Remembering Tapan Kumar Bose, a Tireless Advocate for the Rohingya People https://thewire.in/rights/tapan-kumar-bose-obituary by Sabber Kyaw Min.. 

Bose’s activism began during India’s emergency in the late 1970s, where he highlighted human rights violations. His work covered important events like the Bhagalpur blindings, conflicts in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Bhopal gas tragedy. Through his films, such as An Indian Story (1981), Bhopal: Beyond Genocide (1986), The Vulnerable Road User (1991), Jharkhand (1993) and The Expendable People (2016), he gave a platform to the oppressed and brought attention to systemic injustices.

He was instrumental in establishing and supporting many human rights groups, including the South Asia Forum for Human Rights, the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative and others.

Frontline cover package on the Great Nicobar mega infra project.  


1)  The Great Nicoba sellout: The Editor's note by Vaishna Roy
"When “development” means uprooting people, plundering forests, and selling paradise to profiteers, whose future are we really building?"
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-project-india-development-sustainability-island-archipelago-ecological-donald-trump/article69192295.ece 

2) Great Nicobar: Disaster in the making - The Lede by Pankaj Sekhsaria
"The mega project on the island was cleared using incomplete, inaccurate data, grossly underestimating its environmental and biodiversity impact."
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-infrastructure-environmental-tragedy/article69158497.ece 

3)  "The Great Nicobar Project: A costly miscalculation?" - M Rajshekhar
"The proposed container port lacks commercial logic, its naval merits are unclear—so why is this project being pushed through at any cost?"
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-project-campbell-bay-transshipment-terminal-galathea-bay-infrastructure-project/article69159231.ece 

4)  An obit for Patai Takaru by Rohan Arthur and TR Shankar Raman
"Great Nicobar’s mitigation plans reduce restoration to tree-planting and reef relocation—a deceptive fix for irreversible ecological loss."
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-island-andaman-ecological-development-coral-reefs-marine-ecosystems-climate-change/article69158539.ece 

5)  On the brink: 10 endangered species of the Nicobar Islands by Saurav Harikumar
"The islands are home to a rare mix of wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. Here are ten that face the greatest threat from the Great Nicobar project."
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-project-endangered-species-saltwater-crocodile-species-wildlife/article69150433.ece

 अडानी को ट्रम्प से बचाने के लिए- क्या कीमत देगी बीजेपी सरकार! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOAtYkv6q7c Abhisar Sharma 

Perhaps not for Adani alone?

Trump's halt of US law banning business bribes abroad raises specter of a 'Wild West' of dealmaking  https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-s-halt-of-us-law-banning-business-bribes-abroad-raises-specter-of-a-wild-west-of-dealmaking/ar-AA1yR2Q9 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/business/trump-fcpa-explained.html

 An Act to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for an issuer of securities registered pursuant to section 12 of such Act or an issuer required to file reports,   to make certain payments to foreign officials and other foreign persons, to require such issuers to maintain accurate records, and for other purposes.

Com. Dr. Rameshchandra Patkar
Senior member of the Marxist Communist Party, member of the editorial board of the state mouthpiece of the CPI(M) 'Jeevan Marg', writer, translator, thinker, painter of Janshakti Granth Prakashan, Lokvangmay Grih and many other publishing houses, popular retired professor of the Marathi department of Wilson College, Com. Dr. Rameshchandra Patkar passed away on 11 February 2025 in Mumbai at the age of 85 due to old age.

Rameshchandra Patkar was born on 16 November 1939. He remained loyal to Marxist ideology throughout his life. While working as a professor at Wilson College, in 1975, senior party leaders and former All India President of the Teachers' Association, Dr. Kishore Thekedutt, Prof. Rameshchandra Patkar and Prof. Sudhir Yardi, three of them, established the Teachers' Association in Mumbai-Maharashtra. They were on its executive committee for many years. They were always active in the historic strike of the teachers and many other movements.

