THE incidents of February 16 that began near Peruka on the border between Rajasthan and Haryana and ended in the Nuh area in Bhiwani district of Haryana, are notable not only for the barbarity and cruel violence meted out to two Muslims, Junaid and Nasir but also for what they reveal about the collusion between the Haryana police and cow vigilantes and the complete impunity with which the latter are allowed to perpetrate crimes in the name of ‘gau seva’ (cow protection).The details are well-known.

THE union budget for 2023-24 has unveiled a big assault on lives and livelihoods of the people. Spending on schemes and programmes that provide direct economic benefit to people has been slashed across the board. But even bigger and more alarming are the sins of omission. Key problems confronting the people have been either ignored or cavalierly dealt with.

THE union budget for 2023-24 is to be presented before parliament on February 1, 2023 at a time when both the Indian as well as world economies face a grim situation. Notwithstanding the tall claims of the Modi government, India’s economy is yet to recover from the crippling effects of the Covid pandemic and the disastrous way in which it was handled by the government of India.Since the time the last budget was presented, the global economic context has also worsened with the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by western powers.

IT appears that nothing short of a total disaster will convince authorities, especially under the present government, that reckless development without addressing environmental or social issues, does not lead to progress. The unfolding tragedy in Joshimath, considered a holy town for being the gateway to the hill shrine of Badrinath, is but the latest in a long series of disasters in the Uttarakhand Himalayas caused by unrestrained construction, infrastructure and urbanisation in these fragile mountains.

A LOOK back at the year 2022, which has just ended, shows that it has been a year in which the Indian economy struggled to come out of the deep trough it was plunged into in the years 2020 and 2021.  Rising inflation, growing unemployment, industrial stagnation and ever-widening inequalities in income and wealth were the visible features. Towards the end of the year, the figure of unemployed reached over five crore and for most of the year, retail inflation was above 7 per cent.  This was accompanied by stagnation in industrial growth with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in October