2014

The day our country observed its first Republic Day by adopting the Constitution of free India and proclaiming itself as a Republic, our first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a message to the nation on January 26, 1950, underscored the following:
There is a peculiar appropriateness about this January 26, for this day links up the past with the present and this present is seen to grow out of that past. Twenty years ago we took the first pledge of independence. During these twenty years we have (…)

On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of Gandhiji’s martyrdom on January 30 this year, we offer our sincere homage to his abiding memory by reproducing from his writings and utterances at the fag end of his life.
Delhi is the metropolis of India. If, therefore, we really in our hearts do not subscribe to the two-nation theory, or in other words, if we do not regard the Hindus and the Muslims as constituting two distinct nations, we shall have to admit that the picture that the city of (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
Every year we dutifully go through the ritual of offering homage to Gandhiji on the day of his martyrdom.
We shall once again be witnessing the ceremony on January 30 to be conducted as per protocol—early morning prayer at Rajghat, singing of bhajans and hymns, a round of spinning and then during the course of the day, meetings and seminars and a special programme on Doordarshan to remind us of the Father of the Nation. VVIPs encircled by gun-totting security guards (…)

On January 23 this year falls Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 117th birth anniversary. On this occasion we are carrying the following excerpts from Netaji’s speeches for the benefit of our readers.
The Indian movement can be analysed under two aspects: 1) the aspect of national liberation—this aspiration is understood by freedom lovers all over the world; 2) the endeavour to create a new social order on the basis of social justice.
It is difficult to see the form the new social order will (…)

by Debabrata Biswas
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had the vision, with a mission, to establish socialism in India. Hence, even during the days of the freedom struggle he started planning for socialistic reconstruction after winning freedom through uncompromising struggle against British imperialism. As a part of this planning, one major step that he took was to form the Planning Committee for the first time in the history of India. After being elected the President of the Indian National (…)

India has started its sixtyseventh year of freedom from British rule. Much has happened in India and the world over these past sixty-six years. India faces a general election in 2014. It seems to be at the cross-roads of history. Which way will it go? That is a million dollar question troubling every Indian. History, they say, is of value because it provides us with lessons to learn. At the dawn of India’s freedom, the world was a very different place. Two devastating world wars had been (…)

I
Bleeding India, Burning India, Battered India, Beleaguered India, Bewildered India, Disintegrating India, Starving India, Dying India
• in which democracy has become the government of the elite, by the elite, for the elite, dividing people vertically and horizontally;
• in which the higher strata, the elite, form a separate nation, colonising the motherland;
• in which politics has turned into commerce and trade;
• in which Corruption has become a way of life in every sphere;
• (…)

As we stepped into 2014, India seemed prepared for a real socio-political leap forward. More significantly, this leap forward is characterised by one single word: Optimism. And this time this optimism is essentially anti-elitist, directed against the corrupt, opportunist, self-serving class that was dominating the scene since the 1990s. This optimism is still limited to the ‘common man’, that is, about 30 to 40 per cent of our people; but if the guardians of this ‘optimism’ do not falter (…)

The Indian political scene, even though fractured and patchy, is acquiring a shape of sorts. The emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), founded by NGOs, sneeringly called the jholawalas, has changed the scene. It has provided the much-needed alternative to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which are the same wine in two different old bottles.
Regional parties, which have a sway in the States, look like the biggest losers. Their appeal in the name of language, area or religion (…)

India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated a nuclear power plant (NPP) at Gorakhpur in Haryana on January 13, 2014. This NPP is an invitation to disaster since it relies on canal water for cooling, and canals can, and do, run dry. Besides, routine radioactive discharges into the cooling water will reach downstream canal users. Also, in the event of a serious nuclear accident, even full-flow water in the canal will be woefully insufficient to handle the crisis. At another level, it (…)