2010

There is a common but important debate among the development practicenors and academicians about which ideological baggage is conducive to development in Third World economies like India. In such debates we always find a majority which principally favours democracy as the best political system and a way of governance to achieve the developmental goals with a higher rate of equity and equality. This abstract position has been practically shaped either by the idea of ‘state socialism’ or with (…)

In our issue of June 19, 2010 we published an article by Ms Nandita Haksar entitled ’Constitutional Crisis in Manipur’. The article was reproduced in many papers and websites in the North-East and has generated a lively debate. We have also received some responses directly. We are reproducing some extracts from various points of view so that our readers may get a feel of the volatile situation in Manipur. —Editor
The gravity of the situation in Manipur is not in doubt as is clear from the (…)

In present times, barring ritual voting in elections, the will of We the People of the Republic of India rarely receives recognition. A people’s victory is rarer still in today’s dispensation by Central or State governments which are imposing on the people, a pattern of development that is increasingly being questioned. Thus, people’s victories, howsoever small or fleeting, need to be made known so that others who struggle to assert their rights may take courage and perhaps adapt the methods (…)

The US-Russian spy swap in Vienna a few days ago, the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, observed, represents pragmatism and some long- term interests in Russian foreign policy towards the US. This nearly coincided with the Indian arrest of a Russian diplomat who overstayed in the country. The Chinese prevailed upon the world to not condemn North Korea over its sinking of the South Korean ship and are pursuing their longstanding policy of developing nuclear relations with Pakistan. This happened (…)

COMMUNICATION
When bomb blasts occur anywhere in the country, the pet theory immediately put forward by both the law enforcing and investigating agencies and the media is that Muslim terrorists are behind these unpardonable crimes. And on this count a number of Muslim youths have been arrested on grounds of suspicion and most of them are still awaiting their trials. This is in addition to the highly excessive inhuman torture which they are facing in jails.
But now, as a result of (…)

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) faced a stinging setback in the Upper House election held on July 11, 2010. The Japanese voters were disappointed with the party’s apparent inability to deliver on promises to revamp Japan’s “sclerotic postwar order”.1 This will negate the efforts that Prime Minister Kan Naoto has to put the economy in shape. In a strong rebuke to the Kan Government, the voters deprived the DPJ and its tiny ally of a majority less than a year after the DPJ swept to (…)

The bond of friendliness between India and Kazakhstan as prominent members of their respective regions as well as the comity of world nations has gained a new fillip in recent times. Kazakhstan’s rise as an independent nation-state was a significant event in international affairs, and it was readily accorded recognition by India. This led to a formal beginning of relations between India and Kazakhstan. Now the two countries have been exploring various diversified fields of cooperation for (…)

COMMUNICATION
T.J.S. George’s vitriolic vitueeration against Mamata Banerjee as the Union Railway Minister (in his “Railways: Conspiring Against The People”, Mainstream, July 31, 2010), reflects his prejudice against her. He seems to be totally oblivious of the ugly ground realities of lethal toxicity created by the ruling CPI-M to cling on to power by means more foul than fair. The Indian Railways has route kilometre of over 65,000 km. It runs around 14,000 trains every day. It carries (…)

The ethos of the Indian independence struggle was built around the concepts of human rights for all, freedom of all colonial peoples and secular plural democratic polity. This ethos guided India’s foreign policy for several decades, and India stood firmly in support of anti-colonial movements, struggles against authoritarian regimes and establishment of human dignity. Her identification with the Palestinians’ aspirations for liberation and self-rule in their land, anti-apartheid struggle in (…)

The following is a piece written on August 2, 2010 by the editor of The Milli Gazette. It is being reproduced from the publication for the benefit of our readers as it brings out a specific viewpoint that is held by a large section of the populace in the Kashmir Valley and hence cannot be ignored or brushed aside. —Editor
For the last two months only bullets are talking in Kashmir. Dozens of lives, mostly school-going young men and women, have succumbed to the bullets fired by the security (…)