2011

The following piece appeared in Mainstream (June 20, 1964) highlighting the influence of Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi on Jawaharlal Nehru’s thoughts and ideas.
K.R.
The phenomenon of India producing two such mighty men as Tagore and Gandhi in the course of a single generation has been a source of puzzlement to many. Jawaharlal Nehru had always been fascinated by these two towering personalities, both by their contrast and by what they had in common. For him it had been part of (…)

The UPA Government has finally allowed the CBI to arrest Suresh Kalmadi, chief of graft-tainted Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. In fact for quite sometime now, there has been an avalanche of allegations against Kalmadi and his associates entrusted with the task of organising the Games. So it is quite legitimate to wonder if this is a case of too little, too late. Yet, even if belatedly, the significance of this action by the government at the Centre should not be minimised. It must (…)

On the twentyfifth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, we are carrying the following article by Mikhail Gorbachev. It is highly relevant at the present juncture.
by Mikhail Gorbachev
I first heard of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor breakdown on the morning of April 26, 1986, when the Soviet Ministry of Medium Machine Building, responsible for nuclear reactors, reported it to the Kremlin. Though the seriousness of the incident remained unclear during our emergency (…)

Anna Hazare broke his 97 hour-fast at Jantar Mandar, New Delhi on Saturday, April 9, 2011 after he was handed over a copy of the gazette notification constituting a ten-member committee consisting of five Ministers of the Union Government and five representatives of the civil society including Anna Hazare himself. The government, which was initially somewhat adamant in its attitude, was compelled to come to terms with all the demands of Anna Hazare, in view of the unprecedented support he (…)

There is no doubt that Anna Hazare had the highest interest of the country on his mind in undertaking his fast as a war on corruption. There is no doubt either that he brought an upsurge of emotion in the country against corruption and showed a way in which it can be fought courageously and effectively following the Gandhian model of satyagraha and JP’s model of the Bihar movement in 1974. He has once again laid the ghost, as JP did, that people’s movements against popularly elected (…)

The 21st century is witnessing new paradigms of power. The topology of power has undergone a sea-change. The tectonic changes in the international system are creating major shuffling in the global power structure. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is not simply a new gathering place for the world’s emerging powers, but reflects a new global power structure.
While for India, democracy or, what Michael Mandelbaum of the John Hopkins University calls, ‘democratic (…)

It all happened on a Saturday; 125 years have passed since then. In those days people had to work for ten to twelve hours a day. But on that Saturday they broke the rule. They set aside their fear and strife, and left work. With an indomitable spirit they dared to raise their voice and make a start. Together they dreamt to change the world. “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what we will”1 was what they decided as something non-negotiable. Workers in thousands (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
As elections to the West Bengal Assembly are in full swing we are reproducing the following article of N.C. and the letters related to this piece for the benefit of our readers.
I write these lines after a fortnight has passed since that shocking incident took place in a suburb of the city of Calcutta. Three women and their driver returning from duty assigned by the government’s Health Department were detained by a gang of ruffians, their belongings looted, their van (…)

The following is the text of the letter received by the Editor, Mainstream, from the Minister of Information and Culture, Government of West Bengal, and the Editor’s reply.
West Bengal Minister’s Letter
MINISTER
Information & Cultural Affairs, Local Government, Urban & Metropolitan Development Departments,
Government of West Bengal
D. O. N. 401/M/90
Calcutta, the 30th June, 1990
Dear Shri Chakravarty,
Kindly refer to your eassay, “Danger Signal of Degeneration” (…)

May 1 marks the 34th anniversary of the foundation of the Janata Party and also the 89th birth anniversary of the renowned socialist leader, Madhu Limaye (1922-1995), who left a deep impress on Indian polity by his selfless service and effective intervention as a politician, an ideologue and a parliamentarian. He wrote extensively in this journal. While remembering him, we are reproducing the following piece he wrote after the Janata Party split in 1979; it was published in the Hindi weekly, (…)