2013

by Raj Narayana Das
Great men are either born great, or achieve greatness. And sometimes it is thrust upon some of them. Where does Gandhi stand in this Shakespearean classification? Certainly Gandhi achieved greatness. But I do not want to lift Gandhi to the level of a deity, nor do I want to use such an expression as Gandhism. That would amount to doing grave injustice to him. Because Gandhi denied that he had established a sect. To quote him, “I have no desire to establish a sect. I am (…)

TRIBUTE
Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, President of Venezuela, battling with prolonged cancer, died on March 5, 2013 at the age of 58. He was an epic figure who symbolised the radical transfor-mation of Latin America. He was a defining personality in the western hemisphere’s politics for 14 years. The deep emotional outpouring that followed the death of the Venezuelan President speaks volumes about his popularity and public support. In an era of crony-capitalism, Chavez was someone we will (…)

by Namrata Hasija
The Communist Party of China (CCP) was formed in 1921, under the influence of Marxist-Leninist thought and the October Revolution in Russia. The phase from 1927 to 1949 was most crucial in the history of Chinese nationalism. This period can be further divided into two periods, that is, from 1927 to 1937 (civil war between the Communist Party and Kuomintang) and 1937 to 1945 (war against Japanese aggression). During this period the position of women was pathetic because of (…)

Dr Prem Singh, the well-known progressive writer, journalist and academic, passed away in Punjab more than two-and-a-half months ago on January 23, 2013 after a brief illness. He was hospitalised the previous night.

COMMUNICATION
Veteran socialist thinker and Hindi writer Dr Mastram Kapur passed away in Delhi today in the evening. Dr Kapur, a staunch follower of Dr Rammanohar Lohia, had done a monumental work of editing and compiling Dr Lohia’s writings in Hindi and English in nine volumes. He was a prolific writer in Hindi and used to write fiction, poetry, essays and literature for children. He has several books to his credit.
Born on December 22, 1926 in Sakadi village of Himachal Pradesh, Dr (…)

The Supreme Court’s judgment on Glivec has been hailed by countless poor cancer patients not just in India but the developing world as a whole. This particular drug, used for treating leukaemia, costs a huge sum—$ 1900 (Rs 1,04,500) a month whereas the generic drug produced in India comes to around $ 175 (Rs 9625) a month. The Apex Court’s rejection of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis’ patent application for Glivec means it would no longer be able to charge eleven times more than the (…)

by M.M. Khajooria
By the end of year 1992, the terrorist storm engulfing Kashmir began to recede. The orgy of senseless blood-letting and ill-concealed criminal designs of ever-mushrooming terror outfits had severely damaged the “crusader” image of the “Mujahids” and made a mockery of the “freedom struggle”. The pro-Azadi JKLF and pro-Pak Hizab ul-Mujahids fought pitched battles in the Kashmir Valley. Secessionist leaders spoke in different voices. Utter confusion prevailed in the (…)

Extant law makes it mandatory for every citizen to formally register births, marriages and deaths in the family. A birth certificate is proof of age and a death certificate is proof that a person has died and, for example, his/her name is to be deleted from a Voter’s List. A marriage certificate shows that a man and a woman are legally married, their living together is socially acceptable and their progeny are legitimate. The civic body recording these events issues birth, marriage and death (…)

In the State Assembly elections in Tripura held in February, the CPI-M stormed back to power with a huge majority for the fifth time in a row. The result surprised not only the Congress which had taken its victory as a foregone conclusion, but many others as well who had expected that the CPI-M would be either defeated or would win with a very slender majority. In the event it was the CPI-M 49, CPI 1 and Congress 10 in a House of 60. The two electoral allies of the Congress drew blank. (…)

The recently concluded fifth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit at Durban this year brought to light new contours of the world order. Held in Africa for the first time, it saw the presence of leaders of state like Dilma Rousseff, Vladimir Putin, Manmohan Singh, Xi Jinping and Jacob Zuma. Alongside deliberations on diplomatic relations, it presented the idea of a BRICS Bank to focus on infrastructure development because of insufficient long-term financing and foreign (…)