Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Book Excerpt: Hindi Cinema and Society | Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra

  5 August 2023, by Bharat Dogra, Madhu Dogra

  [This is a slightly edited version of an extract from the recently published book Hindi Cinema and Society written by Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra (published by Saptarishi, pages 234, Paperback) ]
  Hindi cinema has an overwhelming presence in Indian society. Whether it is a young man humming a romantic song constantly, or a girl trying to dress up like her favorite film star, these are only the more obvious signs of the presence of popular films in our life. Much more important are the many (…)

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  Spiritualty in Indian Freedom Struggle | M.R. Narayan Swamy

  5 August 2023, by M R Narayan Swamy

  BOOK REVIEW
  Indian Ideas of Freedom: B.R. Ambedkar, Aurobindo Ghose, Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, M.N. Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda
  by Dennis Dalton
  HarperCollins India Pages: xv + 519; Price: Rs 699
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  Indian ideas of freedom dew deeply on indigenous traditions of thought, especially religious. But the men and women who led the long and arduous campaign for independence were no religious bigots. They incorporated Indic traditions in their focus on inner (…)

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  Rise of Hindutva Politics and Crisis of Congress Party: Search for an Alternative Politics | Badre Alam khan and Sanjay Kumar

  5 August 2023, by Badre Alam Khan

  BOOK REVIEW
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  Ideology and Organization in Indian Politics Growing Polarization and the Decline of the Congress Party (2009-19)
  by Zoya Hasan
  Oxford University Press
  23 August 2022 | 216 Pages
  ISBN: 9780192863416
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  The Grand Old Congress Party has for some time now been going through an existential crisis at the ideological and organizational level in current Indian politics. However, the Karnataka Election verdict (2023) has given a new lease of life to the Party. In (…)

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  Artwork: Not your Muse | Sukhvinder Shahi

  5 August 2023
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  Video: Book Launch discussion — Jan Toporowski - Interest and Capital: The Monetary Economics of Michał Kalecki

  5 August 2023

  Play
  Book Launch: Jan Toporowski - Interest and Capital: The Monetary Economics of Michał Kalecki by SOAS University of London https://youtu.be/zru9dkL7c3c

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  Audio: Life & Work of Annie Besant | In our Times - BBC4 (2012)

  5 August 2023

  Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of the prominent 19th-century social reformer Annie Besant

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  Table of Contents - Mainstream, July 22 & 29, 2023

  22 July 2023

  * The Unfulfilled Promises of a Structurally Flawed GST: Assessing its Impact During Six Years of its Operation | Arun Kumar
  * Growth Conundrum | Govind Bhattacharjee
  * A Case Study on Working Women in Kashmir | Yasmin & Nabi
  * Life of D.D. Kosambi: Brilliant Intellectual & Humanist | Kobad Ghandy
  * Debating Hindutva | Subhash Gatade

• Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, July 22 & July 29, 2023

  22 July 2023

  Despite continued mob violence for three months in the Northeastern state of Manipur, which has led to 150 deaths, and the displacement of tens of thousands into refugee camps, not one word was uttered by the Prime Minister of India to express his condemnation and to offer sympathies to victims. And then suddenly on July 19, 2023, a video on social media of the violation of two Kuki women by a mob appeared. This is a video of violent assault by a mob from May 2023. As this video went ‘viral’ (…)

• The Unfulfilled Promises of a Structurally Flawed GST: Assessing its Impact During Six Years of its Operation | Arun Kumar

  22 July 2023, by Arun Kumar

  GST has been in operation since July 1, 2017. In the six years that have elapsed, has it fulfilled the promises that its proponents had vociferously claimed for it. It was billed as the second freedom since it was supposed to unify the `fragmented’ Indian market. That was the parallel drawn with 1947 which brought together the states to form India as a union of states. Promised Gains from GST
  GST was supposed to benefit the people by, increasing GDP by 1 to 2 per cent, reducing inflation, (…)

• The Growth Conundrum | Govind Bhattacharjee

  22 July 2023

  Measurement of the GDP is central to a modern economy and its growth is essential for the stability of governments. But the GDP growth is based on increased consumption and production that cause continuous depletion of earth’s limited resources, and the process cannot go on indefinitely. At some point in time, the world must get reconciled to the idea of low growth or no growth, and be concerned with the stability of GDP rather than its growth. The emerging economic models like doughnut (…)