PAYING A STANDARD EX GRATIA COMPENSATION   The Centre’s stated position before the Supreme Court on paying a standard ex gratia compensation to families of those who died of COVID-19 shows poor appreciation of the fallout of an unprecedented disaster. After initially asserting that such payments were beyond the Government’s fiscal affordability, although there is a provision in the Disaster Management Act for compensation, and externalising the pandemic as a global, ongoing event, the Hom...

QUESTION SET ON FARMER’S BILL   The three acts passed by Parliament reinforce the apprehensions of this class that their control over the economy is weakened even as they could not graduate to industry, trade or the service sector. For the hegemonic agrarian ruling class in Punjab, land is not merely an economic asset, but has social and cultural value. This movement is different from the earlier agrarian protests in terms of the economic demands, politico-cultural stakes and identity overt...