Will you work for 90 hours?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEWh8cRD9Q    Ravish Kumar Official Jan 10, 2025  L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan Asks Employees To Work 90 Hours A Week  A video of L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan is going viral in which he is saying that he regrets that he is not able to get people to work on Sundays. There are many memes going around on social media on his proposal to work for 90 hours a week. Actually, in the last several years, you have been reduced to sending only memes and good morning messages. There is either no job or it is low salary, inflation is at its peak and savings are going down. But you are pushing memes and blowing away every worry. All the questions have already disappeared from the media, the remaining work has been completed by the memes. Stop for a while and think how much space is there for you and your rights in such a proposal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po8vzTSTkmk    | N18L CNN-News18 Dilip Cherian seem to be "normalising" it.. Saying that many people do work like that especially start-ups.   After inviting sharp criticism for its chairman SN Subrahmanyan's idea of a 90-hour workweek, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) defended his remarks saying that 'extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary efforts'. 'We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realize our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The Chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition,' the company said in a statement.

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Ravi Kiran Jain is no more. A lot of us might not know who Ravi Kiran Jain was.
A former head of the PUCL, Ravi ji was an extremely kindred soul. He worked alongside Dr. Binayak Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and Kavita Shrivastava in the PUCL.
When Justice Sudhir Agrawal of the Allahabad High Court, (the Ayodhya judgement case judge) wrote a letter to the Bar, suggesting that judges and senior advocates make contribution to help hapless lawyers during corona virus days, he as PUCL national president, publicly responded, saying that first this judge should give up his unnecessary Z-plus security (after the kind of judgement he had given), and secondly, he said, these days clients instead of  engaging Senior Advocates prefer to engage kith and kin of Judges practicing in high court. 
It embarrassed many 'uncle judges' no end. 

Fond of quoting HM Seervai at length, he was the stuff the quest for justice in an unequal world is made of. No flag will fly at half mast, but his demise is nevertheless a huge loss, the kind which should be mourned in the recesses of our souls. 

A lot of warriors for justice do not get the sort of headlines that some receive. Would we see gushing elegies in the papers? -- A Whats App Post.

Not many people would know this: in 2004 when Manipur plunged into a deep crisis, then PM Dr MMS went to Imphal and handed over the Kangla Fort, the most revered symbol of power to the public. After independence, this was kept captive to the Assam Rifles. Here is his speech there on Nov 20, 2004. https://archivepmo.nic.in/drmanmohansingh/speech-details.php?nodeid=45 Extracts: he ancient heritage of Manipur and its tradition of bravery continue to echo throughout the length and breadth of the State and inspires the rest of the country. The Kangla Fort exemplified the bravery of Manipuris and witnessed many a fierce battle against British authorities who wanted to capture it and conquer its people. ...it was Indira Gandhi who positively responded to the yearnings of the Manipuris to have a separate State so that they could fashion their destiny and develop and consonance with their own genius. It is important and instructive to recall that Indira Gandhi while studying in Shantiniketan belonged to the Manipur Group and learnt Manipuri dance. In fact during his visit to the State in 1952, Panditji saw a number of dances in Manipur and wrote, show at Manipur

What kind of India do we seek?  https://vikalpsangam.org/article/yogendra-yadav-writes-what-kind-of-india-do-we-seek/  Yogendra Yadav Reporting on the 10th Anniversary of Vikalp Sangam, and its session at Bhuj Nov 24.

real alternatives to modern development? Can they take on the challenge of scale and survive in the face of giant corporations in a globalised market economy? Does the practice of majority-based democracy leave any room for concerns of future generations and nature? Valid questions. But you must also ask another set of valid questions: Can anyone seriously think of offering to every Indian the lifestyle available to everyone in the Global North? Is this model worth replicating? Can we afford to go on with the destruction of nature, lives and livelihoods as an inevitable cost of “development”?

Once we recognise the unbearable weight of these questions, a quest for alternatives does not remain an obsession of a mad minority. Once we realise that alternatives are not about going back to our past, but about imagining and shaping our future, this becomes a collective search. How do we make these radical alternatives feasible? Can we think of a “scale out” rather than “scale up” model? What is the roadmap of transition from where we are to where we wish to go? 

