Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Spectacular CBI Move in Kolkata: Reading the Social Text

  17 February 2019

  by Arup Kumar Sen
  An unparalleled political confrontation between the Centre and State of West Bengal took place in Kolkata on February 3, 2019, over an attempted questioning of the city’s Police Commissioner, Rajeev Kumar, by CBI officials in connection with the chit fund scams in the State. Reportedly, the CBI attempt to question the Police Commissioner was aimed at locating “crucial evidence” linked to the scams. The CBI team was briefly detained by the city police, and Central forces (…)

• Living in the Past

  17 February 2019, by M K Bhadrakumar

  In an article on March 15, 2003, as storm clouds were gathering for the American invasion of Iraq, one of India’s best-known editors chastised our “entirely ignorant and non-serious politicians and public opinion” not to introduce “new stresses on our relations with the US” by spurning Washington’s invitation to Delhi to join the coalition of the willing. He warned that an irate George W. Bush might make us eat the humble pie in J&K. That was when, as then Deputy Chief of the Mission in (…)

• Understanding Socio-political Assertion of Muslims in India Today

  17 February 2019

  by Shamsher Alam
  As far as Indian democracy is concerned, Muslims are one of the important parts of the same. They are a decisive factor of Indian democracy. However, when it comes to map and comprehend their socio-political cons-ciousness and assertion, then it appears a vague picture altogether. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to understand and map the current socio-political assertion, consciousness and awareness of the Muslims in India today from three vantage points: first, the (…)

• Illusionary Directionless Populist Interim Budget

  17 February 2019

  by D.M. Diwakar
  The Union Budget is presented under the provision of “The Procedures of Financial Matters” in Articles 112 to 118 of the Constitution of India (GoI, 2015: 54-59), an intended financial proposal of the Union Government about its receipts and expenditure for the next financial year from the Consolidated Fund of India to attain the goals set by the Constitution of India in its Preamble. The NDA-II Government has presented five Union Budgets since 2014-15, which were already (…)

• Narendra Modi is the Actual Accidental PM

  17 February 2019, by Sandeep Pandey

  Anupam Kher’s film Accidental Prime Minister has targeted Dr Manmohan Singh who served for two terms and may be again acceptable for the job if his party regains power. But his tormentor, Narendra Modi, seems to be out of breath even before his first term is over. Disillusionment with him is so widespread and deep that people of India may not bear with him for another term. As the general elections approach again the difference between the two needs to be examined.
  Manmohan Singh’s (…)

• Today’s Imperative

  17 February 2019, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  The time has come when we can no longer afford to indulge in mutual recrimination. The time has come for us to hang our heads in shame.
  What has happened at Moradabad is a blot on our patriotism. No amount of quibbling, finding fault with each other, can save us from the ignominy of having to face a situation in which citizens of this country were shot dead by the police for the crime of belonging to a minority community. It is an indication of the magnitude of (…)

• EVM Debate: Securing Faith in the Basic Institution of Free and Fair Franchise

  17 February 2019, by Badri Raina

  The fundamental postulate of any democratic justice system is that a few that may be guilty may go unpunished but not one that is innocent should be convicted.
  In political terms, the concomitant postulate clearly must be that the least finger raised at the credibility of the electoral process must receive due and decisive notice and investigation from those incharge of supervising elections. This, for the reason that the primary pillar of the “basic structure” of the Indian Constitution (…)

• Do Not Undermine Parliament, Please

  17 February 2019

  by D.K. Giri
  To read in the papers that the two days (February 5 and 6) in the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha were wholly washed out by disruptions is quite sad and painful for those watching the democratic institutions, mainly Parliament. It goes without saying that Parliament is the supreme law-making body, the ‘temple of our democracy’ as the PM-to-be Narendra Modi hailed it before being sworn is as the head of government. Remember, he head-saluted the stairs in 2014 while entering (…)

• Value System Changes Needed for a Protective World

  17 February 2019, by Bharat Dogra

  While most people in our increasingly troubled world are too absorbed in struggles and problems of daily life to find much time for larger issues, there is nevertheless growing realisation that several serious problems are fast getting out of hand to the extent that even the basic life-nurturing conditions of our planet are threatened. Hence clearly there is need for reorganising human life and for this we need some basic values on which common agreement can be reached among a very large (…)

• Russia-Ukraine: Brotherly Ties Turning into Hostilities. How and Why?

  17 February 2019

  by R.G. Gidadhubli
  Russia and Ukraine were brotherly Slavic states with close, cordial and consistent social, economic and political relations for centuries. They were also major economically and strategically powerful Republics of the former Soviet Union. Hence questions arise as to how and why the brotherly relations have turned into hostilities that aggravated in November-December 2018. An effort has been made to examine the major issues in this contribution.
  On November 25, 2018 (…)