2011

I. Introduction
Capitalism has become the dominant ‘world system’. This system is now in a severe crisis. This crisis is multidimensional, including social, political, economic, ecological and ethical. Unless an alternative world view to capitalism is promoted, human life in this planet earth is going to be too miserable and in the long run, the very life may be extinct. In this scenario, religions have a critical role to play. This article, broadly takes the perspective as revealed both (…)

The World Bank has estimated in the recently released ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report that the growth rate of the developed countries is likely to increase from the present 2.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent in 2012. The growth rate of the developing countries is likely to remain firm at the respectable six per cent. The Bank, in the same breath, has cautioned that the problem of government debt of the developed countries can become dangerous. Other analysts have expressed concern that (…)

by Shahla Tabassum and T. Sadashivam
Abstract
The status of India in the world has reached a new level with every country looking upto us as a new avatar which was never before and the good example is the visit of the heads of the states of five permanent members of the Security Council in the year 2010. The main reason for this changed perspective is because of the growing Indian economy, which has withstood the global recession, when other countries are struggling. In 2011, there (…)

by M.H. Faridi
The reform of the United Nations Security Council ((UNSC) represents a major challenge for the United Nations (UN). The increase of the number of permanent members of the Council, improving on the transparency of its decision-making and ensuring equitable representation of all UN member-states on the Council—these are just some of the issues covering the reform. The addition of new non-permanent members, that is not discussed in this essay due to lack of space, is another (…)

Sometime back Andre Beteille, the renowned sociologist, had described Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamul Congress supremo, as a phenomenon in Indian politics. Beteille did not advance many reasons but laid stress on the most important one which puts Mamata above many Indian politicians. His argument was that several Indian politicians have found their feet with help from either godfathers or godmothers or from their own families. Examples come to our mind immediately. Indira Gandhi was chosen for (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Evolution of Panchayati Raj in India – from Traditional to Constitutionalised Panchayats by Dr Mridula Sharda; Kanishka Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi; 2010; Price: Rs 450.
The constitutionalisation of the Panchayats by the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution (1992) has accorded a new salience to the Panchayati Raj Institutions. It has made them the third tier of the Indian the political system. Earlier there existed only two tiers, the Union Government and the (…)

Renowned CPI leader M.N. Govindan Nair’s birth centenary fell on December 10 last year. This article, by a neighbour in his native village in Kerala, was written at that time but could not then be used for unavoidable reasons. It is now being published here as an evaluation of the personality based on the author’s personal views, ideas and impressions.
The birth of MN took place on December 10, 1910 at Pandalam, a remote village in Kerala. He was brought up and started his public (…)

Due to the favourable geographic location and vast natural resources, Central Asia’s importance in US calculations has been growing with every passing year. Washington is fully conscious of the fact that increasing tensions among those states which are in mutual competition over Central Asian oil and gas as well as the local crossroads on old routes between Hindustan, Europe, Russia, the Middle East and the Middle Kingdom are turning the region into one of major international powder-kegs. (…)

The national scene remains depressing on the whole with the Union Government—already busy trying its utmost to prevent the fallout of the corruption charges in the underpricing of 2G airwaves sold to telecom operators—making every effort to avert a fresh spectrum scam. It is thus taking urgent steps to cancel a palpably improper deal [involving the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)] wherein the beneficiary happens to be a private company that would have got 70 MHz of spectrum for a (…)

On January 31, the Ministry of Environment and Forests gave conditional clearance to the $ 12 billion dollar integrated steel plant and captive port project of the South Korean Pohang Steel Company (commonly called the POSCO project). This clearance, although it is accompanied by 60 conditions, has been widely criticised by social and environmental activists. The resistance group of local people, the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (Committee for Struggle to Resist POSCO), has said that it (…)