2010

by Vaishnavi Tannir
Many feel that the recent Chinese activity in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan spells trouble. At this point, fully comprehending the critical implications this move has, and will have, on the region and its participants, we have to carve a way forward. Moreover, an under-standing of the underlying motives and perceptions of China, India and Pakistan is most significant. This particular manoeuvre affects these countries most directly, and the US in an (…)

While renewable energy was always considered more desirable from the point of view of environment protection, its importance has increased several times in these times of climate change. Solar energy is particularly seen as a very promising source in energy planning for the future in tropical countries like India. Interest in realising the potential of solar energy is fast increasing and organisations which have been pioneers in solar energy are attracting a lot of well-deserved attention. (…)

by Khin Zaw Win
In the emotion-wracked months following the popular uprising in 1988 in Burma/Myanmar, I had thought of writing something titled A Burmese Sense of the Tragic. Now, 22 years later, something I write could well be titled A Burmese/Myanmar Sense of the Ironic. A country and people who have been cut off from democracy for 48 years are going to have elections on November 7, but a whole slew of vocal ‘democrats’ are clamouring for a boycott of those polls.
I am not about (…)

TRIBUTE
The death of Prof Suraj Bhan, who passed away at the age of 79 years at Rohtak on July 14, 2010, has left a void which cannot be easily filled. He was an embodiment of courage, conviction and consistency. Dr Suraj Bhan could squarely fit into the category of academician-as- an-activist designed by the doyen of social sciences in India, Prof Rajni Kothari.
Prof Bhan, who had a Ph.D degree in Ancient History from M.S. University, Baroda, distin-guished himself as a teacher in (…)

TRIBUTE Acclaimed people’s theatre and music director Amitava Dasgupta, known to his friends as Amit-da, breathed his last on October 9, 2010 (he was born on July 1, 1947). He did not recover well from a heart surgery in July and continued working until his very last days. His was a four-decade career of an outstanding and distinguished pro-people cultural activist whose passion to use music and theatre against injustice never diminished.
The German theatre director, Fritz (…)

Despite all the mismanagement, inadequacy of preparations and allegations of mega-size corruption that at one stage threatened the very holding of the XIX Commonwealth Games in the Capital, the Games have on the whole gone off well till now and as we approach the end of the sporting event indications are that the Delhi CWG would go down as quite successful not just for India (which has been able to win a record number of gold medals thus exceeding its gold-tally at the Manchester Games in (…)

Report of the All India Fact Finding Team on the Killing of Azad and H.C. Pandey

In his commentary on the Greek Political Thought, C.L. Wayper says: if the king is virtuous, law becomes unnecessary; if the king is not virtuous, law becomes useless. In today’s terms, it can be referred to as the endorsement of the Rule of Law and Constitutionalism which are the backbones of democratic governance particularly in a plural society like India. The Rule of Law was considered inevitable for the unity and integrity of the country by thwarting the menace of ‘preferred interests’ (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
One of my eaerliest reporting experiences was the great Calcutta killing of 1946. Fierce communal passions were unleashed and thousands were done to death on both sides in the course of a couple of days. But behind that gory carnage was the fight for the city of Calcutta: who should get it? Pakistan or India? Religious beliefs are made use of to rouse mass anger among innocent people, but those who whip up such passions do so only for political gains.
In our (…)

The much awaited Ayodhya verdict pronounced by three judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on September 30, 2010 stunned the entire progressive establish-ment of the country. All the three independent versions of the judges converged in relying on the faith and belief of the Hindus forsaking the established principles of law, and vindicated the stand of the Hindutva movement which brought about the destruction of the Babri Masjid. As a compromise solution, again sans any (…)