Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Our Nation, Our Constitution: A Layperson’s understanding | S G Vombatkere

  25 June 2021, by S G Vombatkere

  Nation = People + Country + Constitution
  A nation is the synergetic sum of a country’s people with their social and cultural resources, who live within the boundaries of the country with its natural and economic resources, and the rules by which the people live and work. The “rule book” for India is the Constitution of India. It was the product of a solemn resolution of the people of newly-independent India. It defined Independent India as a sovereign, democratic Republic. The (…)

• On Restoring Growth of Indian Economy | Sarma & Sunder

  25 June 2021

  by Atul Sarma & Shyam Sunder*
  In one of her interviews with the media around the release of the fourth quarter growth of 2020-21 at 1.6% by the NSO, the Finance Minister asserted that all that need to be done for restoring growth has already been done in terms of budget proposals under Union Budget 2021-22 and three tranches under Atmanirbhar Bharat.
  Such complacency underrates several facts. First, there has been a secular decline in growth since the first quarter of 2018-19. GDP (…)

• Afghan Ghani makes farewell call on Biden | M K Bhadrakumar

  25 June 2021, by M K Bhadrakumar

  June 25, 2021
  When the anointed king receives his vassal formally at his durbar for the first time, it is a moment of truth conveying that the latter’s obeisance is noted, while the vassal hopes to claim legitimacy.
  A US president is due to receive Afghan president Ashraf Ghani in the White House on Friday after a gap of some 6 years. The symbolism is profound: Ghani is in Washington, as the Taliban is tightening its noose on Kabul. On Thursday, Ghani was closeted with the CIA Director (…)

• Pakistan is ready to be a partner for peace in Afghanistan, but we will not host U.S. bases | Imran Khan

  25 June 2021

  by Imran Khan*
  Pakistan is ready to be a partner for peace in Afghanistan with the United States — but as U.S. troops withdraw, we will avoid risking further conflict.
  Our countries have the same interest in that long-suffering country: a political settlement, stability, economic development and the denial of any haven for terrorists. We oppose any military takeover of Afghanistan, which will lead only to decades of civil war, as the Taliban cannot win over the whole of the country, and (…)

• How the coup is destroying Myanmar’s economy | Thein and Gillan

  25 June 2021

  by Htwe Htwe Thein and Michael Gillan*
  23 June 2021
  The military coup in Myanmar in February has reversed or put at risk a decade of gradual economic progress. In the last decade, the Myanmar economy benefited from significant economic and political reforms, achieving above 7 per cent annual growth, reduced poverty and a significant increase in international investment.
  These gains are being unwound by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and, more so, by the coup, with the World Bank (…)

• Big Exodus Of People From Myanmar Hits India’s Three Border States | Ashis Biswas

  25 June 2021

  by Ashis Biswas
  (India Press Agency - June 24, 2021) With no prospects of an early end to the ongoing civil strife in Myanmar, the exodus of Burmese refugees to India’s Northeastern states has swelled from a trickle to a torrent. As of now, various media reports suggest that the number of people crossing over to Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland within only five months may have crossed 16,000 and counting. More than the head count, it is the overall financial/administrative /diplomatic fallout (…)

• G-7 and NATO Summits: Challenges in containing China | P. S. Jayaramu

  25 June 2021

  by P. S. Jayaramu
  The assumption of power by Joe Biden as President of the United States in January this year led to global debates about renewed American attempts at the containment of China. Biden was preoccupied for the first hundred days in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the effect of which is seen in the massive nation wide vaccination drive resulting in nearly 45 percent of the US citizens being vaccinated in record time, hoping to achieve the target of 70 percent by July 4th (…)

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  Arabinda Poddar (1920-2021): A Historian of ‘Bengal Renaissance’ | Arup Kumar Sen

  25 June 2021, by Arup Kumar Sen

  Arabinda Poddar recently passed away after living a long life of 100 years. His name is not well-known among the young scholars of history. He was a bilingual intellectual, who wrote on important thinkers/writers of undivided Bengal, including Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore, in Bengali and English.
  Arabinda Poddar wrote a well-researched treatise on the ‘Bengal Renaissance’, which is still a contested issue in the cultural history of Bengal. The book titled Renaissance (…)

• Transformation of the Indian State: Recent Trends and Impact on the Civil Rights | Mondal & Jana

  25 June 2021

  by Mohiuddin Mondal and Abhijit Jana *
  Introduction
  India emerged from the ashes of partition and prolong exploitation as a pulverized nation with much uncertainly but with a brilliant inclusive vision in sync with its pluralist culture . That was the social capital which Independent India epitomised .However more we have moved on since 1950s, we encountered more difficulties coming on our way and introspection reveals that more than external challenge, we ought to have been (…)

• June 24 Talks Between Centre and the Kashmiri political leaders? | Humra Quraishi

  25 June 2021, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS - 23 June 2021
  Humra Quraishi
  It seems a bizarre U-turn or term it as another of those political moves! The same group of the Kashmiri political figures who were not just labelled “the Gupkar gang” and were also kept under detention and house arrest for several months at a stretch, are now invited to hold talks with the establishment on 24 June, in New Delhi.
  As I’m filing this column on Wednesday, 23 June, that is one day before the talks so one can only come up with this (…)