-The New Indian Express Having brought this economic disaster on the country, there was not a single statement of regret, introspection or even justification from the Powers that be Demonetisation will go down in Indian economic history as one of the greatest policy blunders. In the two quarters prior to the ban on high denomination rupee notes, the Indian economy had registered around 9% growth. Since then, the growth steadily decelerated and...

-The Hindu There is a lack of recent data on the representation of various communities in education and employment The Madras High Court’s recent verdict of quashing the 10.5% special reservation for Vanniyakula Kshatriyas within the overall 20% quota for Most Backward Classes (MBC) and Denotified Communities (DNC) has again highlighted the importance of quantifiable data as a prerequisite for reservation in education and employment. Adopted on the last day of the previous...

-CounterCurrents.org In a society divided along caste and class lines, violence against the marginalised groups either does not attract the attention of society at large or the oppression per se tends to be seen as normal. The pattern of silence is in favour of the dominant groups. There is no abnormality seen in violence perpetrated by the dominant groups either directly or through the use of state machinery. Instances of responding...

-TheWire.in Only six states have the rules necessary to operationalise the PESA Act's provisions – yet the myth that PESA is alive and kicking prevails. A quarter-century ago, on December 24, 1996, the Parliament enacted a law unlike any other in the country. This was India’s first law to actually recognise people’s Powers, in the form of the gram sabha at the hamlet level. This path-breaking legislation was the Provisions of the...

-National Herald Five years after the disastrous demonetisation, the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister—even the fawning media— no longer speak of the ‘Demonetisation Dividend’. There has been none Two years back, on November 8, at around 8.30 pm, the Prime Minister of India, with his characteristic love for drama, unleashed on the country what he had then claimed was the one silver bullet which would eliminate the triple evils of black...