Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Nuclear Energy Path is Suicidal

  22 August 2010, by Sailendra Nath Ghosh

  Mainstream, in its January 26, 2008 issue, published an article by this author, titled “Why the Nuclear Energy Path is Suicidal”. Below we are publishing its sequel which is also a response to some Indian nuclearists’ campaign for nuclear plants and also to the recent Indo-US deal for reprocessing American nuclear spent fuel in India at the cost of this country. —Editor
  At a time when reductionist science holds sway, knowledge systems become fragmented, and scientific-technological (…)

• Wanted: A Measure of Vision

  9 August 2010, by SC

  After price rise (on which finally Parliament was able to have threadbare discussion without voting as the government insisted) the scam relating to the Commonwealth Games (based on the UK money trials brought into focus by a private TV channel) has rocked both the Houses as well as the country at large. On both counts the government has been put on the backfoot by a spirited Opposition which appears to be unified in its bid to corner and isolate the Treasury Benches. As allegations of fraud (…)

• US Trapped by ISI; Advantage Taliban

  9 August 2010, by T J S George

  The leakage of 92,000 secret military intelligence documents is sensational anywhere any time. When the documents pertain to the war against the Taliban-Al-Qaeda, it is also disturbing because it shows (a) that America is in a trap and is unlikely to win this war, and (b) that India is in for trouble, big trouble.
  Let’s not forget that the information now leaked is new only to us, the lay public. To the top echelons of the leadership in America, the facts were known all along. They also (…)

• Abolish Death Penalty

  9 August 2010, by Rajindar Sachar

  The call of former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to the Government of India to hold public consultation on the desirability of retaining death penalty has not received adequate media attention. This is unfortunate because we can no longer play a hide and seek game with the straightforward question of abolition of death penalty.
  Great leaders of the world have voiced their opposition to death penalty. Thus Gandhiji said:
  I do regard death sentence as contrary to ahimsa. Only He takes (…)

• Commonwealth Games: The Pettiness of Eminence

  9 August 2010, by Mani Shankar Aiyar

  (The following piece appeared in Crest sometime ago. Thereafter it was published in The Other Side and other publications. In view of the latest controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Games and the significance of the contents of the former Union Sports Minister’s article we are reproducing it with the author’s consent and due acknowledgement. —Editor)
  Holding the 10-day, Rs 20,000 crore-jamboree reflects a misplaced sense of pride and distortion of national priorities. If not on (…)

• Communists and ‘Quit India’ Struggle

  9 August 2010, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
  This was the week, fiftytwo years ago, that marked the parting of ways between the Communists and the Congress. It was the Communist opposition to the ‘Quit India’ resolution at the historic AICC session in August 1942 that ultimately led to the expulsion of the Communists from the Congress organisations in 1946. Incidentally, the eviction of the Communists from the Congress marked the beginning of the process of transformation of the Congress from an all-embracing (…)

• FDI in Retail Trade: Hurting People Where it Hurts them Most

  9 August 2010, by Kamal Nayan Kabra

  The discussion paper of the government on FDI in retail trade in India shows that the most important single factor cited in support of permitting FDI in retail trade is the assumed prospect of attracting large and much needed investment in back-end services for value chains and other facilities to reduce post-harvest losses to the farm sector such as cold storages and thus add to total availability of farm goods. Assuming that these investments do take place (by no means a certainty) who (…)

• Are we Missing the ‘Moral’ of the Economy?

  9 August 2010, by Shyam Singh

  There is a common but important debate among the development practicenors and academicians about which ideological baggage is conducive to development in Third World economies like India. In such debates we always find a majority which principally favours democracy as the best political system and a way of governance to achieve the developmental goals with a higher rate of equity and equality. This abstract position has been practically shaped either by the idea of ‘state socialism’ or with (…)

• Manipur: Reactions to Nandita Haksar’s Article

  9 August 2010

  In our issue of June 19, 2010 we published an article by Ms Nandita Haksar entitled ’Constitutional Crisis in Manipur’. The article was reproduced in many papers and websites in the North-East and has generated a lively debate. We have also received some responses directly. We are reproducing some extracts from various points of view so that our readers may get a feel of the volatile situation in Manipur. —Editor
  The gravity of the situation in Manipur is not in doubt as is clear from the (…)

• Vijayagallu—A Rare Event In Troubled Times : People Celebrate a Victory

  9 August 2010, by S G Vombatkere

  In present times, barring ritual voting in elections, the will of We the People of the Republic of India rarely receives recognition. A people’s victory is rarer still in today’s dispensation by Central or State governments which are imposing on the people, a pattern of development that is increasingly being questioned. Thus, people’s victories, howsoever small or fleeting, need to be made known so that others who struggle to assert their rights may take courage and perhaps adapt the methods (…)