Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Economic Reforms in India: Is there a Political Consensus?

  31 August 2009, by Protiti Roy

  Having lost almost all its wealth to the colonial overlords, the erstwhile Golden Bird was now afraid to allow any outsider to participate in its economy. However, a certain degree of liberal-capitalism was considered essential, and thus newly independent India adopted a “mixed economy”, in which features of both the capitalist model and socialist model were prevalent. The “mixed economy”, however, was not very well mixed, and had strong socialist tendencies.
  The policy-makers (…)

• Marital Discord and Divorce in India—The Changing Profile

  31 August 2009, by Namita Singh Jamwal

  Family is the most important primary group in society. Family and marriage are considered to be the two pillars of any society and as such they are the two most important societal institutions. In India, traditionally and from time immemorial, marriage has been hallowed as sacred; and marriage for most Indians is not merely a sacrament but is sacrosanct. Once the couple enters into the bond of marriage, the relationship is considered perpetual—till death does them apart. In other words, (…)

• Change of Guard seems imminent in Japan

  31 August 2009, by Rajaram Panda

  Introduction Japan goes to the polls on August 30, 2009. Prime Minister Taro Aso who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the LDP-New Komeito coalition announced snap polls after a resounding defeat in Tokyo’s Metropolitan Assembly elections early in July 2009. In this election, the Opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) trounced the LDP with 54 seats to 38, thus precipitating the snap polls.1
  Like the Congress in India, the LDP has dominated the Japanese (…)

• Our Pledge Today

  19 August 2009, by SC

  Fifteenth August will once again be celebrated throughout the country as Independence Day in five days’ time.
  After 62 years as we approach our sixtythird Independence Day the face of the country has undoubtedly changed for the better in different fields of activity. The national advancement in science and technology, nuclear power included, IT etc. does not bear repetition. The emergence of India as a major power is recognised even by the most developed states acr5oss the globe. What is (…)

• From Niyamgiri: Rise Aflame

  19 August 2009, by Suhas Borker

  We were born free
  this is our land
  this is our forest
  this is our river
  this is our mountain
  and deep beneath the stone on the mountain-top
  rages the timeless sacred fire of our dignity.
  On to this
  you cast your ‘development’ spell
  to steal our freedom
  and spell death
  for our beliefs, values and culture.
  Can you mine our God?
  Can you defile our Nature?
  We shall resist you
  resist we shall
  until we make you powerless.
  The instruments you wield
  shall come to (…)

• India Will Be What We Are

  19 August 2009, by Jawaharlal Nehru

  Jawaharlal Nehru’s broadcast to the nation on August 15, 1948 is noteworthy because the words he uttered then hold considerable importance for our contemporary political life. Excerpts from that address are being reproduced here. —Editor
  Let us not forget where we have failed or where we have erred. For our failures and errors have been many. Some of these are obvious enough, but the real failure has been a failure of the spirit and a falling away from the high standards set by the Father (…)

• The Night Must End

  19 August 2009, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  Fifteenth of August continues to be a sacred day in the mind and heart of the people of this great country. To celebrate the end of the long night of foreign rule and to breathe the air of freedom cannot but be a proud occasion even after thirtytwo long years.
  And yet the concept of free India that one had on the day the Union Jack was hauled down and the Tricolour unfurled over the ramparts of the Red Fort is very different from the state of our national life as we see it today. Foreign (…)

• Our Nation’s Self-Enduring, Self-Correcting, Self-Renewing Impulse

  19 August 2009, by Gopalkrishna Gandhi

  The Constitution of India was made by the good for the honest. It is worked by the wise for the experienced. This marks a maturing of our Republic. It also tells us that the timber of our parliamentary functioning is being seasoned in varied waters.
  Over six decades and 94 amendments after the people of India gave unto themselves that great enactment, it is not surprising that some feel: ‘Should we not take a re-look at the Constitution, it is quite old?’
  Age is no weakness when the (…)

• Why We Must Oppose the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill of 2009

  19 August 2009, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  A law is amended generally to bring in improvement or to be in conformity with some important judicial decisions. The Land Acquisition (LA) Act of 1894 does require revision to conform to the current-day situation. So far, there could not be any objection.
  But the way the amendments have been made looks as if we are going back on time. There are certain undesirable features which require to be highlighted. Under the theory of Eminent Domain, private property could be taken over only for (…)

• “When the People Lead, the Leaders will Follow”

  19 August 2009, by K Saradamoni

  This is not a slogan that I have coined. I got it from the write-up on the US Solidarity Economy Network which organised its first National Forum on the Solidarity Economy: Building Another World. The write-up continues:
  The current economic crisis provides a historic opportunity to push for an economic system that puts people and planet front and centre. The Solidarity Economy is a growing global movement that is building real world practices and policies grounded in principles of (…)