Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Women and the Indian Political Process

  24 April 2010, by Bharti Chhibber

  The crux of democracy lies with the people. Participation of the people grants legitimacy to the government. Though women form a sizable part of India’s population, their political representation and participation is definitely below the mark.
  Of late the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the Indian Parliament) took a historic decision. It passed the Bill which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Bill seeks to reserve a third of the (…)

• Women’s Reservation Bill and Gender Justice

  24 April 2010, by Nisha Jain

  The passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha is surely a historic and giant step and assumes significance due to the prevalent gender discrimination and increasing marginalisation of women on the one hand and their under-representation in political bodies on the other. One aspect of introducing the 108th Amendment Bill is to combat the marginalisation of women in political institutions and creating a political space for them. Despite 60 years of independence and (…)

• The Communist Rishi

  24 April 2010, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  On May 19 passed away a man in Madras about whom fulsome obituaries have been written, and condolence messages conveyed; the funeral procession wended its way through the dusty streets of Vijayawada, the city which in the past was one of the main centres of his tireless activity. But all this does not bring out the real identity of the man.
  Putchapalli Sundarayya was not a mere mortal. He was of a special mould, and he helped with his two hands to mould a whole generation of his (…)

• China’s Policy towards Non-Military Threats

  24 April 2010, by Simi Thambi

  A nation’s security is no longer the “traditional national defence” but has economic, environmental, and human dimensions as well. All three dimensions are often subsumed under the rubric of “comprehensive security”, a new umbrella concept that grew out of the post-Cold War debate over the ramifications of security and over security studies as a field of inquiry.1 This essay presents a coherent exposition of some non-traditional threats in the context of China which have become especially (…)

• Dialectical Advance of China in International Relations: An Overview

  24 April 2010, by Arshi Khan

  The trend and pattern of international relations, which is in transition, seems to be following a kind of ‘dialectical advance’ in the direction of unfolding itself due to inherent conflicts and oppositions. This dialectical process as a natural course of shifts, curves, breakdown and resetting also seems to continue due to the deficiencies and imperfections existing therein. This hypothetical reading of international relations is closer to the ‘Hegelian theory of Reason and Absolute Idea’ (…)

• Muslims and the Half-won Battle for Social Justice

  24 April 2010, by Harish S. Wankhede

  The recent Supreme Court judgment, which permitted the Andhra Pradesh Government to provide four per cent reservation quota for socially and economically backward groups among the Muslims in jobs and educational institutions, is a commendable development in the battle for social justice. The earlier interim order passed by a seven-judge Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had struck down the same law for providing quota for the Muslims with a remark that “it violated the constitutional (…)

• South Block’s Predicament: Stranded in Afghanistan and Marginalised in the Region

  24 April 2010, by Mansoor Ali

  National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon went to Kabul a week after the terror attack on a small hotel housing mainly Indians, ostensibly to beef up security arrangements in the Afghan capital. While this was clearly one of the main tasks of his visit, a prime objective of the trip was to regain India’s faltering grip in Kabul. More so after its diplomacy received a severe setback at the London Conference on Afghanistan where New Delhi was unable to garner support for its positions in (…)

• Eyeless in New Delhi

  19 April 2010, by SC

  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit offered him an opportunity during his meeting with the US head of state to raise India’s concerns in the wake of the latest Afpak policy framed by President Barack Obama. It must be pointed out that he did so quite effectively, and told Obama in clear terms that New Delhi could never forego its strategic and security interests at the altar of US expediency in that region, particularly when both sides (…)

• Rethink Counter-Maoist Strategy

  19 April 2010, by Digvijay Singh

  The recent incident in Dantewada wherein the Maoists killed 76 CRPF jawans has triggered a heated debate about the establishment on one side and the Naxalites on the other. One section calls for strong action against the Naxalites, even calling them terrorists and urging the use of armed forces against them, while others defend the action of the Naxalites to the extent of justifying it.
  Hours and hours have been spent on the debate by many people, be it senior politicians, (…)

• Judiciary at the Crossroad—Some Posers

  19 April 2010, by Rajindar Sachar

  The judiciary, though one of the three wings of the sovereignty, is considered to be the weakest by the public even if in the constitutional scheme it should be the strongest. But this downgrading unfortunately is brought about by self-inflicted wounds. The judiciary owes to itself to do a little more serious introspection if for nothing else but to just maintain its esteem amongst the public at large.
  A serious charge against the judiciary is the pendency of about 2.7 crore cases in (…)