2011

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
In just about a year’s time, we shall be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the country’s indepen-dence when power was transferred from the unwilling hands of the British rulers to the leaders of our freedom struggle. And it is exactly fifty years now that in the last general election under colonial rule, in 1946, the leader of the Indian National Congress toured the length and breadth of this vast land promising the public that once the power was transferred, he (…)

(April 22 this year marks the 141st birth anniversary of that immortal revolutionary, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. On this occasion we carry the following tributes to Lenin from two of our most distinguished national leaders.)
Bolshevism...aims at the abolition of the institution of private property. This is only an application of the ethical ideal of non-possession in the realm of economy and if the people adopted this ideal of their own accord or could be made to accept it by means of peaceful (…)

The last one week has witnessed several developments including the campaign for elections to five State Assemblies and quite substantial polling in four of the five States. But it is the success of Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption that has hogged the headlines. On receiving a Government of India gazette notification regarding the constitution of a joint committee comprising members from the government and civil society for preparetion of the draft Lokpal (…)

COMMUNICATION
India certainly needs a strong and effective Lokpal law. Recently a committee has been formed for drafting this Bill. Keeping in view the importance of this task it’ll be helpful if while retaining all the existing members of the committee it can be made more broadbased and representative by including several more members.
Several people’s movements and organisations all over the country have been fighting corruption at various levels. In the context of India particularly (…)

by Shuddhabrata Sengupta
At the risk of heresy, let me express my profound unease at the crescendo of euphoria surrounding the ‘Anna Hazare + Jan Lokpal Bill’ phenomenon as it has unfolded on Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and across several hysterical TV stations over the last few days.
This time around, I have to say that the print media has acted (upto now) with a degree of restraint that I think is commendable. Partly, this has to do with the different natures of the two media. If you (…)

This article was written before Anna Hazare ended his fast following the successful conclusion of negotiations with the government. Its contents, however, are still valid; hence it is being published now.
It seems the present planetary position is not in favour of the UPA Government as it is landing itself in trouble one after the other. The Congress, supported by other parties, having been already in the centre of a storm due to the allegations of massive corruption in the Commonwealth (…)

It is easy to slot Pakistan, but difficult to comprehend how it ticks. The West tags the country with terrorism and many others consider it a failed state. For India, it is a potential enemy which is still to punish the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on 26/11, nearly three years ago.
Yet the 16 million people want the same secure conditions which the inhabitants of other countries cherish. But they live in constant fear, the children praying for their father’s safety and wives of their (…)

The following is the text of the convocation address that Prof Randhir Singh, the renowned Marxist scholar who retired as the Professor of Political Theory, University of Delhi, some years ago, was invited to deliver at the Punjabi University in Patiala in December 2010; however, he could not deliver it in person as he met with a minor accident at his residence in the New Delhi, and it had to be read out in absentia.
It is generous of Dr Jaspal Singh and the Punjabi University authorities (…)

India is a space power, with the capability to launch satellites in space. Very few nations of the world make up this elite club. Some govern-ments and companies are owner/operators of satellites, thus contributing to the rapid growth of the space industry. The commercialisation of outer space removed the mystique and magic of such activities in outer space, and this represents the developing field of economic growth. Some years ago these activities were exclusively reserved for the (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
(April 14 this year marks the 120th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. On this occasion we are reproducing the following piece by N.C. and two articles on Dr Ambedkar to offer our sincere homage to the abiding memory of that towering personality.)
The award of the Bharat Ratna posthumously on B.R. Ambedkar raises mixed feelings. No doubt Ambedkar was one of the stalwarts of modern India; the high-water mark of his career was that he contributed (…)