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AERO dies by suicide in Kolkata, family alleges extreme election duty pressure and humiliation
A 48-year-old Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) died by suicide in South Kolkata’s Bansdroni area after consuming pesticide, the tragic death of Malabika Roy Bhattacharyya has sparked serious concerns regarding the immense pressure placed on government officials tasked with SIR/Election duties, with her family explicitly blaming the ECI for the extreme workload
Identity issue to the fore: Vande Mataram controversy
The untimely raking up of this controversy by the BJP leadership is nothing short of a desperate attempt to divert national debate from key and pressing issues
Over-centralisation, Unaccountability, Political Considerations & Control: Stakeholders critique the VBSA 2025
At a press conference held on December 15, 2025, Monday, over two dozen organisations and fronts working on higher education have critiqued the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill 2025 pointing out how this proposed law marks a structural shift to dismantle public funded higher education
Kerala Local Body Election Results Ring Alarm Bells in the Left’s Last Bastion
The CPI(M)'s Hindu outreach alienated Muslims in northern Kerala while Hindu voters migrated to the BJP anyway, with the Left party getting caught between two vote banks, satisfying neither.
MNREGA to G RAM G: Ideological shift, erosion of rural workers’ rights, increase of fiscal burden on states
In continuance of its assault on constitutional rights, the Constitution itself and a rights based framework in rural work, the Modi 3.0 government’s introduction of a Bill to replace the MGNREGA 2005 twenty years later negates the basic concept and approach of a robust demand driven law
Ensure free & fair elections, Congress warns Election Commissioners, threatens strict action over ‘vote theft’ at a massive show of strength at Delhi’s Ramlila...
The party showcases nearly 6 crore signatures as part of its campaign against vote chori; senior leaders stated that vote theft is an attack on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution, and accuse the BJP-RSS of standing with untruth and power; INC mobilises thousands of party workers at Delhi’s Ramlila Ground on December 15
Australia, World express shock at Sydney’s Bondi Beach terror attack, toll rises to 16, Govt promises stricter gun laws
As the horrific news of Sunday’s Bondi Beach terror attack at which two gunmen, a father-son duo killed those at a Jewish Celebration; Reuters reported that while the Police did not release the shooters' names, but said the father had held a firearms license since 2015 and had six registered weapons; they were however identified as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram by state broadcaster ABC and other local media outlets. A fruit seller hero, identified by 7News as 43 year-old Ahmed al-Ahmed, a bystander fruit-seller
Complaint filed by CJP against Arunachal Minister Ojing Tasing for threatening denial of welfare schemes
CJP Team -
Complaint states that Ojing Tasing’s remarks amount to coercion of voters, distortion of democratic process, and unconstitutional use of state power
‘Babri Masjid’ v/s Gita recital: In a cynical play of communal politics, pre-poll West Bengal sees active polarisation at both ends of the spectrum
Months ahead of polls, Bengal politics takes a communal plunge –minority and majority -- with electronic and print media playing up both events: the foundation laying ceremony of the “new Babri Masjid” and the “Gita Recital” at the Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata
Bettina Bäumer’s Inclusive Philosophy Is What We Need in Such Times
Her autobiography is a rare account of a woman’s journey in the deepest sense from Europe to India; from Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic, to the Philosophy of Recognition or Pratyabhijñā, popularly called Kashmir Śaivism.
In India, Wealth Inequality among highest in the world, top 1% holds 40% wealth: Study
On the global stage, the top 0.001% own three times more than the poorest half of humanity combined, said the 2026 World Inequality Report
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Politics
AERO dies by suicide in Kolkata, family alleges extreme election duty pressure and humiliation
A 48-year-old Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) died by suicide in South Kolkata’s Bansdroni area after consuming pesticide, the tragic death of Malabika Roy Bhattacharyya has sparked serious concerns regarding the immense pressure placed on government officials tasked with SIR/Election duties, with her family explicitly blaming the ECI for the extreme workload
Communal Organisations
UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge
Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice
Minorities
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Dalit Bahujan Adivasi
An Adivasi woman once in bonded labour now serves her village as a Sarpanch
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Rights
Abdul Sheikh Citizenship Case: Deportation stayed as Gauhati High Court Hears challenge to ex parte foreigner declaration, state to raise maintainability issue
Court allows preliminary objection while continuing stay on deportation; petitioner explains delay to challenge FT order through prolonged detention, lack of access to the detenue, financial constraints, and absence of legal aid
History
Bhagat Singh sent to gallows once again!
Repeated attempts by present day academics to whittle down the tradition followed and forged by young revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are bound to fail; as history endures with the traditions laid by these very men
