Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Devaluation and IMF loan: Leading Economists’ Alternative View

  9 July 2016

  What the leading economists of the country had highlighted twentyfive years ago is of great sginificance even today. Hence it is being reproduced here. The statement—‘Structural Adjustment: An Alternative Viewpoint”—was issued on July 8, 1991 and carried in this journal’s July 13, 1991 issue.
  To meet a financial crisis, the nature and magnitude of which have been shrouded in secrecy, the government has launched an all-out effort to obtain a large loan from the IMF. Despite protestations (…)

• IMF Loan: Fall-out on Foreign Policy / III Winds of Change? / Manmohan’s Progress

  9 July 2016, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  Twentyfive years ago Dr Manmohan Singh as the country’s Finance Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Union Government unveiled the new economic policis under the guidance and instruction of the IMF. From the inception this journal’s founder voiced his vociferous opposition to this course. Here are three samples of what he wrote at that time.
  IMF Loan: Fall-out on Foreign Policy
  The storm over the IMF loan that promises to overcast this session of Parliament pertains (…)

• Towards Sustainable Development and a Clean Earth

  9 July 2016

  by Pranjit Agarwala
  Cleanopolis Energy Systems India Private Limited is a clean technology initiative located in the middle of the lush green paddy fields of rural Sonitpur district of Assam. Promoted by local educated entrepreneurs, the small-scale biomass gasification unit, now in the pre-commissioning stage, will convert organic waste to sustainable energy and also produce organic fertiliser. The unit will involve the local populace in an integrated system of waste management that will (…)

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  Brexit working class counter-revolution | Harsh Kapoor

  9 July 2016, by Harsh Kapoor

  Brexit is a triumph of national chauvinism and is damaging to the Left. We have seen a dramatic spurt in instances of racism all over Britain. All this is a shot in the arm for the far Right.

• It is Rasgotra’s folly, not Pandit Nehru’s

  9 July 2016, by M K Bhadrakumar

  These are of course extraordinary times in our country and the former Foreign Secretary M. K. Rasgotra might have for some incomprehensible reason felt the urge to be in sync with the zeitgeist, when he needlessly indulged in some Nehru-bashing at a function in New Delhi on Monday (June 27) as part of drumming up media publicity for his memoirs that has been published recently.
  According to Rasgotra, Panditji goofed up historically—and the nation has paid a heavy price consequently—when he (…)

• Time to Codify Election Commission’s Powers

  9 July 2016, by Barun Das Gupta

  The West Bengal Assembly elections, held in six phases over seven days from April to May, saw some unprecedented steps being taken by the Election Commission, ostensibly to make the polls ‘free and fair’. For the first time the strength of the Central paramilitary force was raised from 40 companies to 700 companies or seventy thousand personnel. Some commen-tators said this was ‘militarisation’ of the elections. The way the polls were conducted, many would agree to this description. Besides (…)

• Is Social Transformation possible through Prohibition?

  9 July 2016

  by Renu Choudhary
  Liquor prohibition in Bihar is the latest agenda of the Bihar Government which has been implemented recently and whose initial success has been well appreciated. Blanket ban on liquor is not new to India. It has been adopted in many states like Gujarat, Nagaland, parts of Manipur, Lakshadweep. Kerela has been implementing prohibition in a phased manner since 2014.In Tamil Nadu also it was a part of the electoral agenda and now after winning election Jaya Lalita is (…)

• Some Thoughts on GST : A Victory of the Powerful Crony Lobbies

  9 July 2016, by Kamal Nayan Kabra

  Even without a detailed study of the nitty-gritty and minutiae of the proposed legislation on the goods and services tax (GST), prima facie it can be maintained that there is a lot in its design and implications to endear it to the neo-liberal enthusiasts. Hence little wonder they go on to parade it as a major tax ‘reform’ in India, a tax reform which covers practically all the goods and services in every nook and corner of the country. It seems once this tax is legislated at the Union level (…)

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  What Narendra Modi’s Interview Conveys

  1 July 2016, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  Narendra Modi can justifiably claim to be one of the most articulate Indian PMs in recent times. Not just India but also the world at large has been witness to his oratorical skills since he has used his term in power to undertake major foreign visits, especially to the US. Yet he has been highly reticent to address press conferences in India, unlike his predecessors in the PM’s seat, notably Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
  So it was a pleasant surprise to find him giving a (…)

• A Very British Revolution

  1 July 2016

  by L.K. Sharma
  “Britain has changed.” One kept hearing this lament in London even during the run-up to the historic referendum on Europe. Change can be seen and heard. The armed police presence is no longer a rare sight. Warnings about suspicious objects are heard at underground and railway stations. Many trains get cancelled or delayed. The passengers speak in several tongues and do it loudly. The Englishmen don’t read The Times any more. They tap their smart phones and laptops and (…)