THE announcement of the privatisation policy of public sector enterprises (PSEs) in the union budget has been greeted with euphoria by the corporate media and rightwing economists.  “Modi has changed”, “Extraordinarily bold” and “Real reforms at last” were some of the comments by these circles.What evoked such cheer amongst big business and financial speculators?  What was announced in the budget has now been set out by the department of investment and public asset management under the union finance ministry as a memorandum entitled “New Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) policy for Atma Nirbha

THE relentless increase in the prices of petrol and diesel is adding to the problems of the people already burdened by the pandemic woes of joblessness and loss of incomes. The daily increase in the retail prices of fuel has led to the price of petrol breaching the Rs 90 per litre mark in various cities.  At this rate, the Rs 100 mark will be reached very soon.The government and the oil companies justify this increase citing the rising global prices of crude oil. This is, however, a specious claim.

AFTER the global Covid-19 pandemic exposed the dismal state of India’s public health system, one would have thought that the government would have learnt some lessons.  India’s public health expenditure is one of the lowest in the world and stood at 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2019.The Modi government pushed ahead with privatisation of health services in a big way – something which began with the liberalisation policies in 1991.  A health system developed where there is a dominant private sector – corporate-run hospitals, private nursing homes, clinics and diagnostic centres.  Most of them charg

WHEN the pogrom against minorities in Gujarat was raging in 2002, the then President of India, K R Narayanan had remarked to a delegation which met him seeking intervention, that: “The Constitution is not working in Gujarat”.  Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat at that time.Now, nearly two decades later and nearly seven years of the prime ministership of Modi, it can be said that the Constitution is not working in large parts of the country and in various sections of the polity.As we observe the 71st Republic Day, it would be instructive to see what has happened to the fundamen

THE new year has begun with a sobering reminder that the foreign policy of the Modi government is in shambles and its pro-US approach has landed the country in a strategic cul-de-sac.The outgoing ambassador of the United States, Kenneth Juster, has in a farewell speech put the Modi government on notice. After binding India in a series of military agreements, the United States will not countenance any strategic autonomy for the country.