GN Bureau | May 2, 2015
Here are five special stories you must read this weekend
International Labour Day
Shramev Jayate (Labour Prevails), the slogan coined by prime minister Narendra Modi, is not as seductive as Karl Marx’s exhortation, “Workers of the world unite”. But the essence of both emphasises the ultimate triumph of the proletariat as sine qua non for the evolution of a new political order. Is labour recognised as an input as critical as capital and treated on a par?
READ: Marxism Modified
The labour has been pushed to the margins after liberalisation. This crisis should be an opportunity for trade unions to revive themselves
READ: Just another day in the life of the worker
Conversation with author Tarek Fatah
After ‘Chasing a Mirage’, and ‘The Jew Is Not My Enemy’, Fatah has come out with his third book, ‘The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State’ (Kautilya Books, New Delhi), and ahead of its launch he interacted with the editorial team of Governance Now on Thursday
READ: The trouble with Islamic State
Punjab drug problem
Punjab possibly has everything a state can ask for, maybe too much. For a majority of its youth is getting wasted from rampant drug abuse. They are the future of Punjab but their present is mired in smack and heroin. Not only is the youth fast turning irrelevant in terms of Punjab’s progress, signs of a greater worry reflect in the state’s weakened backbone – the gradual demise of countless youngsters from drug overdose. This grim reality has created an unfortunate irony – the state has everything, yet nothing.
READ: The story of a lost generation
Nepal Earthquake
From political leaders to business entities to common people, all played insensitive fools by making stupid comments on the tragedy that devastated the neighbouring country. While social media helped families and friends of those affected by the earthquake connect with them, it also played a spoilt brat, showing little restraint in its reactions
READ: It is a tragedy, stupid
Missing girl child
More than 1,27,71,043 girls are missing in India. These girls have not vanished overnight but were killed in the uterus between 2000 and 2014. This is almost half of the total sex selective abortions across the globe in this period and also the highest in the world followed by China and Pakistan. Around the world, as many as 2,45,61,345 girls disappeared before birth in the last 14 years
READ: The data about the missing girl child
The strength of the Supreme Court is set to go up from 33 judges to 37 judges, paving the way for a more efficient and speedier justice. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament to amend The Sup
The political map of the country is set to be redrawn with the BJP set to win the West Bengal assembly elections, apart from Assam and the union territory of Puducherry. In Kerala, meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF is set to regain power. The filmstar Vijay-led TVK has emerged as the front-runner in Tamil Na
India, the second-largest importer and consumer of LPG after China, faces growing pressure due to supply constraints. Most of India`s LPG imports transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a focal point of global turmoil. Given that LPG forms the backbone of household kitchens and the restaurant industry, any s
The government has initiated preparations for Census 2026 in Maharashtra, introducing a hybrid approach that combines optional self-enumeration with comprehensive door-to-door data collection to ensure complete coverage across the state. According to senior officials, the Self-
A Touch Of Genius: The Wisdom of India’s Nobel Laureates Edited by Rudrangshu Mukherjee Aleph Books, Rs 1499, 848 pages
The Income Tax Department organised an outreach programme in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, to raise awareness about the key features of the Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026. The initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote taxpayer awareness, simplify compliance, and strengthen a transparent, eff
