2012

The unprecedented Dinesh Goswami episode is over. The Trinamul Congress’ nominee for the post of the Railway Minister, Mukul Roy, a close confidant of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in charge of the portfolio on March 20 after Dinesh was forced to resign on March 18 due to Mamata’s dogged opposition to his continuance in office—stemming from her annoyance with him for the former Railway Minister’s decision to go for across-the-board passenger fare-hike (that (…)

TANVI KULKARNI and J. JEGANAATHAN
Bomb blasts in Delhi may not be shocking news these days but the limpet bomb attack on the Israeli’s Defence Attaché’s vehicle close to the Prime Minister’s residence on February 13, 2012 would have definitely astonished many people. Usually, bomb blasts create a sense of panic and disorder in the locale. But this attack, which is unique in terms of the modus operandi and explosive device used, wantonly generated ripples in diplomatic circles.
Israel’s (…)

I. Introduction: The Context of ‘Reform’
The IMF Managing Director commented days after the presentation of the Union Budget 2012-13 that India should have the ‘appetite for change’. Apparently she implied that the Finance Minister should have pushed forward the necessary reforms in policies. She further added that there was need for ‘leadership and consensus’ and this implies a disappointment with the Budget as it was presented. Two points arise. What does she mean by reform and whether (…)

Pre-Budget Outlook
The Budget is very significant for an economy. It gives the direction to the economy by presenting the statement of its total expenditures and revenues, and initiating the new economic programmes. Though its importance has scaled down after 1991 as a result of the pro-market reforms’ programme, it still holds a significant position for the businesses.
This year the Budget is important for more than one reason. It is the second last Budget for the present government (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
A midst extraordinary effusion of anxiety and interest, the long-awaited Budget was presented to Parliament on July 24.
The anxiety over it came from the high-voltage advance publicity about the country having reached the threshold of bankruptcy from which it could be saved by that mother of all money-lenders, the IMF. And interest in the Budget was generated by the expectation that it would set the lines of modernising our economy through structural changes so that (…)

The eightyfirst anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh falls on March 23 this year. On that day in 1931 he was executed alongwith his comrades, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Bhagat Singh’s birth centenary was befittingly observed on September 28, 2007. We are paying homage to the abiding memory of that indomitable revolutionary by presenting the following piece. The writer was a close associate of Bhagat Singh and sentenced to transportation for life as his casemate. In this article he (…)

“It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear. With these immortal words uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we strongly justify this action of ours.
“Without repeating the humiliating history of the past ten years of the working of the reforms (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) and without mentioning the insults hurled at the Indian nation through this House—the-so-called Indian Parliament—we want to point out that, while the people are expecting some more (…)

Numbers are important in a parliamentary system and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assertion that he has them should be assuring to the ruling Congress. After its debacle in the State elections of UP and Punjab, the party’s anxiety is understan-dable.
Yet the annoyance by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can reduce the numbers. Her Trinamul Congress party has 19 members in the Lok Sabha. She has already given a notice for amendment in the presidential address which mentioned the (…)

This is not the marauding army of a Nadir Shah or Genghis Khan debauching into the plains of Punjab after crossing the Khyber Pass and the river Indus and its tributaries. Compared to the lethal effects of the impending invasion, the destructive power of those armies was negligible. They excelled in savagery, brutality and cruelty; but as they did not have any weapon of mass destruction, their damaging capabilities were limited compared to those at present. This invasion is already on though (…)

(March 23 this year marks the 102nd birth anniversary of that stormy petrel of Indian politics, Socialist leader Rammanohar Lohia. On this occasion we remember him by carrying the following articles.)
Introduction
Dr Rammanohar Lohia (March 23, 1910-October 12, 1967) was one of the most original and self-reflective thinkers of India, a man of action and a freedom fighter who participated in the Satyagraha Movement at the age of ten. He was gentle in manner and wore a unostentatious and (…)