Dr. Rameshchandra Patkar wrote important and quality writings on art. Today, many who have studied painting in Maharashtra have learnt the basic lessons of art history from the book 'History of Art' written by Patkar. Apart from this, Rameshchandra Patkar has made a valuable contribution to the art world of Maharashtra by completing the research book 'Art Thoughts in Maharashtra Magazines' with great perseverance. Patkar has translated articles and poems of many domestic and foreign writers from a humanistic perspective and has also published them.

कॉ. डॉ. रमेशचंद्र पाटकर 
मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्ट पक्षाचे ज्येष्ठ सदस्य, माकपचे राज्य मुखपत्र 'जीवन मार्ग'चे संपादक मंडळ सदस्य, जनशक्ती ग्रंथ प्रकाशन, लोकवांग्मय गृह व इतर अनेक प्रकाशन संस्थांचे लेखक, अनुवादकार, विचारवंत, चित्रकार, विल्सन महाविद्यालयाच्या मराठी विभागाचे लोकप्रिय निवृत्त प्राध्यापक कॉ. डॉ. रमेशचंद्र पाटकर यांचे ११ फेब्रुवारी २०२५ रोजी मुंबई येथे वयाच्या ८५व्या वर्षी  वृद्धापकाळाने दुःखद निधन झाले. 

रमेशचंद्र पाटकर यांचा जन्म १६ नोव्हेंबर १९३९ रोजी झाला. आयुष्यभर मार्क्सवादी विचारसरणीशी निष्ठापूर्वक बांधिलकी त्यांनी ठेवली. विल्सन महाविद्यालयात प्राध्यापक म्हणून कार्यरत असताना १९७५ साली पक्षाचे ज्येष्ठ नेते व प्राध्यापक संघटनेचे माजी अखिल भारतीय अध्यक्ष डॉ. किशोर ठेकेदत्त, प्रा. रमेशचंद्र पाटकर आणि प्रा. सुधीर यार्दी या तिघांनी मुंबई-महाराष्ट्रात प्राध्यापक संघटनेची स्थापना केली. त्याच्या कार्यकारिणीवर ते अनेक वर्षे होते. प्राध्यापकांचा ऐतिहासिक संप व इतर अनेक आंदोलनांमध्ये ते नेहमीच सक्रिय असत.

डॉ. रमेशचंद्र पाटकर यांनी कलाविषयक महत्त्वपूर्ण व दर्जेदार लेखन केले. आज महाराष्ट्रात चित्रकलेचे शिक्षण घेतलेल्या अनेकांनी पाटकर यांनी लिहिलेले 'कलेचा इतिहास ' या पुस्तकातूनच कलाइतिहासाचे प्राथमिक धडे गिरवले. याशिवाय रमेशचंद्र पाटकर यांनी 'महाराष्ट्राच्या नियतकालिकांतील कलाविचार ' हे संशोधनपर पुस्तक अत्यंत चिकाटीने पूर्णत्वास नेऊन महाराष्ट्राच्या कला जगतास मोलाची देणगी दिली आहे. पाटकर यांनी अनेक देशी व परदेशी लेखक-लेखिकांच्या लेखांचे आणि कवितांचे मानवतावादी दृष्टिकोनातून भाषांतर केले असून ते प्रकाशितही झाले आहे.   

कॉ. डॉ. रमेशचंद्र पाटकर यांच्या निधनाबद्दल मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्ट पक्षाची राज्य कमिटी, जीवन मार्गचे संपादक मंडळ आणि जनशक्ती ग्रंथ प्रकाशन तीव्र शोक व्यक्त करत असून, त्यांच्या कुटुंबियांच्या दुःखात सहभागी आहेत.

What Forced Biren Singh To Quit Now? |  https://youtu.be/AUaOVExJ-r4?t=102 Five reasons : No confidence motion, Supreme Court Case coming up in March, Issues within the BJP ranks,  Allies withdrawing support, admin attempts to cover-up tapes..

https://www.prajasattakjanata.page/2025/02/blog-post_11.html https://youtu.be/9GnHJ3XSiI4?t=78

what Somnath Suryavanshi's mother and brother had to say.. https://youtu.be/9GnHJ3XSiI4?t=155

The world isn't close to breaking free from coal — in some countries, demand for it is surging https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/world-coal-demand-remains-at-record-high-as-power-demand-surges.html
U.S. exports of coal have been rising steadily to satisfy growing global demand for the world's dirtiest fossil fuel, even though its domestic consumption has decreased.

