Mainstream Weekly

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• Citizens’ Chargesheet On West Bengal Government’s Development Policies

  24 April 2007

  A Citizens’ Convention held on November 3, 2006, at Yuba Kendra, Kolkata, has resolved to submit a Citizens’ Chargesheet against the violation of laws and rights committed by the West Bengal Government, pertaining to its developmental policies related to agriculture and industry. The list of charges given below has been placed, discussed, finalised and accepted at the Citizens’ Convention. The Convention has also decided to send this resolution to the concerned authorities for their (…)

• Reflections On Our Time

  24 April 2007, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  The concluding functions that brought the curtain down on the year-long celebrations of the golden jubilee of the ‘Quit India’ struggle of 1942, presented in sharp relief the slump in morale allround.
  With all the exposures of mega corruption in which the wielders of power have been entangled, and the unashamed buying of MPs so that the reins of the government do not slip out of one’s hand—all the homilies and harangues at the August 9 celebrations sounded so hollow and could stir up (…)

• A Profile in Experience

  24 April 2007, by G.S. Bhargava

  In the run up to the 1996 general election when P.V.Narasimha Rao was trying for a second term as the Prime Minister, the prestigious Saturday Discussion Group at the India International Centre invited Pranab Mukerjee to speak on the Congress party’s election manifesto. Besides being the Foreign Minister he was also heading the party’s Election Campaign Committee. Answering a question on the party’s prospects, he began to recall in his characteristic political science pundit style that the (…)

• Open Letter to the Prime Minister

  24 April 2007, by S G Vombatkere

  Respected Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,
  I write with deep concern about the contentious Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project on the confluence of Tuivai (Mizoram) and Barak (Manipur) rivers, for which you are scheduled to lay the foundation stone on November 25, 2006. Surely you are aware that there is considerable local opposition to the project because of displacement of large numbers of people, and loss of their livelihood. Apart from that most important and entirely valid (…)

• Nitish’s Bihar Vision

  24 April 2007, by Subodh Kumar

  On November 24, 2006, Nitish Kumar is completing one year in office. The contemporary situation in Bihar demands economic participation along with social transformation and political participation. These demands are the result of the piecemeal “social engineering”. If we see Bihar in 2005-06 we find that Bihar is the only State in India’s electoral history where polls have been conducted twice in the same year.
  In 1990 Laloo Prasad faced three types of demands within the society. The (…)

• Who will Muzzle the Cry from Vidarbha?

  24 April 2007, by Suhas Borker

  Eight more kisan suicides in one day
  – Gajanan Sadashiv Chaudhari of Nandura Khurd
  – Atul Manohar Sabre of Manakwadi
  – Naresh Bakaram Meshram of Walgaon
  – Gajanan Babarao Thombre of Amti
  – Laxman Bapurao Chaudhari of Barzadi
  – Natthu Raghoji Shrirame of Dahoti
  – Shaligram Farfat of Khandvi
  – Ajabrao Ramji Sonone of Sukanda
  The count this year, till now
  Nine hundred and nine.
  Do you want to kill yourself here?
  Or migrate to the Megapolis to a slow death?
  Who is next? Please (…)

• Sealing Controversy in Delhi: The Way Out

  24 April 2007, by Bharat Dogra

  The violence seen on the streets of Delhi on September 20 should have been a wake-up call to resolve the sealing controversy in capital city before it leads to massive disruption of livelihoods and the accompanying discontent. At the root of this controversy is the issue of what kinds of commercial or non-residential activities are permitted in residential areas. It is by now clear that the norms on the basis of which recent efforts (before September 20) were made to settle this issue (…)

• Indo-Pak : Positive Direction

  24 April 2007

  The two-day Foreign Secretary-level talks have ended on a positive note. The two sides, as expected, have formally decided to set up a three-member-a-side anti-terror mechanism with Additional Secretaries in the two Foreign Offices in New Delhi and Islamabad heading the mechanism on behalf of the two countries.
  The success of the talks in the Indian capital further lay in the detailed discussions that the Foreign Secretaries and their respective delegations conducted on various issues (…)

• Children’s Voices : A Wake-Up Call at India Social Forum

  24 April 2007

  The following is a piece on one aspect of the India Social Forum. A detailed overview of the ISF 2006 will be publishd next week. —Editor
  The five-day India Social Forum 2006 is over; the dust that swirled in the three crowded meeting grounds has settled into the trodden grass, and the calls for justice have quieted. The people who came in their tens of thousands to march, sing, shout, and confer have left for the countless villages and towns from which they make their way to Delhi.
  But (…)

• Lame Duck Session: Why US Senate Must Pass Civilian Nuclear Deal

  24 April 2007

  As the US Senate goes into the lame duck session, India’s chief concern is pitched on the outcome of “The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006”. The results of the US mid-term elections have been decided overwhelmingly in favour of the Democrats. Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats have a more conservative opinion on the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy deal and propose to impose some killer amendments to the Bill that will be unacceptable to India. Given the (…)