To mark the completion of 25 years since the initiation of the decentralised planning experiment in Kerala, this issue leads with an article by Thomas Isaac who played a leading role in that movement since its inception. Beginning with a…
‘The Left must have a programme to bake more bread before redistributing them. You have proved to be good at distribution. But you have no nprogramme for production.’ This was a common criticism of many liberals in the background of…
I would like to place on record my deep gratitude to Professors Sasheej Hegde and Atlury Murali (2021) for having engaged with my book, Infinite Double: Persons/Things Empire/Economy (Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2015) (hereafter ID), in such a…
Kalhana’s Rajatarangani, written in the twelfth century AD, contains a quasi-history of Kashmir which provides a valuable and accurate picture of the socio-cultural life of the region from the eighth century onwards. Prior to the eighth century, we know that…
This paper is primarily confined to the geographical limits of northern Tamil Nadu during the reign of the Pallavas. The rulers of this house were responsible for establishing the first known state in this region in or shortly before the…
The organised labour movement in our country has just completed a century. The first all-India level trade union – the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) – was formed in 1920. Over this long period, the labour movement has faced…
I first heard of Sheila Bhalla from my friend and colleague at Cambridge University, Ajit Singh, who used to come to Chandigarh every winter to meet his family. Ajit spoke with some awe of ‘Darshan’s chain-smoking Canadian wife who teaches…
Noted scholar and activist Gail Omvedt died after a long illness on 25 August 2021 in Kasegaon, Sangli district, Maharashtra, which she had made her home since the 1970s. In its obituary of the noted scholar, the CPI(M) recognised her…