2011

On May 24-26, the Daesan Foundation of Seoul, South Korea held its Third International Forum for Literature, the two previous ones having been held in 2000 and 2005 respectively. The themes for those two were ‘Writing across Boundaries’ and ‘Writing for Peace’. This one’s theme was ‘The Globalising World and the Human Community’. It was approached through the following sub-themes: (1) ‘The Self and the Other in the Age of Multiculturalism’, (2) ‘Writing in the Globalising World’, (3) (…)

Recently a lot of discussion has taken place about how the differences on the Lokpal legislation can be resolved.
One possible solution which should be seriously explored as a part of such a sincere process is to prepare a comprehensive ‘umbrella-type’ legislation in which a single bill will have five sub-bills.
The first of these will set up a Lokpal to deal with high-end corruption (including PM) while at the same time placing a strengthened, improved CVC (Central Vigilance (…)

by Bagwat Prasad
Anna and his team are great crusaders against corruption. Maoists want systemic change. Anna’s team aims at intensifying Indian democracy in tune with the spirit of the Constitution, reflected in the Preamble. The Hindu in its editorial (29.8.2011) writes: “In India, unlike in Britain, Parliament is not supreme. Constitution is.” Maoists want to overthrow the Constitution. The Jan Lokapal Bill of Team Anna serves the cause of democratic decentralisation and vigilance by (…)

by Umakant
‘End justifies the means’ is a Brahmanical fallacy that must be discarded for the sake of logic itself. Fanaticism of all kinds needs to be shunned at all cost or else democracy may be endangered. 43 years, eight Lokpal Bills under seven Prime Minister and no consensus tells us a lot about the level of consciousness in our society on the need to fight corruption of several kinds. The current Lokpal Bill is the ninth attempt and quite interestingly three other versions have (…)

Introduction
Corporate socialism and stashed black money are two tentacles of the neo-liberal mascot of the Indian state. It has owed little responsibility in regard to ensuring development for all, especially the poor and marginalised sections. The emergence of the global competitive market economy widens the huge gap between the urban-rural, poor-rich and state-society relations. It escalates the militant menace in the corporate corridors of the mineral-rich Adivasi courtyard. The (…)

[The following article had reached us quite sometime back but could not be used earlier due to unavoidable reasons. —Editor]
The present plight of the communist and Dalit movements brings to mind a Mahabharatan myth. Brhadratha, the king of the rajaka Magadha state, was sonless. He got a fertility fruit from a sage, which he gave to both of his queens. They delivered the halves of an infant. Furiously they were thrown on a dung heap. The mother-goddess Jara saw it and joined them. And (…)

One basic aspect of the international approach to Afghanistan has been the tendency to devise strategy, take decisions and organise ground operations in a way that the Afghans perceive to be disrespectful towards them and even on occasions smacking of arrogance. At times they also take legitimate offence at the manner in which their country was being treated—their feeling of Afghanistan being regarded as a no-man’s land and not a sovereign state is not without basis. It is this perceived (…)

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the United States was befittingly observed on September 11 this year with the leaders of the country, headed by President Barack Obama, poignantly dedicating at New York’s Ground Zero, where 10 years ago stood the Twin Towers, an appropriate memorial to the 2749 persons who perished there in the worst terror attack in the citadel of the industrialised West. The families of the dead gathered not only at Ground Zero but also in Washington (…)

The attitude of most of Indian political leaders, senior officials, business magnates and strategic thinkers towards Bangladesh has been one of disdain and apathy. Very few of these people either understand the dynamics of the domestic politics of Bangladesh or have grasped the full import of Indo-Bangladesh relations. The most glaring example recently of the abysmal ignorance of Bangladesh’s politics was the Indian Prime Minister’s remark towards the end of June 2011 that 25 per cent of the (…)

Media Reports
The UID Aadhaar project planning and system design shortcomings and security risks at the national (or macro) level have been discussed elsewhere.1 The present article views the Aadhaar project at the system operational level, with practical considerations based on observed and probable functioning at the service delivery end.
Consider the following report in a local daily, The Mysore Bugle:
Food riots: PDS outlet vandalised
Mysore: August 2, 2015—The PDS outlet in (…)