Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Remembering Chernobyl after 25 Years

  3 May 2011

  On the twentyfifth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, we are carrying the following article by Mikhail Gorbachev. It is highly relevant at the present juncture.
  by Mikhail Gorbachev
  I first heard of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor breakdown on the morning of April 26, 1986, when the Soviet Ministry of Medium Machine Building, responsible for nuclear reactors, reported it to the Kremlin. Though the seriousness of the incident remained unclear during our emergency (…)

• Hazare’s Fast And Its Aftermath

  3 May 2011, by P R Dubhashi

  Anna Hazare broke his 97 hour-fast at Jantar Mandar, New Delhi on Saturday, April 9, 2011 after he was handed over a copy of the gazette notification constituting a ten-member committee consisting of five Ministers of the Union Government and five representatives of the civil society including Anna Hazare himself. The government, which was initially somewhat adamant in its attitude, was compelled to come to terms with all the demands of Anna Hazare, in view of the unprecedented support he (…)

• Anna’s One-Shot War On Corruption

  3 May 2011, by Shree Shankar Sharan

  There is no doubt that Anna Hazare had the highest interest of the country on his mind in undertaking his fast as a war on corruption. There is no doubt either that he brought an upsurge of emotion in the country against corruption and showed a way in which it can be fought courageously and effectively following the Gandhian model of satyagraha and JP’s model of the Bihar movement in 1974. He has once again laid the ghost, as JP did, that people’s movements against popularly elected (…)

• From Bric To Brics: Thinking Big?

  3 May 2011, by Ash Narain Roy

  The 21st century is witnessing new paradigms of power. The topology of power has undergone a sea-change. The tectonic changes in the international system are creating major shuffling in the global power structure. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is not simply a new gathering place for the world’s emerging powers, but reflects a new global power structure.
  While for India, democracy or, what Michael Mandelbaum of the John Hopkins University calls, ‘democratic (…)

• May Day 2011 - Commemorating 125 Years of Workers’ Uprising in Chicago

  3 May 2011, by Nirmalya Biswas

  It all happened on a Saturday; 125 years have passed since then. In those days people had to work for ten to twelve hours a day. But on that Saturday they broke the rule. They set aside their fear and strife, and left work. With an indomitable spirit they dared to raise their voice and make a start. Together they dreamt to change the world. “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what we will”1 was what they decided as something non-negotiable. Workers in thousands (…)

• Danger Signal of Degeneration

  3 May 2011, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
  As elections to the West Bengal Assembly are in full swing we are reproducing the following article of N.C. and the letters related to this piece for the benefit of our readers.
  I write these lines after a fortnight has passed since that shocking incident took place in a suburb of the city of Calcutta. Three women and their driver returning from duty assigned by the government’s Health Department were detained by a gang of ruffians, their belongings looted, their van (…)

• Bantala and After

  3 May 2011

  The following is the text of the letter received by the Editor, Mainstream, from the Minister of Information and Culture, Government of West Bengal, and the Editor’s reply.
  West Bengal Minister’s Letter
  MINISTER
  Information & Cultural Affairs, Local Government, Urban & Metropolitan Development Departments,
  Government of West Bengal
  D. O. N. 401/M/90
  Calcutta, the 30th June, 1990
  Dear Shri Chakravarty,
  Kindly refer to your eassay, “Danger Signal of Degeneration” (…)

• What is the RSS?

  3 May 2011

  May 1 marks the 34th anniversary of the foundation of the Janata Party and also the 89th birth anniversary of the renowned socialist leader, Madhu Limaye (1922-1995), who left a deep impress on Indian polity by his selfless service and effective intervention as a politician, an ideologue and a parliamentarian. He wrote extensively in this journal. While remembering him, we are reproducing the following piece he wrote after the Janata Party split in 1979; it was published in the Hindi weekly, (…)

• Global Leadership And Global Systemic Issues — part II | Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Branislav Gosovic

  3 May 2011

  GLOBAL LEADERSHIP AND GLOBAL SYSTEMIC ISSUES
  South, North and the United Nations in a 21st Century World - II
  by Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Branislav Gosovic
  The following is the second part of a lengthy article being published here in three parts. The first part appeared in Mainstream (April 23, 2011). The next part will be carried in the following issue. —Editor
  6. The United Nations of the Future—boosting its Capacities for Global Leadership roles
  A vigorous, strong, fully (…)

• Whither NMML?

  3 May 2011, by Arjun Dev, Bipan Chandra, Satish Chandra

  It is a matter of concern and disquiet that despite widespread protests the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) governors (Karan Singh is the current Chairman of its Executive Council) are pushing through changes in the institution in a manner that could harm it irrevocably. While it takes vision to build an institution, careless handling and failure to maintain essential norms can lead to rapid decline.
  Founded in the mid-1960s as the national memorial to Jawaharlal Nehru, it is (…)