2014

From N.C.’s Writings
The Prime Minister’s visit to China has falsified the wishful forecast of his critics and adversaries at home who had pronounced in advance that it was going to be a non-event. If anything, it has turned out to be an event of positive significance.
The agreement on the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas has been justly characterised as a “landmark” along the long and tortuous road of India-China (…)

The following is the press release by the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association.
Ninettenth September marked the sixth anni-versary of the Batla House ‘encounter’. Six years ago, on this day, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police claimed to have hit upon the perpetrators of the serial blasts that had struck the Capital city the previous week. The so-called encounter resulted in the death of Inspector Sharma, a veteran of dozens of encountersand two young men, Atif Ameen and Sajid.
Sajid (…)

September 28, 2014 marks the immortal revolutionary martyr Bhagat Singh’s 107th birth anniversary. On this occasion we are publishing the following article on Bhagat Singh and a review of a book on him in the subsequent pages.
Introduction
Shahid Bhagat Singh is widely recognised as perhaps the most famous and respected revolutionary of the freedom movement of India. Although he, along with his two comrades Sukhdev and Rajguru, was hanged by the colonial regime at the extremely young age (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Understanding Bhagat Singh by Chaman Lal; Aakar Books, Delhi; pages: xii+258; price: Rs 550.
Bhagat Singh was a star among the stars in the galaxy of India’s freedom fighters who immolated themselves for the emancipation of the country from the yoke of colonial rule. He was born in 1907 and was executed by the British rulers on March 23, 1931, at the age of 24. So strong was the public reaction to his trial and death sentence that fearing a huge explosion of public anger, the (…)

by R.G. Gidadhubli
During the last one year, Ukraine has been passing through the worst period of its current history, torn as it is between the pro-Western civil society activists and pro-Russian East Ukrainian separatists. For not conceding to sign the association agreement with the European Union, the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, had to flee the country in February 2014. The present President, Petro Poroshenko, has been facing a tough time during the last few months to (…)

“I did my duty” is the defence of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the charge that he was aware of corruption taking place in the mobile (2G spectrum) and sale of coal mines and did not do anything to stop the corrupt deals going through. That he himself is above board goes without saying but it does not absolve him conniving at open corruption going on under his nose.
The report by the former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai is so damaging that the former Prime Minister (…)

by Vivek Kumar Srivastava
The recent by-elections are a reminder to the BJP that all is not well with it. The honeymoon period being enjoyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is finally over. The defeats in these by-elections are in a series. From Uttarakhand to Bihar to Uttar Pradesh and other States show that the BJP has failed to maintain the fund of goodwill the people generated during the Lok Sabha elections.
The by-elections in UP are important as a case study to understand the shift (…)

EDITORIAL
The results of the just-concluded State Assembly by-elections have rattled the BJP. Of the 29 seats that went to polls, the BJP won 12, SP eight, Congress seven and others four. But what was most significant, the ruling party at the Centre lost 13 of the 23 seats it held in UP, Rajasthan and Gojarat, the three States (besides Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) which had enabled it to win an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha polls last May. As The Times of India correctly pointed out, it (…)

COMMENTARY
During the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India, a series of agreements—aimed at enhan-cing Chinese cooperation with India—have been signed. However, while a detailed assessment of the visit will take some time, the following relevant facts need to be borne in mind.
1. The fact that the Chinese President was staying in India as a guest, did not deter the PLA from escalating the level of confrontation with the Indian Army in Ladakh, especially at Chumar.
2. Beijing (…)

Rajnath Singhji,
While talking to The Indian Express (New Delhi, August 24, 1914) you described yourself as a “Swayamsewak of the RSS”. As the Home Minister of the country you must have taken oath to uphold the Indian Constitution which is based on the principles of democracy, secularism, federalism, socialism and justice. However, there is going to be a serious conflict of interests between the above-mentioned fundamental principles of the Indian polity and your membership of the RSS. As (…)