On top of that, the world's coal capacity reached a new record high of nearly 2,175 gigawatts in 2024, data from Global Energy Monitor showed on Feb. 6. Coal capacity is the overall power output that can be generated from coal-fired power plants.

China recently reported that its coal imports surged 14.4% to a record high in 2024, amounting to 542.7 million metric tons compared with 474.42 million tons the year before.

Hydropower, wind and solar energy made up almost 30% of China's electricity mix in 2023, data from energy think tank Ember Energy showed. When hydropower output drops as a result of insufficient rainfall, the Chinese government often relies on coal power to ensure energy security, Mei added.
"Additionally, another major barrier is not the availability of renewable energy infrastructure, but the difficulty of transmitting solar and wind power across provinces,
In India, climate-induced extreme heat has led to soaring energy demand for cooling, and clean energy sources are not built fast enough to meet the country's growing power demand, said Mei.

India's focus on economic and infrastructure development has also boosted the consumption of cement and steel, industries that are heavily reliant on coal, according to analysts CNBC spoke to.

The South Asian nation's demand for steel is set to grow by 8-9% in 2025, outpacing that of other economies, owing to a pickup in steel-intensive construction in the infrastructure and residential sectors, data from consulting firm Crisil showed.

 Don’t misdiagnose AAP defeat in Delhi election results. It will be fatal to democracy https://theprint.in/opinion/bjp-delhi-elections-2025-aap-defeat/2486293/ Akshay Marathe 09 February, 2025  Delhi’s voters do not dislike Arvind Kejriwal. In fact, even in defeat, AAP secured approximately 44 per cent of the vote, compared to 54 per cent in 2020. Over the last five years, the BJP convinced 10 per cent of Delhi voters—perhaps not inaccurately—that AAP was a false choice or no choice at all. A gun was held to the heads of Delhi’s people: if you do not vote for the BJP, your city government will remain dysfunctional, and your beloved city will decline. It is unthinkable that a Prime Minister would be so cruel and self-serving as to hold his own capital city to ransom the way Narendra Modi has—but that is exactly what happened in Delhi...

How was Sheila Dikshit able to govern Delhi without significant run-ins with the central government? The answer is obvious to anyone willing to look. Between the 2020 and 2025 elections, the Centre amended the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, formally redefining “government” in Delhi as the “Lieutenant Governor”—a political appointee of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Previously, the Delhi government needed the L-G’s approvals only for major policy decisions, while day-to-day matters remained under the elected government’s control. The amendment, however, effectively transferred all decision-making powers to the central government, making the BJP the de facto ruler of Delhi.

without the BJP’s power grab, none of AAP’s shortcomings would have cost it its majority in Delhi elections 2025.

What global media https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/delhi-election-results-2025-how-global-media-said-about-pm-narendra-modi-aap-arvind-kejriwal-bjps-landmark-win-101739068253053.html  Reuters:"The victory  underscores the party’s growing appeal in urban centers, particularly among middle-class voters who once backed AAP.   Associated Press: AAP’s declining popularity and internal struggles played a role in its defeat.   The Financial Times :  AAP, once seen as a strong regional force, now faces an existential crisis. Losing it to the BJP puts serious questions on its national ambitions. Al Jazeera : this victory is a story of BJP’s micromanagement in constituencies + quoting Nivedita Menon: “It feels like BJP will never lose an election again.  BBC:   BJP, securing Delhi represents more than just electoral success—it marks a crucial foothold in the nation's capital after being out of power there since 1998.

From Godhra to Godse, the rise of propaganda films in India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4BvqL7Uh8w  Since 2014, there has been a noticeable surge in the production of political and ideological films in India. More of these are slated for release in 2025. These films, many of which align with the Hindutva agenda, frequently target minorities, and contribute to the growing polarization in society.