Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Russia Nudges Syria to Move On

  2 April 2012, by M K Bhadrakumar

  The United Nations Security Council statement on Syria on March 21 marks a turning point. The unanimity of opinion over the year-long crisis in Syria is appearing for the first time; why and how this happened needs to be understood. Russia finds itself in the driving seat in crafting the future of a key Middle East nation. This is unprecedented and it impacts the alchemy of ties between the presidency of Vladimir Putin and the West. Indeed, the Arab Spring won’t be the same again.
  But (…)

• Inside Free Bangladesh: Pilgrimage to Tagore’s Hermitage

  2 April 2012, by Sumit Chakravartty

  [The following article appeared forty years ago in Mainstream (January 15, 1972). It is being reproduced after forty years to mark the fortieth anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence on December 16, 1971 and the fortyfirst anniversary of Sheikh Mujib’s declaration of freedom struggle at Dacca’s Ramna Maidan on March 7, 1971 as well as the consequent West Pakistani military crackdawn on the East Pakistan people on March 26, 1971.]
  When Sonar Bangla is played as the national anthem of (…)

• Three letters in response to Ather Farouqi’s ’Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’

  2 April 2012

  COMMUNICATIONS
  Investors are Exposed and Exploited
  Apropos the commentary on Islamic banking entitled ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’ in Mainstream (March 3, 2012), let me say that the proponents of Islamic banking are none other than radical Islamists, responsible for the distorted image of Muslims the world over. They offer nothing of merit in the name of Islamic banking vis-a-vis modern banking practices. The way they advance their logic is the way Muslim (…)

• Corporate India and Poverty in Bharat

  27 March 2012, by SC

  The unprecedented Dinesh Goswami episode is over. The Trinamul Congress’ nominee for the post of the Railway Minister, Mukul Roy, a close confidant of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in charge of the portfolio on March 20 after Dinesh was forced to resign on March 18 due to Mamata’s dogged opposition to his continuance in office—stemming from her annoyance with him for the former Railway Minister’s decision to go for across-the-board passenger fare-hike (that (…)

• Tackling the Israeli Car-bombing Case: Decode the Attack, Dump the Dilemma

  27 March 2012

  TANVI KULKARNI and J. JEGANAATHAN
  Bomb blasts in Delhi may not be shocking news these days but the limpet bomb attack on the Israeli’s Defence Attaché’s vehicle close to the Prime Minister’s residence on February 13, 2012 would have definitely astonished many people. Usually, bomb blasts create a sense of panic and disorder in the locale. But this attack, which is unique in terms of the modus operandi and explosive device used, wantonly generated ripples in diplomatic circles.
  Israel’s (…)

• Union Budget 2012-13 : Missing a Vision

  27 March 2012, by Arun Kumar

  I. Introduction: The Context of ‘Reform’
  The IMF Managing Director commented days after the presentation of the Union Budget 2012-13 that India should have the ‘appetite for change’. Apparently she implied that the Finance Minister should have pushed forward the necessary reforms in policies. She further added that there was need for ‘leadership and consensus’ and this implies a disappointment with the Budget as it was presented. Two points arise. What does she mean by reform and whether (…)

• A Pre - and Post - Budget Analysis

  27 March 2012, by Anshuman Gupta

  Pre-Budget Outlook
  The Budget is very significant for an economy. It gives the direction to the economy by presenting the statement of its total expenditures and revenues, and initiating the new economic programmes. Though its importance has scaled down after 1991 as a result of the pro-market reforms’ programme, it still holds a significant position for the businesses.
  This year the Budget is important for more than one reason. It is the second last Budget for the present government (…)

• Ill Winds of Change?

  27 March 2012, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
  A midst extraordinary effusion of anxiety and interest, the long-awaited Budget was presented to Parliament on July 24.
  The anxiety over it came from the high-voltage advance publicity about the country having reached the threshold of bankruptcy from which it could be saved by that mother of all money-lenders, the IMF. And interest in the Budget was generated by the expectation that it would set the lines of modernising our economy through structural changes so that (…)

• He Marched to Death

  27 March 2012, by Bejoy Kumar Sinha

  The eightyfirst anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh falls on March 23 this year. On that day in 1931 he was executed alongwith his comrades, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Bhagat Singh’s birth centenary was befittingly observed on September 28, 2007. We are paying homage to the abiding memory of that indomitable revolutionary by presenting the following piece. The writer was a close associate of Bhagat Singh and sentenced to transportation for life as his casemate. In this article he (…)

• Content of the Leaflet thrown in the Central Assembly Hall by Bhagat Singh

  27 March 2012

  “It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear. With these immortal words uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we strongly justify this action of ours.
  “Without repeating the humiliating history of the past ten years of the working of the reforms (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) and without mentioning the insults hurled at the Indian nation through this House—the-so-called Indian Parliament—we want to point out that, while the people are expecting some more (…)