-The Indian Express Never mind what the bhadralok class thinks. The poll campaign has exploded the myth of Bengali exceptionalism. As West Bengal is witnessing the pathology of the prevalent electoral politics, the illusory character of the “cultural capital” the Bengali bhadralok community boasts of is becoming increasingly clear. Yes, this bhadralok class — quite often fixated at the glory of the late 19th and early 20th century Bengal — loves to...

-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,...

-The Tribune The woman bled to death and her newborn died a short while later Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh): In a shocking incident, a 30-year-old school dropout performed a 'caesarean section' on a pregnant woman with a shaving razor blade. The woman bled to death and her newborn died a short while later, after Rajendra Shukla, 30, performed the C-section surgery on her with a shaving blade. Rajendra Shukla, a Class 8 school dropout, was...

-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...

-Livemint.com The shrinking of middle class population could have a medium-term impact on India’s growth trajectory The coronavirus pandemic may have shrunk India’s middle-class population by 32 million and driven 75 million below the poverty line in 2020, a Pew Research Centre report said, as a severe recession walloped Asia’s third-largest economy. The report, which is based on an analysis of World Bank data, said that in comparison China fared much better, with...