Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Ehtesab - The bogey of accountability | Faraz Ahmad

  23 December 2023, by Faraz Ahmad

  December 30, 2023
  Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the first and only Pakistan Prime Minister duly elected under a proper Constitution, the 1973 Constitution in early 1977, virtually coinciding with the victory of Janata Paty in India. The 1973 Constitution was suspended later by General Mohammad Ziaul Haq and After him partially restored with considerable mutilation.
  Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) almost swept those National Assembly elections with nearly 60 per cent votes and 155 out (…)

• UID/Aadhaar and the politics of digital totalitarianism - an Interview with Gopal Krishna

  23 December 2023, by Gopal Krishna

  The below interview with Gopal Krishna was conducted by Boerries Nehe, a sociology researcher and the coordinator of the International Research Group on Authoritarianism & Counter-Strategies (IRGAC), Berlin. It was submitted for publication by the interviewee in understanding with IRGAC
  1. Your research focuses on “data mining”, especially in the Indian context. What exactly do you refer to with this notion?
  Answer: Data mining or analysis is a clumsy exercise in defining. Data and (…)

• Notes on the Dismissal of an Office Clerk in Late Colonial Malabar | Sreejith K

  23 December 2023

  Abstract
  Lying in the lower rungs of what constituted the middle class, the clerks, though inhabiting a slightly different cultural milieu, in sheer economic terms, were not far removed from the world of the labouring classes. And like the latter, they too did not leave behind any writings, except, ironically, when, following transgressions, they would be called upon to respond to show-cause notices. By examining the records available at the Kozhikode Regional Archives of one such case, (…)

• India’s turnaround on Palestine has more than meets the eye | M K Bhadrakumar

  23 December 2023, by M K Bhadrakumar

  December 26, 2023
  Indian diplomacy is ending 2023 with a momentous turnaround. What began as a course correction necessitated by the torrential flow of events in West Asia is assuming strategic overtones.
  Truly, the aberration in India’s policies can be traced to the UPA rule (2004-2014) but it is under the period since then 2014 that they accentuated phenomenally and began creating contradictions undermining national interests. This aberration also led to a serious erosion of India’s (…)

• 

  End of an Era - A Public Activist in the Realm of Child and Women’s Rights Mohini Giri Passes Away | Gautam Sen

  23 December 2023

  Dr. Mohini Giri, former chairperson of the National Commission for Women and presently the chairperson of an NGO, Guild for Service which she had set up in 1979, died on 19th December of this month at the age of 85 years only a few days she would have attained the age of 86 years on 15th January 2024. She was ailing for some time, but she continued to guide the Guild and many activities close to her heart and domain of expertise, till her demise. Dr Giri or Mohiniji as she is fondly known to (…)

• Boycott Israeli Products/Companies in India - End Occupation of Palestine | Kobad Ghandy

  23 December 2023, by Kobad Ghandy

  Israel has a huge manufacturing base in India together with massive import/export trade. India is one of Israel’s largest trading partners. We need to call on the people of our country to boycott all Israeli products and companies to lend support to the Palestinians and counter Zionist fascism.
  The following are some products either owned by Israel or with a strong Israeli connection which should be boycotted: Pepsico, Coca Cola, Sprite, Milo, Oral B, Energiser, Maggie, Kit Kat, Barbie, (…)

• Twenty-First Century Socialism: What It Will Become and Why | Harriet Fraad, Richard D. Wolff

  23 December 2023

  September 1, 2023
  Socialism now needs to add a critical analysis of capitalism’s micro-level organization inside workplaces and households to its macro-level analyses
  The real left is not the caricature crafted by the U.S. right. Alongside parallel right-wing political formations abroad, that caricature tries hard to revive and recycle Cold War demonizations no matter how far-fetched. Nor is the real left what Democratic Party leaders and their foreign counterparts try hard to dismiss as (…)

• 

  ISKON Spoils the Mid-Day Meals in Jharkhand

  23 December 2023

  17 December 2023
  Centralised kitchen in midday meals a big flop, students fed up – Survey of schools exposes the truth
  Khadya Suraksha Jan Adhikar Manch, Pashchimi Singhbhum
  Khadya Suraksha Jan Adhikar Manch, Pashchimi Singhbhum today released the report (attached) of its survey of the centralised kitchen system started for midday meals in government schools of four blocks (Sadar, Jhinkpani, Khuntpani, Tantnagar) of West Singhbhum district (Jharkhand). A public discussion on the (…)

• 

  Drop the UAPA Charges against youth arrested in Parliament Jumping Case! - PUCL Statement 20 Dec 2023

  23 December 2023

  PEOPLE’S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES 332, Patpar Ganj, Opp. Anand Lok Apartments, (Gate No. 2), Mayur Vihar-I, Delhi 110 091
  Founder: Jayaprakash Narayan; Founding President: V M Tarkunde President: Ms. Kavita Srivastava (Rajasthan); General Secretary: V Suresh (Tamil Nadu); E.mail:puclnat[at]gmail.com, www.pucl.org (…)

• 

  Review: Subramanian on ’Phantom Lovers: Two Novellas’ by Achala Moulik

  23 December 2023, by K S Subramanian

  Book Review


  __0__
  Phantom Lovers: Two Novellas by Achala Moulik
  Niyogi Books
  2023 | 384 Pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8196405332 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8196405335
  __0__
  The author, a civil servant-scholar, has the gift for writing about human love in the midst of violence and conflict. The volume contains two moving ‘novellas’; one on India titled ‘With Fate Conspire’ and the other on Afghanistan titled Wait!
  The author’s Note on the first novella draws from Rabindranath Tagore’s dance (…)