladeshi media’s coverage of the recent communal violence is a reflection of declining press freedom. A little after 2am on October 13, the eighth day of Durga Puja, a man walked into the puja venue at Nanuardighi in Cumilla, Bangladesh. The main idol was curtained off for the night, but near it was an idol of Hanuman. The man placed a book near...

-Scroll.in Unless the Centre and states act swiftly, the humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen. As India witnesses a record-breaking surge of Covid-19 cases, the Central and state governments have been scrambling to find appropriate responses to handle this health crisis. At a time when the healthcare system is severely strained, many state governments not surprisingly have employed public health or non-pharmaceutical interventions to control the spread of the disease. These interventions...