2012

BOOK REVIEW
by BISHWAJIT SEN
Beyond Developmentalism, A Collection of Critical Essays edited by Nilanjan Dutta; Shreya Publication, Kolkata; Price: Rs 300.
This work was long overdue (Beyond Developmentalism). The forces fighting “developmentalism” lacked a proper language. During struggles against the land acquisition programmes in Singur and Nandigram, the activists’ anger was reflected in a few hastily written handbills and the same was the situation during the anti-POSCO struggle (…)

by GAURAV JOGI PATHANIA
‘We elected our Comrade Lenin of 21st century.’ These words are echoing from every corner of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The campus is celebrating the glorious victory of V. Lenin Kumar in the Students Union (JNUSU) elections. Elections in the JNU have always been a dynamic affair; students call it a ‘festival of competing ideologies’. Not only the Left but the Right-wing ideological forces also continue to maintain their vote-bank on the campus. Independent (…)

Professor Muchkund Dubey, the former Foreign Secretary who taught as a Professor in the School of International Studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University for close to eight years, has written a book India’s Foreign Policy: Coping with the Changing World, which was released by eminent writer, administrator-cum-diplomat Gopal Gandhi in the Capital on September 8, 2012. The following chapter from the book (published by Pearson) is being reproduced here with the author’s permission for (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
Alongwith our VIPs, the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet at Bangalore now has the privilege of being protected by security guards. Numerous dhabas in North India serving tandoori chicken delicacies do not require security guards but the minimum facilities of a small-scale industry which it is not easy to secure.
In the early days of his structural adjustment salesmanship, one of Manmohan Singh’s pet arguments for inviting multinationals into the country was that this (…)

COMMUNICATION
It is well-known that Swami Vivekananda was unswervingly opposed to communalism and stood firmly for the harmony of all religions. This is apparent, above all, from his famous Chicago speech at the World Congress of Religions in 1893.
So it is very disturbing that people tainted with very serious allegations of communal vio-lence are using the name of Swami Vivekananda on a large scale. This should be opposed by the true followers of Swami Vivekananda as this damages his (…)

About a month or two back I came to know that my niece, a patient of knee pain, got relief by taking capsule of flax-seed oil (that is, linseed oil) which is highly rich in alpha linolenic acid, ALA. One of her relatives, on the basis of her own experience, had prescribed the same to her. Her regular physician also approved the same without any hesitation. Flax-seed oil capsules are not available at present in India; these are available in the USA. It may be presumed that at a certain stage (…)

The movement against the Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu has entered a new phase with a Jal Satyagraha following the repressive police action of September 10.
More than 120 eminent citizens from different walks of life have signed the following statement expressing solidarity with the protesters, and calling for serious engagement with them on vital issues of safety.
The signatories include former Chief of Naval Staff L. Ramdas, former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, (…)

The entire monsoon session of Parliament having been washed out on account of the BJP’s stand on the issue of ‘Coalgate’, some sections of the media have echoed the PM to describe this as a blot on our parliamentary democracy. This is largely correct as the development was unique with the main Opposition party publicly declaring that its members won’t allow smooth functioning of both the Houses till the PM, as the Coal Minister, taking moral responsibility for the scam, tenders his (…)

COMMUNICATION
The recent mass protests against the Kudan-kulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu should convince the government of the need to seriously consider the implications of similar protests taking place in other areas where other nuclear plants are being located. By all accounts the recent protests are genuine, broad-based protests of people who firmly believe that to protect their life and livelihoods as well as to protect the ecology of their area they should do all they can to stop (…)

On September 10 the Madhya Pradesh Government partially accepted the demands of the ‘Jal Satyagraha’ in Khandwa district. Accordingly the water-level of Onkareshwar dam was almost immediately reduced to the legal limit so that the illegal and premature submergence of several villages was undone. The government has promised that land in place of land will be provided to the displaced people. However till the time of writing on September 11, the Jal Satyagraha in Harda district (Indirasagar or (…)