2015

Last year, the then brand new government of India declared 25th December to be Good Governance Day in honour of Atal Behari Vajpayee, a bachelor activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a founder of the Jana Sangh and its successor, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the first of the Swayamsevaks to become the Prime Minister of India from 1998 to 2004. Twentyfifth December is also Christmas, celebrated across the world, and also in India where over 27 million Christians live. Christmas will (…)

I liked the idea of a Museum on Partition. There was a lot of enthusiasm for it. But I find to my horror that the Partition Museum would be a branch of the British Museum, which would also supervise it. The whole purpose is defeated because the British are the ones to blame for the partition that resulted in the killing of one million people and uprooting of thrice that number.
The partition was a parting kick by the British before they quit. They drew the line on the basis of religion (…)

COMMUNICATION
This is a mystery of history. Veteran columnist and author Kuldip Nayar want us to believe that the Koh-i-Noor ”belongs to them (British) and that Lord Dalhousie fraudulently took it away from Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s son, Dilip Singh, a minor then during the British rule”. [‘Claims over Kohinoor’ in Mainstream, Vol LIII, No 49, New Delhi, November 28, 2015] In various capacities, for example, as journalist, Member of Parliament and High Commissioner of India to UK, he has (…)

The 21st Conference of Parties (or CoP 21) has just ended. Signed by negotiators from nearly 200 countries a legal agreement has set ambitious goals to limit temperature rises and hold govern-ments to account for reaching those targets. Perhaps the goal of 1.5° C is a big leap from the 2° C agreed six years ago at the Copenhagen Summit and also for the first time rich countries, rising economies and some of the poorest countries have agreed to work together to curb emissions. Rich countries (…)

by Binoy Viswam
Finally the world has come to an agreement in Paris. It was the outcome of intense negotiations for two weeks, with representatives of 190 countries attempting to find ways and means to face the challenge of global warming. The Paris agreement undoubtedly is a step forward in rescuing humanity from a climate catastrophe. But, there are ambiguities still revolving on the climate agreement. The world will have to witness further debates focused around the interpretation and (…)

As part of his overall policy to counter China in the Indian Ocean region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widening and deepening Indo-Japanese cooperation. It spans a wide area, from defence to nuclear power generation; from high-speed rail corridors to information and communication technology and electronics. The first of the high-speed railway corridors that will come up will be from Ahmedabad to Mumbai—a distance of 505 kms. The bullet trains on this line are expected to run at an (…)

Control over Land
Land is a non-renewable resource. Along with water, it is essential for survival of human and non-human species. It is not merely a source of food and livelihood for the food-producers, but also a socio-cultural basis of life, especially in India, where “bhoomi” is sacred, along with rivers. Land and water are two of the “panchamahabhutas”, the five fundamentals of life itself.
The British politically unified India and brought central laws to India at a time when India (…)

While hunger, deprivation, mass distress and migration have been widely reported from Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh in recent years, this year has seen the peaking of these distress conditions. Adverse weather conditions have worsened due to official neglect and apathy. If urgent steps to check the fast deteriorating conditions are not taken imme-diately, the situation will get out of hand within a few weeks resulting in avoidable loss of precious human lives. In addition many farm and (…)

by Gull Wani and Effat Yasmin
Introduction
The democratic renewal globally has created opportunities for more decentralisation of economic and political power. Panchayati Raj Institutions or democratic decentralisation is the development of the reciprocal relationship between the Central Government and local governments and between local governments and the citizens. Decentra-lisation has been helpful in the process of democratisation of polities and societies. In India, since 2005-06 (…)

BOOK REVIEW
The Many Faces of Kashmiri Nationalism—From the Cold War to the Present Day by Nandita Haksar; Speaking Tiger, New Delhi; 2015; pages: 335; Price: Rs 350.
The Many Faces Of Kashmiri Nationalism— From The Cold War To The Present Day (Speaking Tiger) is Nandita Haksar’s latest book and, perhaps, the most significant. It not just captures the very historical backgrounders to Kashmiri nationalism but in that process also throws open the dark realities of the prevailing situation. (…)