2011

The sudden danger of nuclear radiation or explosion in Japan due to the damages caused by the tsunami to several, at least three, of its reactors in a nuclear power plant should ring the alarm bells in India, the northern half of which is in the seismic zone and the southern half in the tsunami-prone zone, specially the part of the south which is in the industrially advanced area and equipped with required infrastructure. Nor is the south free from the risk of earthquakes, going by the the (…)

The tsunami-triggered accident in Fukushima (Japan) Daiichi plant’s Unit 1 (operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO) brings safety issues into question regarding the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In the Daiichi NPP, the automatic shutting down of the reactor by stopping the controlled nuclear fission process, did occur as designed. However, the reactor did not cool down as fast as it was expected and required to do, and called for activating the emergency coolant (…)

The recent revelations of the role that a section of our press plays raises serious doubts whether Edmund Burke’s Fourth Estate has become Earnest Hemingway’s Fifth Column in the country.
It was Edmund Burke, the eighteenth century Whig politician and renowned British parliamen-tarian, who used the term Fourth Estate for the first time to denote the realm of the press. During the course of a speech in Parliament he termed the Lords Spiritual (Clergy) as the First Estate of the realm, the (…)

The Jaitapur nuclear power project has become a matter of intense discussion all over the country because of the displacement of a large number of the people in the Konkan area; there are also several questions challenging the different nuclear projects of the government. This discussion now involves the nuclear agreements signed by the UPA Government with the US as well as with the French Government for installation of nuclear plants at Jaitapur and other locations. We are reproducing the (…)

This article was written sometime early this month, but its contents remain valid even now. Hence it is being reproduced from Asia Times for the benefit of our readers.
Launcelot Gobbo told his elderly father in a poignant moment in William Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice, “Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long.” But the tragedy of life is often that by the time “truth is out”, Gobbo would have become sand-blind and would no more be able to see his son.
For the (…)

Abstract
In the post LTTE-era the fishing rights of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen have become a major issue between India and Sri Lanka. Despite the existence of various agreements and elaborate understanding, the fishermen issue has trigged unexpected worry in the excellent relations between the two countries. The main problem in the fishing rights in the Palk Bay is that of the conflict between the laws of the sea and traditional fishing rights. The Tamil Nadu fishermen even today (…)

India will not chase those illegal funds in foreign banks, that’s for sure. The real reason is that virtually every VIP politician and bureaucrat is involved in it. It is mass guilt, not international treaties as the Prime Minister says, that makes India helpless.
The US has proved that a determined government can get things done. And let’s not forget that America’s stakes are much less than India’s. A Swiss Banking Association report revealed in 2009 that Indians had $ 1456 billion (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
The scandal of Charles Sobhraj’s escape from Delhi’s much-publicised Tihar Jail is a matter which must shake up all complacency about the state of the country’s security. A notorious international crook—a star target of the Interpol —has not only bolted in broad daylight from a prison supposed to be heavily guarded, but has left behind a trail that points to indiscipline and corruption of unbelievable magnitude.
This was not a sudden or totally unexpected happening. (…)

March 23, 2011 marks the 101st birth anniversary of that stormy petrel of Indian politics, Socialist leader Rammanohar Lohia. On this occasion, we remember him by carrying the following articles.
by Bhagwat Prasad
The renowned Prof S.H. Alatas in his inauguration lecture in Multiversity’s Penang-II conference made a good speech on ‘The captive Mind’, particularly in the context of the knowledge available amongst the scholars of the erstwhile colonial countries. He referred to “…. this (…)

Very rarely in contemporary history can one come across such an accumulation of wrong assessments, poor judgements, ignorance as shown by the Western countries and UN interventions in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban in December 2001.
A review of such mistakes may help avoiding their repetition in future. No doubt a number of difficulties have been boosted by the shortcomings of the Afghan authorities: weak administration, corruption… but the reconstruction and fight against (…)