Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Indian Economy: Where Do We Go From Here?

  6 March 2010, by Girish Mishra

  As in the past, this year too, a detailed report on the performance of the Indian economy during the current year was laid before Parliament and the people prior to the presentation of the Union Budget for the coming fiscal year so that a meaningful discussion can take place and the potentials of growth as well as the circumstances, both domestic and international, are appreciated.
  As the Economic Survey 2009-10 reveals, the Indian economy has been, to a large extent, affected in (…)

• Union Budget 2010-11: Too Many Gambles

  6 March 2010, by Arun Kumar

  The Union Budget 2010-11 was expected to be an innovative exercise given the difficult circumstances in which it was being framed and that the most experienced politician of the present government was at the helm. There have been uncertainties about growth, high rate of inflation (especially in food items) and pressures for withdrawal of the stimulus. The Indian economy is recovering but the global situation remains uncertain given that the major world economies are plagued by persistent (…)

• Letter to the Prime Minister

  6 March 2010, by M.N. Buch

  My dear Dr Manmohan Singhji,
  I studied economics for seven years in Delhi, Cambridge and Princeton, but I suppose very little rubbed off on me and I am not really an economist. You, of course, are and I presume Kaushik Basu, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Shri Pranab Mukherji’s team are all economists. My reaction to the 2010-11 Budget, therefore, is that of a common man and a former administrator. Therefore, if I make bloomers in this letter I am sure you will forgive me.
  The (…)

• Ram Niwas Mirdha

  6 March 2010, by Shree Shankar Sharan

  TRIBUTE
  The country has suffered one more loss in the passing away of its popular leader, Ram Niwas Mirdha. He was one of the best kinds of the second generation Congressmen, steady and stoic and stood tall amidst turmoil or stagnation hoping bad times to pass for better ones. It is a tribute to him that he bided for time among lean days though in good ones he rose to be a Communications Minister, the Speaker of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha and Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy. (…)

• March 8, 2010: A Day for Rethinking, Redefining and Determination to go Forward

  6 March 2010, by K Saradamoni

  Women’s groups have started talking about the coming March 8, a day which in recent times has become a ritual. This is true of other ‘days’ too, including August 15 and January 26. One can say that this is natural, as time goes on and new generations and new situations demand energy, time and thought over fresh ‘days’. But should that mean forgetting the past? It should not, I hold.
  An annual Day for Women or Women’s Day has been observed mainly in Europe and the USA for nearly a (…)

• What Makes Beautiful Women Beautiful?

  6 March 2010, by T J S George

  It was a typically American marketing trick when the Vogue magazine described Leela Naidu as one of the world’s ten most beautiful women. As if there is an endoscope that will measure the specific gravity of beauty. It’s like the Time magazine, another gimmickry specialist, publishing lists of “tomorrow’s Asian leaders”. Some of them end up in prison for misdemeanour, but Time gets its mileage from the thousands of Indians who lap up the lists with colonial loyalty.
  Leela Naidu was (…)

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005—An Appraisal

  6 March 2010, by Rachana Kaushal

  This research paper critically evaluates the PWDVA 2005. Violence against women has been acknowledged both nationally as well as internationally as a violation of human rights of women, something that impairs the overall development of women. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part of the paper gives a brief history of various IPC (Indian Penal Code), CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) and Civil Law protections available to women against violence in India. The second part deals (…)

• Regional Parties in the Federal Union

  6 March 2010, by Amna Mirza

  BOOK REVIEW
  Emergence of Regional Parties in India—Implications for National Parties, Policies and the Democratic System by Ajay K. Mehra and O.P. Sharma; Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Publication Series, Serial No 24, New Delhi; 2008; 130 pages.
  Political parties are the link between the society and people in a democracy. They have been harbingers of national struggle, oxygen for exchange of ideas, platform to put forward issues in a democracy. A national party has appeal across the nation (…)

• Academic-Activists Veto Police Theory

  6 March 2010, by Humra Quraishi

  Though this time of the year there ought to be much love in the air and about, but there’s pain. The recent killings of two teenaged boys by the security forces on the streets of Srinagar has brought about a further dent. Outrage-cum- hopelessness, which comes about when there is havoc taking place night in front of your eyes and yet you can do just about nothing to cry a crying halt!
  And even elsewhere things don’t seem brightening up. Whether those big games getting played in (…)

• We Need No Taliban Here

  6 March 2010, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  Maqbool Fida Hussain is at the very centre of a storm whose after-effects are extremely relevant for our democracy—both for the democratic structure of our state and for the preservation of democratic values in our society.
  It is not that Hussain is at the centre of a controversy for the first time; in fact, it is seldom he is out of one. He has got thousands of fans, not all because of the beauty of his art but quite a large number applauding him for what would have been called (…)