Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• 

  Reject the Nuclear Deal

  22 July 2008, by Prem Singh

  All conditions and regulations related to controversial Indo-US Nuclear Deal have been framed and finalised outside India in America. If the American Congress finally passes the agreement then the role of Indian Parliament is confined to merely accepting it. In this sense, this deal has been prepared by America, for America and in the interest of America. The interest of America lies in establishing its control on the market of India including its ‘defence market’. Whatever details have (…)

• 

  Looking back on August 1942

  22 July 2008

  [(Aruna Asaf Ali’s Birth Centenary Celebrations Begin
  Aruna Asaf Ali’s yearlong birth centenary celebrations have begun on July 16.
  Born as Aruna Ganguly in Barisal (now Bangladesh) on July 16, 1909, she emerged as one of the most striking freedom fighters especially at the last stage of our battle for emancipation from foreign yoke. Her dedication to the cause of liberation of the toiling millions remained undiminshed till the very end and she tirelessly worked in various capacities to (…)

• 

  Aruna Asaf Ali: A Tribute

  22 July 2008, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  Generations spanning over centuries have been told that the French Revolution devoured its own children. In a sense, this could be said also of the Russian Revolution in which many of its heroes had themselves to face the firing squad.
  There is however the other side, the heroic aspect of every revolution as it throws up leaders, and these in turn try to carry forward the revolution itself. Aruna Asaf Ali was one of these beautiful children reared by the Indian people’s revolution (…)

• 

  On Third Anniversary of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal

  22 July 2008, by Amna Mirza

  As the third anniversary of the Indo-United States (US) Nuclear Deal approaches on July 18, and the determined leaders—Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George Bush—want it in ‘haste’ to prove their legacy before they depart from the throne, a larger issue of feasibility of the nuclear deal and national interest comes to the fore.
  The issue of transparency and accountability in our democratic polity acquires prominence as information for the common people is grossly lacking (…)

• 

  Nervousness of the Government and Increasing Burden of Subsidies

  22 July 2008, by Ruddar Datt

  It is now really over a decade that a comprehensive paper on subsidies was presented by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in 1997. The situation has changed drastically since then and there is a need to re-examine the issue. The main reasons are:
  1. Implicit subsidies in various forms are growing both at the Central and State levels. Take, for instance, the large number of tax exemptions on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) granted by the government. They imply a big (…)

• 

  End of Hindu Rashtra: Nepalese People Have Finally Stood Up!

  22 July 2008, by Subhash Gatade

  There are rare occasions when one is witness to the making of history before our own eyes. The dismantling of the 240-year-old Nepalese monarchy and the transformation of Nepal into a Republic has been one such occasion.
  As rightly said by a senior Nepali leader, “A day comes once in a century. Today is day that Nepali’s long cherished dream has come true.”
  It is true that it is a day of celebration for every justice and progress loving person on earth where people’s will (…)

• 

  Presidential Elections in the US

  22 July 2008, by Manan Dwivedi

  The American President, Thomas Jefferson, in one of his observations, is known to have stated that “If I am given an opportunity to survive with a Government without newspapers or with newspapers without a Government, then, I would opt for the second option.” The utterance reflects the all-significant strain that freedom of all kinds, including the freedom of press and expression, underlies the American democratic experiment.1 This saying lies nailed on the walls of offices of various (…)

• 

  Not Oil, Infatuation with Foreign Capital will drown the Government

  22 July 2008, by Bharat Jhunjhunwala

  The government is sinking everyday in the quicksand of inflation. It did not pass on the increase in international price of oil to the consumer. Instead it asked the public sector oil companies to buy expensive oil in the international markets and sell it cheap to domestic consumers. This may be a good political strategy. It helped contain the price rise. But there is no such thing as a free lunch. The price of this profligacy has to be paid. The public sector oil companies incurred heavy (…)

• 

  Media : Journalism in the Hallowed Tradition

  22 July 2008, by Uttam Sen

  The goal of basic science is to observe nature with objectivity. Michael Faraday’s skill and discipline in doing so enabled him to demonstrate that electricity and magnetism were separate and that the former could be generated by moving a magnet towards a ring of metal wire. The “discovery” of electro-magnetism helped technology translate this fact into critical applications like the motor car and the aeroplane. Without Faraday’s labours on detecting the energy and intelligence in the (…)

• 

  SEZs : A Closer Look

  22 July 2008, by Ishita Dey

  Book Review
  Special Economic Zones in India—Myths and Realities by Amitendu Palit and Subhomoy Bhattacharjee; Anthem South Asian Studies, Delhi; 2007; 198 pages.
  The book explores, as its title suggests, some of the myths and realities of the economic prospect of SEZs in India. SEZs, as we all know, are an improved version of the existing EPZ to generate more export. The authors do not question the “export oriented” development but addresses whether the proposed SEZs would generate (…)