Dear Friend,
Today at 5:00 p.m., the US National Cathedral’s bell will ring 900 times, to mark 900,000 American dead from COVID-19. It has been just 55 days—less than two months—since the bells of the cathedral rang to commemorate 800,000 deaths. And, at the present daily death rate of 2,700, it will take just 37 more days for the United States to register a million dead.
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In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
Countercurrents.org
US death toll from COVID-19 heading toward 1 million
by Andre Damon
Today at 5:00 p.m., the US National Cathedral’s bell will ring
900 times, to mark 900,000 American dead from COVID-19. It has been just 55 days—less than two months—since the bells of the cathedral rang to commemorate 800,000 deaths. And, at the present daily death rate of 2,700, it will take just 37 more days for the United States to register a million dead.
The Double Whammy of Hunger and Livelihood Crises after Covid-19
by Sumit Chaturvedi
The pandemic wreaked havoc on Pappu Singh and Sheela Devi’s family, residents of Nagla Vidhichand village situated on the Agra-Gwalior highway in the southern part of Agra district. While none of their family members fell prey to the Covid-19 infection, their five-year old daughter Sonia did succumb to starvation induced death on August 21, 2020 following the lockdown.
Whither India’s Sovereign Green Bonds
by Kavaljit Singh
In her Union Budget 2022 speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the issuance of sovereign green bonds during the upcoming fiscal year. “As a part of the government’s overall market borrowings in 2022-23, sovereign green bonds will be issued for mobilizing resources for green infrastructure. The proceeds will be deployed in public sector projects which help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy,” Ms. Sitharaman stated. Several Indian non-financial corporations have issued a variety of green bonds in recent years, but this will be the country’s first sovereign green bond issuance.
NFIW Condemns exclusion of young Muslim girls on Hijab issue in Karnataka
Press Release
The National Federation of Indian women (NFIW) unequivocally condemns the exclusion of
young Muslim girls from universities and schools in Karnataka, on the flimsy grounds that their attire is not appropriate. The administration caved in to the demand by a group of saffron scarved boys to ban women wearing hijab from entering the premises of educational institutions.
Who stands to gain if LIC bleeds?
by Anirban Bhattacharya
The Finance Minister declared the government’s disinvestment plans for the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Already, amendments to the LIC Act have been made to set in motion the LIC IPO. This has triggered panic waves across the large sections of ordinary policy holders who are anxious about their life’s savings. It has also led to widespread criticisms and protests from economists as well as the LIC employees.
Fahad Shah and the Tragic Fate of Journalism in Kashmir
by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
The recent arrest of Fahad Shah, editor of Kashmir Walla, under S 13 of UAPA and S 124 A and 505 of IPC for ‘uploading anti-national content’ raises a debate about the fate of journalism in times of conflict. Shah was arrested as he had uploaded Inayat Ahmad Mir’s family’s protest over the police’s claim that Mir was a “hybrid terrorist”—an unlisted and camouflaged militant—in the encounter that had happened in his house in Naira Pulwama on January 30, 2022.
Sri Lankan Tamils Wait For Crucial 49th UNHRC Session For Justice
by Thambu Kanagasabai
In the March 2022 UNHRC Sessions Human Rights Commissioner Her Excellency Michael Bachelet is expected to present her oral Report on progress made by Sri Lanka in respect of various UNHRC Resolutions passed since 2015
Women
Led Movements Against Liquor Consumption
by Bharat Dogra
In this context of the growing urgency of reducing alcohol consumption significantly it is heartening to note that in recent decades several social movements in India have achieved significant success in reducing alcohol consumption in their limited areas of action for more or less significant durations of time. These movements almost inevitably had a leading role of women.This has significant lessons for the way forward in reducing alcohol consumption.
