2010

Ukraine’s presidential election was watched with utmost attention by the international community as its outcome is bound to usher in serious changes in the domestic and foreign policy of that country, and transform the geopolitical landscape in the entire Eurasia space. The elimination of the incumbent Victor Yushchenko, who polled a mere five per cent in the first round, itself signals the marginalisation of pro-American Rightist forces for ever if you go by the pattern in the other CIS (…)

Harekrishna Debnath, veteran social activist, Chairperson of National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) and Executive Member of World Forum for Fisher Peoples (WFFP), passed away on December 30, 2009 at 11.15 am, at his residence in Ashoknagar, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. On his demise the coastal fishers’ and fishworkers’ movement and the struggle for environment and social justice suffers a great loss.
In 2008, Debnath led what was to become one of the key milestones of the fishers’ (…)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited the once-Taliban refuge, Marjah, a town of 80,000 residents in the southwestern province of Helmand, along with top US and Afghan officials on March 7. However, the visit, as has been noted in a recent report in The New York Times News Service, “made clear how much further there was to go if the people of Marjah were ever to throw their loyalty behind the Afghan Government.”
Why? Because despite Karzai trying his best to play to the crowd, that (…)

The horrifying news about the beheading of three Sikhs in the tribal regions of North West Frontier Province hit the electronic media on February 21 and the print media a day later. Some sources say they were beheaded because the very large ransom was not paid. Some say it was because they refused to convert. But true it is that they were beheaded and their bodies thrown in public places including a gurudwara. For once, even the MEA of the Government of India has not treated it as an (…)

The hike in Central excise duty on petrol and diesel as well as the two per cent ad valorem increase on non-petro products in the latest Union Budget the Finance Minister presented in Parliament last Friday (February 26) have justifiably incensed the entire Opposition with members from all Opposition parties (from the BJP to CPI) taking the extraordinary step of trooping out of the Lok Sabha in the midst of—and not after—Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget speech. This step was indeed extraordinary (…)

For the tribals and the poor, “Green Hunt” is nothing else but a united front of state and mining corporations to grab their land and rich natural resources by silencing the voices of those who fight for their homeland rights. The state, the tribals and the poor believe, is in nexus with the designs of the multinational and Transnational corporations. The Honourable Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, had said that sacred hills do not give people food to eat or clothes to wear. That is why he (…)

COMMUNICATION
The Senas’ “Maharashtra for Maharashtrians only” claim is patently parochial, divisive, separatist, seditious, and secessionist. Political parties like the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are a threat to the unity of the nation. These extra-constitutional authorities need to be dealt with ruthlessly. How can the Senas ignore the fact that the “outsiders” have contributed the lion’s share to the growth of Mumbai, and that without the “outsiders”, life in the city (…)

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 (…)

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 (…)

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 (…)