Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• NCERT’s Political Science Textbooks

  17 August 2012, by Arjun Dev

  The author’s article ’NCERT’s Political Science Textbooks Controversy: Cartoon-centred Pedagogy’ appeared in Mainstream (July 28, 2012). The following article is a continuation of the previous one.
  There are six textbooks in Political Science for Classes IX to XII, two for Classes IX-X and four for Classes XI-XII. Each of these textbooks has been prepared by, or under the auspices of, a Textbook Development Committee, one for each book, but all of them have a common Chairperson of the (…)

• The Combustible North-East

  17 August 2012, by Kuldip Nayar

  India’s North-East is the most combustible region. Some 250 ethnic groups are arrayed against one another and New Delhi to fight for their identity, some seeking even an outside-India status. Religion-wise, the proportion of Hindus, Muslims and Christians is more or less the same. Infiltration, mostly from Bangladesh or what was East Pakistan, has only aggravated the problem. Even the Assamese, who were given a separate State in 1955 when India was reorganised on the basis of language, have (…)

• Karnataka: The BJP Juggernaut Stumbles Along

  17 August 2012, by Sandeep Shastri

  Karnataka politics has not seen a dull moment in the past four years. Ever since the BJP formed its first government south of the Vindhyas, there have been those exhilaratingly ‘high‘ moments and the abysmally ‘low‘ tumbles for the party. The rapid twists and the silent turns, the amazing political somersaults and the smooth shifts in alliances within the party have all been part of that tantalizingly gripping political drama called the ‘BJP as a ruling party in Karnataka‘. Having changed (…)

• Karnataka Government’s Unconstitutional Action

  17 August 2012, by Vidya Bhushan Rawat

  The Karnataka Government’s order asking the temples of the State to perform rituals so that rain comes to save the farmers and cattle of the State is a blatant violation of the Constitution. Can a State Government of a secular country invest huge amount of money on performing puja to bring rain? How will this influence the minds of our children?
  The Karnataka Government’s Revenue Department has issued a circular to nearly 34,000 temples of the State to conduct several rituals to bring (…)

• President for the People

  17 August 2012

  by SATYA NARAYANA SAHU
  On the 60th anniversary of Parliament, Pranab Mukherjee assumes office as the 13th President of the Republic. The Indian term for President—who, as head of the state, occupies an exalted place in the constitutional scheme of governance—is “Rashtrapati”.
  The word has an interesting genesis in the Indian political context. During the freedom movement, the President of the Indian National Congress was respectfully addressed as Rashtrapati. Mahatma Gandhi, in many of (…)

• Changing Roles of the Presidents of India

  17 August 2012

  by RANBIR SINGH and KUSHAL PAL
  The first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, did not accept that the head of the Indian state is a mere ceremonial one. He not only opposed the enactment of the Hindu Code Bill but also demanded the examination of the powers of the President. It is pertinent to mention that despite having been elected to the office against the wishes of the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Prasad acted as the constitutional head but not as a nominal head (…)

• The Maoist Problem

  17 August 2012, by Amitava Mukherjee

  As the new Home Minister of India, the most daunting task before Sushil Kumar Shinde will be handling the Maoist menace. Although the West Bengal Government has recently registered some spectacular successes against the Maoists, the performance of the Central Government and some other State governments leaves much to be desired in this respect. The Maoists’ record in recent times underscores that they are operating with impunity while the governments at the Centre and in several States only (…)

• Fat and Cooked: Sustainability for You and the Planet

  17 August 2012, by Devdatt P. Dubhashi

  BOOK REVIEW
  The Energy Glut: The Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World by Ian Roberts with Phil Edwards; Zed Books, London and New York; 2010.
  What does obesity have to do with climate change? Everything, according to Ian Roberts, Professor of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. People are fatter and the planet is getting cooked—both because of the over-use of fossil fuels and a transportation system based on it.
  Obesity is very much in the news (…)

• Mullaperiyar: Dispute on the Amendment made in a Lapsed Agreement

  17 August 2012, by K G Somasekharan Nair

  Mullaperiyar, a conflicting subject between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, is of much national importance. Because settlement of such disputes between two linguistic States, amicably and not forcibly, is essential for national integration. The dispute has a prolonged historical background. In 1886 the Maharaja of Travancore agreed to lease out 8000 acres of hill track in the Western Ghats surrounding the valley of the river Periyar to the British Government for constructing a dam and reservoir. This (…)

• Backbone of Bihar Economy on Backfoot

  17 August 2012

  by GHANSHYAM KUMAR PANDEY
  Bihar is one of the Indian States where agriculture, with its fertile alluvial soil and favourable agro-climatic condition, has been moving on the path of progress since independence, though on a slow pace. About 90 per cent of the total population of the State of Bihar lives in the rural areas and more than 75 per cent of its population out of 83 million inhabitants depends on agriculture and allied sectors. Thus agriculture is the backbone of State’s economy. (…)