In a significant step towards empowering forest-dwelling and nomadic communities, 210 individual claim forms under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 were passed today in the Gram Sabha held at Naranag, Kangan. This milestone event underscores the growing momentum in securing the rightful access and ownership of forest resources for indigenous and pastoral communities in Jammu & Kashmir. 

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The Right to Live Under the Grip of UAPA  Eenadu 15.10-2024

Professor Saibaba, who languished in prison for ten years for a crime he did not commit, passed away last Saturday. With a 90% disability, he endured a hellish experience in a dark cell. He was not even allowed to see his mother one last time when she passed away. 

The Bombay High Court, which determined that there was no evidence to support the charges against Saibaba, overturned his life sentence last March, describing the criminal proceedings against him as a 'judicial failure.' 

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Freefall In India’s Academic Freedom Ranking Is Reflected In Cancelled Lectures At IIT Bombay & Elsewhere https://article-14.com/post/freefall-in-india-s-academic-freedom-ranking-is-reflected-in-cancelled-lectures-at-iit-bombay-elsewhere-670749ce2fd0f   Since November 2023, IIT-Bombay has prohibited teachers and students from organising events that “may be viewed as political” without permission. Talk by at least four prominent intellectuals and experts, including environmentalist and historian Ramachandra Guha and cultural activist Ganesh Devy. In three cases, the events were called off at the last minute. 

The Academic Freedom Index , released by the FAU Institute of Political Science in Germany and the V-Dem Institute in Sweden, placed India in the “completely restricted” category—countries where restrictions on academic freedom are consistently applied across all academic disciplines.  From 2013 to 2023, India’s AFI ranking slipped from 0.6 to 0.2 on a scale of 0 to 1.  India was in the bottom 30% of 179 countries, lower than Pakistan, Congo, and Russia.

A whats app message Another good decision of Modi Government on the suggestion of Superstar Akshay Kumar: ........
Payment of only one rupee per day and that too for Indian Army. In the cabinet meeting yesterday, Modi Government opened a bank account for the modernization of Indian Army and for the soldiers who get injured or martyred in the war zone. In which every Indian can donate any amount as per his/her wish. Which starts from 1 rupee and is unlimited.

This money will also be used to buy weapons for the army and paramilitary forces. On the suggestion of people on Mann Ki Baat and Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Modi Government has finally taken a decision on today's burning situation and opened Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualty Fund Account in New Delhi, *Canara Bank.

This is a master stroke of Film Star Akshay Kumar. From where no one can stop India from becoming a super power. If even 70% of India's 130 crore population puts only one rupee in this fund daily, then that 1 rupee will become 100 crore in a day. 3000 crores in 30 days and 36000 crores in a year. 36,000 crores is not even Pakistan's annual defense budget. We spend 100 or 1000 rupees every day on useless things, but if we give one rupee for the army, then India will definitely become a super power.

This money of yours will be deposited directly in the Army Assistance and War Casualty Fund of the Ministry of Defense. Which will be used for military equipment and army soldiers.

So join this campaign of Modiji and help the army directly.

Nothing will be achieved by shouting slogans against Pakistan, blocking roads and making statements. Implement the thinking of Modi and the people of the country and strengthen the army of your country. So that countries like Pakistan and China can be shown their place without the help of any country. Bank details are given below.

Solidarity with Ladakh’s ‘Delhi Chalo’ Yatra, Demanding  Constitutional Safeguards
By Vikalp Sangam General Assembly https://vikalpsangam.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ladakh-Padayatra-Solidarity-Statement-by-VSGA-final-4.9.2024.pdf   We are shocked at how the BJP, having promised 6th Schedule status when Ladakh was converted into a Union Territory in 2019, has gone back on this.  The primary demands by the citizens of  Ladakh are inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, statehood, separate Parliamentary seats for Kargil and Leh, and a public service commission for Ladakh enabling its youth to get jobs. Such steps are crucial to safeguard Ladakh’s ecologically and culturally unique and fragile status, especially against unrestricted and inappropriate land use, commercialisation, and excessive tourism. Protecting Ladakh’s ecological integrity is also vital for the climatic and water security of South Asia as a whole.