Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Rural Industrialisation as the ‘Mahayana’ of International Cooperation: A World Waiting to be Born

  26 December 2009, by Saurabh Kumar

  The following piece was written for the UNIDO’s General Conference that took place in Vienna this month but could not be carried by any of the international papers because of a slight delay, although some feel its contents may not be ideologically palatable to them. Hence it is being carried here for the benefit of our readers. —Editor
  A highly positive sum game awaits the community of nations if an internationally agreed programme for rural industrialisation in the LDCs (and in the (…)

• Cyber Infection? An Appeal to Call Centres

  26 December 2009, by Amiya Dev

  To err is human. But does the computer ever err? Or rather, does it recognise the probability of human error? If you are giving it a command, does it give you a second or even a third chance to make sure that you are giving the right command? It better do so, else you may nose-dive an aircraft into the ground and go up in flames. But I have a suspicion that it does, only our computer-happy call centre personnel may not always like to allow it that leeway while dealing with computer-clumsy (…)

• Indo-US and India-Russia: Strategic Partners All?

  26 December 2009, by Ash Narain Roy

  India’s growing flirtations with the United States and its continuing romance with Russia no longer surprises anyone. Such is the cold logic of the 21st century global politics that wearing several hats comes easily to many countries including India. Both the US and Russia consider India to be their natural ally. In an address at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US, Ambassador Meera Shankar described Indo-US ties as a (…)

• Jharkhand: Economic Growth for Whom?

  26 December 2009, by Girish Mishra

  As far as natural resources like minerals, land and water are concerned, Jharkhand is among the richest States of India. Yet, its people are among the poorest. Mind you, almost 30 per cent of them are tribal. Out of the total population of 288.46 lakhs, 223.1 lakhs live in rural areas and only 65.36 lakhs are urban dwellers. Even a cursory glance is sufficient to convince that most of the tribal, Dalit and OBC population live in villages and depend on land and allied activities for their (…)

• Kashmir: Manufacturing a Suitable Story

  26 December 2009

  The following is the press release issued by the members of an all-women’s fact-finding team that recently visited Kashmir to probe into the Shopian tragedy that has rocked the Valley. It was circulated at a press conference the team held on December 10, 2009. It needs to be noted that this is a press release and not the fact-finding team’s report on the incident that runs into 34 pages.
  On the evening of May 29, 2009, two young women, Neelofer Jan and her young school-going sister-in-law (…)

• Resolving Kashmir Problem: Some Preliminary Steps

  26 December 2009

  COMMUNICATION
  Holding of plebiscite having become irrelevant and inoperative, and military and militant efforts having been proved fruitless so far, the following steps may be given a try:
  1. First priority should be given by the Government of India to the resolution of Indo-Kashmir issues and political differences that have arisen since the accession of the J&K State to India in October 1947.
  2. Without prejudice to the existing sovereignty of India and Pakistan over (…)

• On Shopian Tragedy, Mulk Raj Anand

  26 December 2009, by Humra Quraishi

  One tragedy after another has been hitting the Valley and there seems to be a mockery of the very system, of the very democratic framework. And even if there have been peaceful-cum-non-violent ‘Gandhian’ protests by the Kashmiris, the ongoing indifference by those who matter, by those who are in the business of governance, those who are in the thick of political strategies, is most distressing. All that one hears is that some sort of quiet diplomacy is on, but what’s the point of this (…)

• Communist Unity—Time for Introspection

  26 December 2009, by D. Gnaniah

  For three days in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, 2009 an international meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties of 47 countries, 55 parties was held fruitfully. This was called the 11th meeting starting from the first one held in 1960 in Moscow when the socialist camp was at the zenith of its power influencing the course of events in the world, and perhaps also within most of the individual countries.
  This meeting was hosted jointly by the CPI-M and CPI. They issued a joint (…)

• Ajoy Ghosh: The Creative Marxist

  26 December 2009, by Anil Rajimwale

  The year 2009-10 is being celebrated as the birth centenary of one of most outstanding Marxist theoreticians and Communist leaders of the world communist movement, Ajoy Ghosh. That provides us an occasion to trace some of his most lasting contributions to independent India broadly, and the Indian communist movement in particular.
  Ajoy Kumar Ghosh was born on February 20, 1909. We will not go into his biographical details, as they have already appeared in many places. He passed away (…)

• West Bengal: On the Degeneracy of a Political Party

  26 December 2009, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  It was indeed an inspired canard of the radical Right to call the Communists in India as anti-national and pro-imperialist.
  That the Indian Communists called Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as the “running dog of General Tojo” and a “Quisling” in the early forties of the last century when he organised the Indian National Army for the liberation of India from the imperialist yoke of Great Britain is now recognised by them as a minor aberration while evaluating the then historical (…)