Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Returning the Kohinoor to Where It Belonged

  10 March 2013, by Kuldip Nayar

  British Prime Minister David Cameron has exhibited once again England’s imperial side when he came to discuss the Kohninoor. He said at Amritsar during his visit that his country “controls” the diamond, which is partly studded in the Queen’s crown. This only explains what the UK has done with the diamond after taking it away forcibly from India. This does not establish control, much less legal title. This only confirms British high-handedness.
  Cameron would have gone down better in India (…)

• When Budgets are Made by Politicians, they become Missed Opportunities

  10 March 2013, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  There is an accepted way to handle Budgets —and there is the Indian way. Our Budgets are the handiwork of politicians, not financial experts or railway specialists. They do not seek long-term plans aimed at public good. Some Ministers are smart and some are naive, but all focus on short-term advantages. Budgets are, year after year, our country’s biggest missed opportunities.
  Consider Railway Minister Bansal’s perfor-mance. This was his maiden Budget, the first time in his (…)

• Union Budget 2013-14: Farmers’ Expectation of Result Orientation

  10 March 2013, by Prabhakar Kulkarni

  The Finance Minister has announced a number of facilities for the farm sector. But as per past experience, farmers do not realise what is ensured in the Budget. This is because the system is not well guided both in clarity and specific commitment which is much needed in the context of the prevailing prohibitive factors.
  While the new private banks are expected to open branches in rural areas, they are now given facilities which are provided to the nationalised banks. But the introduction (…)

• Union Budget 2013 - 2014: Look at the Components of Fiscal Deficit, Mr Chidambaram

  10 March 2013, by Bharat Jhunjhunwala

  Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stressed during presentation of the Budget that the fiscal deficit should be kept in control in order to attain high growth rates. He has not made large increases in outlays in order to keep the fiscal deficit under control. The government is much concerned that international rating agencies may downgrade India if the fiscal deficit is not kept under control. A downgrade may lead to the foreign investors fleeing and that would bring the UPA crashing down. The (…)

• A Book-keeper’s Exercise

  10 March 2013, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
  It’s like a political rope trick, Chidambaram’s maiden Budget as the Finance Minister of the United Front Government. Everyone from V.P. Singh and Somnath Chatterjee to the captains of the corporate giants have praised it and the Finance Minister coiuld go home in peace, as he has been anointed by the media as “Thiruvallu-var’s Disciple”. Indeed a long way that the young politician has travelled from the day when he promptly quit as the Commerce Minister to avoid being (…)

• Why Harass and Penalise the Buyers?

  10 March 2013

  COMMUNICATION
  Chidambaram’s proposal to burden the buyer with the requirement of deducting tax at source at one per cent, where the value of immovable property purchased exceeds Rs 50 lakhs, will be a harassment to most of the individual buyers, for they will have to seek professional assistance to comply with the relative formalities like obtaining the TAN and filing the TDS return. It would be wiser if the seller collects the tax (TCS), instead of the buyer deducting it. In any case, the (…)

• The Devaluation of Women’s Work

  10 March 2013

  by JAYANTI ALAM
  Of all the Human Rights a woman or the “inferior” human being can think of, it is the right to work or an income-generating work that can perhaps give her an upward social mobility and an awareness of her freedom. Work is of greatest significance for women. However much the right to work or employment is not a Fundamental Right in our Constitution, however much women’s household work is not recognised while calculating the nation’s GDP and however much women are invariably (…)

• Muslim Women and Minority Rights in India

  10 March 2013

  by MONICA MUNJIAL and POONAM KAUSHIK
  India is one of the largest democracies in the world. It also has one of the largest minorities. A true democracy ensures not only individual rights but also rights of minorities as a community. Our Constitution has laid down in Articles 25 to 30 the rights of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities and thus made India a truly democratic and pluralist nation.
  There was, however, a big gap between noble intentions and actual realisation. The (…)

• Silent Revolution In Bihar And Women’s Empowerment

  10 March 2013, by Satish Kumar

  Of late 580 well-trained women are ready to move into the most difficult terrain of Bihar, the mostly Naxal-infested Rohatas district and its surrounding areas. These brave women were trained as the first female battalion of the military police with a twin purpose. One, to fight against the Maoists in the different districts, and two, to address the steeply increasing violence and criminal activities against the female populace. Nitish Kumar believes that women’s battalion depicts women’s (…)

• Social Justice for Inclusion

  10 March 2013, by Arvind Kumar

  BOOK REVIEW
  Non-discrimination and Equality in India: Contesting Boundaries of Social Justice by Vidhu Verma; New York: Routledge; 2012; xv+pp.269; £ 85.00 $36, hdbk; ISBN: 978-0-415-67775-2
  The book under review is an unprecedented work on the subject as it has set an agenda in the very opening line of the introduction that the concept of social justice is familiar to most Indians but one whose meaning is not always understood as it signifies a variety of government strategies designed (…)