Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Left is Left Out

  9 December 2011, by Samit Kar

  May 13, 2011 happened to be an important day in the annals of the political history of West Bengal. The outcome of the State poll, which was published that day, made way for the exit of a 34-year-long rule of the Left Front. In the 2006 poll the Left Front got 235 seats of the total 294 in the State Assembly. This time the figure plummeted to an abysmal low of 61 in favour of the Left making way to the formation of a new State Government under the Trinamul Congress (TMC). Ever since the (…)

• He Lived For Them

  9 December 2011

  [November 9, 2011 marked the thirtyfirst death anniversary of P.C. Joshi, that outstanding Communist who has been aptly described as the only genuine national leader of Indian communist movement far beyond the narrow confines of the Communist Parties in this country. The following poem has been composed by veteran journalist and trade unionist Narendra Sharma in his memory. In an introductory note to the Mainstream editor, Narendra Sharma explained: “I wrote this poem with pain and (…)

• Occult! The Root of Consumerism

  9 December 2011, by Sunita Samal

  The occultist is likely to be interested in novel application of high technology with one or more creative endeavour—be it writing, art work, music or multimedia by using computers. Here, the reality of consumerism can be manipulated, twisted, shattered for fun to control and gain profit. Walking down a street at sunset striding with a sense of purpose what I realise is that I am in a movie. Like many modern films it has good sets with wild special effects but the script leaves something to (…)

• Should India Establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

  9 December 2011, by Kavaljit Singh

  New Delhi will soon take a final call on the issue of the setting up of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). The idea of setting up an Indian SWF has been going around since 2007 when the China established its major sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation (CIC), with an initial capital fund of $ 200 billion. However, this time the proposal has received strong support from India’s corporate leaders who recently suggested the establishment of a state-owned SWF primarily to secure (…)

• Corruption-free Good Governance

  9 December 2011, by P R Dubhashi

  REVIEW ARTICLE
  The Quality of Government—Corruption, Social Trust and Inequality in International Perspective by Bo Rothstein, Professor in Political Science, University of Gothenburg; University of Chicago Press; p. 285.
  The UN Millennium Declaration identifies good governance as a requirement to foster economic development to reduce poverty. The quality of government is closely related to economic progress and social trust in any country. If the government is characterised by a (…)

• Remembering December 6, 1992

  9 December 2011

  [Both the following appeared in Mainstream (December 19, 1992).]
  Cry, My India
  LAMENT OF AN INDIAN ABROAD
  The hammers and axes wielded by the mob in Ayodhya not only broke the bricks in a centuries-old structure but dealt painful blows to Hinduism and Mother India.
  Those of us Indians who live abroad can no more walk with our heads high—as Indians or Hindus—and can no more speak to our neighbours of the virtues of our nation and our religion.
  The land of the Vedas with their (…)

• One-upmanship amid Partisan Politics

  27 November 2011, by SC

  The way in which the winter session of Parliament has started it appears that this session too would meet the fate of earlier sessions. Last year the winter session was washed out as a consequence of the Opposition’s incessant protests; the last monsoon session was also marred by disruptions caused on the Lokpal issue. The first three days of this winter session have witnessed continuous disruption of the proceedings of both Houses on account of complete divergence of opinion between the (…)

• Afghanistan: US Strategy in Conflict with Indian Interests

  27 November 2011, by Bashir Mohammad

  Indian interests in Afghanistan and the region as a whole do not find importance in the US strategy in this part of the world. As a matter of fact the strategy not only ignores but also does not conform to those interests. For all its pronouncements to the contrary, the essential objective of the Obama Administration in Washington is to strike a deal with the ISI and its strategic assets, the Taliban and Haqqani network.
  The New Silk Route concept disclosed by the US Secretary of State in (…)

• Saluting Offbeat Journalist J. Sri Raman

  27 November 2011, by S.K. Pande

  TRIBUTE
  I would like to believe in something, Something beyond the death that undid you. I would like to describe the intensity With which, already overwhelmed, We longed in those days to be able To walk together once again Free beneath the sun.
  —Primo Levi, Collected Poems
  At the roof-top, open air auditorium of the Delhi Union of Journalists, on November 19, 2011, while a gentle breeze blew, an inner circle of friends—writers, publishers, reporters, press workers, peace activists, (…)

• Let a Thousand Ramayanas Bloom

  27 November 2011, by Bharati Jaganathan

  The arbitrary deletion of A.K. Ramanujan’s ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’ from the syllabus of a concurrent course taught by the History Department by the Academic Council of the University of Delhi has understandably sparked off a major debate. The prehistory of this step is to be traced to early 2008 when ABVP activists attacked and vandalised the office of the History Department in the presence of (invited) media- persons. An independent panel (…)