Mainstream Weekly

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• Remembering the Titans of secular India | Sukumaran CV

  11 November 2023, by Sukumaran C.V.

  November 11 is the birthday of Maulana Azad, the first Education Minister of Independent India. It is National Education Day and every year the National Education Day goes unnoticed. November 14, Nehru’s birthday used not to go unnoticed till India was not ruled by religious politics which can be rightly called communal politics.
  [Jawaharlal] Nehru and [Maulana Abul Kalam] Azad are the Titans of Indian freedom struggle and independent India because of their strong commitment to secular (…)

• On Hinduism: Clarifying Some Confusions | T. Vijayendra

  11 November 2023, by T. Vijayendra

  Introduction
  There is quite a lot of political debate going on about Hinduism. Laymen and young cadres are quite confused about it. This article attempts to remove some fog from the issue. So the language is simple and non academic. All dates and figures are rounded off though care is taken that they are not significantly different from more accurate estimates.
  We will attempt to answer four basic questions which to us appear at the root of confusion. They are:
  1. What is Hinduism? 2. (…)

• Nitish’s transformative move on inclusiveness for the poor has big implications | Arun Srivastava

  11 November 2023

  Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s politico-ideological narrative which he unleashed through caste census survey data on economic conditions of the people while would have trigger a significant alteration in the political system and its structure, it would imperil the move of the rightist forces to change the basic character and identity of the country.
  It is a coincidence that Nitish commenced this task when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi embarked on the gigantic mission to bring about a (…)

• Air Quality Crisis in Delhi and Agroecological Alternatives | Soma Marla

  11 November 2023, by Soma S. Marla

  Friday (3rd of November), Delhi woke up to a thick layer of toxic smog, as the IQAir put the city’s air quality index (AQI) at 611 in the ‘hazardous’ category. A reading of 0-50 is considered good. Anything between 400-500 is unhealthy. Schools across the city have been shuttered and construction activity halted as the city was declared the world’s most polluted. Although this is a recurring annual event in North India (now joined by Mumbai) in the beginning of winter, governments are (…)

• Political Leadership in Karnataka : A Brief Overview | P. S. Jayaramu

  11 November 2023

  3rd November, 2023
  Karnataka’s Rajyostava took place on 1st november. During the month, Rajyotsava celebrationst take place all over the State. However, most of them are in the form of cultural events, rather than appraisals of the issues related to poliitics, economics and administration/ governance. Here is an attempt to reflect on the major policy initiatives taken by key political leaders, cutting across Political Parties, while they were in power.
  Following the dissolution of the (…)

• The Health of Indian Democracy: A Critical Diagnosis | Ria Pillai

  11 November 2023

  To delineate a myth from the truth is difficult. As the lines between a democracy and oligarchy continue to blur in contemporary politics, it becomes important to assess the leakage points in India’s governance. Elections can no longer be the defining characteristic of a progressive society as communalism and inequality continues to be fed and fattened.
  When we think of ‘good governance’ our mind automatically meanders to ‘democracy’ as it bestows value upon the people – without whom the (…)

• Reading Israel’s Brutality in the Gaza Strip | Arup Kumar Sen

  11 November 2023, by Arup Kumar Sen

  The barbaric violence inflicted on Palestinians recently in the Gaza Strip by Israel is unimaginable. The Gaza Health Ministry said that more than 9,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far, including more than 3,900 Palestinian children. Thomas White, who travelled “the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks” described the place as a “scene of death and destruction.” He said that no place is safe now, and people fear for their lives, their future, and their ability to feed (…)

• Who is the greater, Alexander the Great or Fleming? | A K Sinha

  11 November 2023

  Today, when war in some part of the world or the other has become a constant and we are researching space medicines, we take this opportunity to discuss two greats in war and medicine, the two Alexanders. One is the Macedonian king, conqueror of the West’s then-known world, Alexander III (21 July 356 BC – 11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great. The other is the Scottish microbiologist, Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955). What is the connection one might (…)

• India’s confusing messages on Israel-Palestine | A K Ramakrishanan

  11 November 2023, by A K Ramakrishnan

  November 8, 2011
  Relations with Israel and Palestine along two independent tracks may not be tenable amid the current crisis, but India hasn’t stopped trying.
  India has a long history of relations with both Israel and Palestine, informed by its own struggle for independence. But the confusing signals it has sent through various statements and actions put forth in the recent weeks of this deadly war hardly reflect a clear diplomatic strategy.
  Any policy that ignores historical and (…)

• Ritual Slaughter ’Still Criticized’ and Supported | Martha Rosenberg

  11 November 2023, by Martha Rosenberg

  Since the publication of the first edition of Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Lies, ritual slaughter of animals — kosher, sanctioned by Jewish law and halal, sanctioned by Islamic law — has received more news coverage. Because the cattle, sheep, goats, and other animals are not stunned or rendered insensate during ritual slaughter, the suffering and agony can be prolonged and upsetting to watch.
  In 2017, before Eid al-Adha, or the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice, Veysel Eroğlu the Minister of (…)