November 25, 2006

The concluding functions that brought the curtain down on the year-long celebrations of the golden jubilee of the ‘Quit India’ struggle of 1942, presented in sharp relief the slump in morale allround.
With all the exposures of mega corruption in which the wielders of power have been entangled, and the unashamed buying of MPs so that the reins of the government do not slip out of one’s hand—all the homilies and harangues at the August 9 celebrations sounded so hollow and could stir up (…)

In the run up to the 1996 general election when P.V.Narasimha Rao was trying for a second term as the Prime Minister, the prestigious Saturday Discussion Group at the India International Centre invited Pranab Mukerjee to speak on the Congress party’s election manifesto. Besides being the Foreign Minister he was also heading the party’s Election Campaign Committee. Answering a question on the party’s prospects, he began to recall in his characteristic political science pundit style that the (…)

Respected Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,
I write with deep concern about the contentious Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project on the confluence of Tuivai (Mizoram) and Barak (Manipur) rivers, for which you are scheduled to lay the foundation stone on November 25, 2006. Surely you are aware that there is considerable local opposition to the project because of displacement of large numbers of people, and loss of their livelihood. Apart from that most important and entirely valid (…)

On November 24, 2006, Nitish Kumar is completing one year in office. The contemporary situation in Bihar demands economic participation along with social transformation and political participation. These demands are the result of the piecemeal “social engineering”. If we see Bihar in 2005-06 we find that Bihar is the only State in India’s electoral history where polls have been conducted twice in the same year.
In 1990 Laloo Prasad faced three types of demands within the society. The (…)

Eight more kisan suicides in one day
– Gajanan Sadashiv Chaudhari of Nandura Khurd
– Atul Manohar Sabre of Manakwadi
– Naresh Bakaram Meshram of Walgaon
– Gajanan Babarao Thombre of Amti
– Laxman Bapurao Chaudhari of Barzadi
– Natthu Raghoji Shrirame of Dahoti
– Shaligram Farfat of Khandvi
– Ajabrao Ramji Sonone of Sukanda
The count this year, till now
Nine hundred and nine.
Do you want to kill yourself here?
Or migrate to the Megapolis to a slow death?
Who is next? Please (…)

The violence seen on the streets of Delhi on September 20 should have been a wake-up call to resolve the sealing controversy in capital city before it leads to massive disruption of livelihoods and the accompanying discontent. At the root of this controversy is the issue of what kinds of commercial or non-residential activities are permitted in residential areas. It is by now clear that the norms on the basis of which recent efforts (before September 20) were made to settle this issue (…)