Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• ’Jana Gana Mana’ at 100

  31 January 2012

  by JAYAN P.A.
  ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is the national anthem of India. The national anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress (INC) on December 27, 1911. But at that time it was sung under the title, Bharata Bidhata. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the Indian national anthem on January 24, 1950. Now, India’s national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is celebrating its centenary.
  This is truly a rare occasion for every Indian who (…)

• A Brave Pilot Navigating a Tortuous Journey

  31 January 2012, by Sumanta Banerjee

  BOOK REVIEW
  Yadon Se Rachi Jatra: Bikalp Ki Talash by Puran Chandra Joshi; Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi; 2009; pages: 247; Rs 325.
  This is a collection of essays by an eminent academic who narrates his political journey from the euphoric days of the 1940-50 period (when the Soviet Union was the beacon for those who believed in a socialist future), through the phases of disillusionment following the disclosures of Stalin’s atrocities, the hopes of renewal under Khrushchev and Gorbachev, (…)

• Multiculturalism Trumps Feminism: The Case of India

  31 January 2012

  by TAMANNA KHOSLA
  Most democratic states in contemporary times are multicultural in nature. Multi-culturalism advocates the need for recognising cultural diversity and accordingly granting rights to cultural minorities. Thus living with difference has become the new age mantra. Feminists too have close affinity with the politics of difference and therefore empathise with multiculturalists. They have hence made claims for another oppressed section, that is, women. Multiculturalists and (…)

• Beyond Bengal: The Genius of Rabindranath Tagore

  31 January 2012, by Balmiki Prasad Singh

  The world is celebrating the 150th birth aniver-sary of Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s creative genius found expression in poetry, novels, short-stories, plays, paintings and essays. In the history of Indian literature, he forms a trinity along with Sanskrit poet and playwright Kalidas and Hindi poet and philosopher Goswami Tulsidas.
  The Bengali personality bears the impact of the genius of Rabindranath and he occupies a place of prominence in their homes. Rabindranath, however, has a (…)

• A Dam in Danger and Damned Delay in Settling a Simple Dispute

  31 January 2012, by N A Karim

  THE CENTRE AND TWO STATES ARE EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE
  The Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala built on river Periyar 116 years ago using the then available construction materials and technology has become a matter of raucous controversy between the two contiguous States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. When the dam was built, its life was determined as 40 years. It was built at the initiative of the then composite Madras province for water for the five districts of the province administered by the paramount (…)

• Maoist Depredation in Junglemahal

  31 January 2012, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  The word ‘depredation’ is being used here deliberately. A movement connotes a large degree of political or social activities or even crusade involving the masses for a definite good purpose. What had been happening in the Junglemahal till the death of Kishenji was a series of individual killings, extortion of money, torture of innocent villagers and forcible recruitment of young men and women for the Maoist cadre. And what were all these for? To increase the area of influence of the CPI (…)

• How Real is the China Threat to India?

  31 January 2012, by Amitava Mukherjee

  It is now high time to admit that a terrible confusion has gripped the corridors of power in Delhi so far as India’s China policy is concerned. While the top brass of the Army has been cautioning the political leadership against China’s ultimate design, a powerful section of the bureaucracy that includes the National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon now openly main-tains an obsequious attitude towards China. [Recently in a public lecture the NSA was heard saying: “Why create (…)

• Waiting for the Indian Spring

  31 January 2012, by T J S George

  LOOKING BACK ON 2011
  Now that the celebratory mood of the New Year has passed, we can take a cool look at what 2011 did to 2012. It did bad things on the business front: growth slowdown, euro crisis, rupee’s fall and so on. The ill effects of these will continue to haunt much of the world, triggering not only protectionist policies already initiated in America, but also hate crimes in White countries against non-Whites.
  The dead year also did something historically portentous: It (…)

• On the Threshold of a Milestone

  27 December 2011, by SC

  With this Annual Number Mainstream completes fortynine years of its eventful journey through crests and troughs to step into the fiftieth year of its modest existence.
  It has doubtless been a purposeful voyage with all the trials and tribulations it had to encounter on its path which was indeed quite arduous due to its resource-constraints in particular. The difficulties have continued to mount over the years as the nation’s politico-economic scenario has undergone a sea-change with money (…)

• Welcome Home, Goa!

  27 December 2011, by P.C. Joshi

  [(The following lead piece was written by that outstanding Communist leader P.C. Joshi, the first General Secretary of the CPI, in the party’s weekly organ, New Age, on December 24, 1961, five days after Goa’s liberation from Portuguese colonialism. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of that momentous event, we are reproducing, with due acknowledgement, this piece alongwith a reportage on Goa’s liberation by journalist-cum-academic Raza Ali, also published in New Age (January 7, (…)