2016

by Jajati K. Pattnaik and R. P. Pradhan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Tehran marks a new geopolitical beginning in the Persian Gulf region putting Chabahar in the grand chess board of India’s strategic calculus in the emerging Asian geo-spatial architecture. On the other hand, when a strong Asian century and Asian identity is visibly in the making, China, responding to the growing Indo-American cosiness and ‘Asia Pivot’,1 cautioned India of not falling into the Western (…)

EDITORIAL
Once again the judiciary has come to the rescue of the democratic forces.
As was aptly mentioned in The Times of India today, the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court yesterday ordered reinstatement of the Nabam Tuki-led Congress Government in Arunachal Pradesh pulling the rug from under the Kalikho Pul Government—it was a unanimous decision of the Bench that “dealt a heavy bow to the Centre, which is still smarting from the setback it suffered barely two months (…)

by l.k. sharma
Britain is Britain and the Continent is Continent. Proven again by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. It is more than the Channel that divides the two plots of land.
The flood of immigrants and loss of sovereignty were important considerations for those who voted to “Leave”. Their decision was made easier by the residual hereditary antipathy, cultural differences and differing geopolitical conside-rations.
Britain and the European Union had entered a (…)

by S.G. Vombatkere
Neoliberalism is free-market fundamentalism. The central dogma of neoliberalism is economic growth, achieved by:
• increasing competition through deregulation (watering-down of social, welfare, health, labour and environmental laws), and opening domestic markets to foreign competition; and
• severely limiting the role of the state by privatisation of state assets and liberalisation of economic policies, simultaneously increasing corporate influence and involvement in (…)

Rita Kanaujia, a widowed domestic help who lives in a slum in Chembur, Mumbai, desires to have her son admitted to the Junior Kindergarten class at Lokmanya Tilak High School in Tilak Nagar. Two of her daughters are already studying in Classes III and IV here. The school wanted her to make a payment of Rs 19,500, which she was incapable of after the death of her husband due to cancer in 2014. She moved the court. Due to the court’s intervention the school gave a concession but still insisted (…)

by Marcello Musto
On September 28, 1864, St. Martin’s Hall, in the heart of London, was packed to overflowing with some two thousand workers. They had come to attend a meeting called by English trade union leaders and a small group of companions from the Continent. This meeting gave birth to the prototype of all the main organisations of the workers’ movement: the International Working Men’s Association. Quickly, the International aroused passions all over Europe. It made class solidarity (…)

The killing of dozens of people by terrorists at Dhaka is not an aberration, but the product of a committed mind that has been brainwashed by fanaticism. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is quite right when she says that this is not Islam, yet the Muslims all over must introspect why their co-religionists are striking all over and at regular intervals. Dhaka’s Information Minister Hasanul Haq has blamed Pakistan for the attack. This may well be true, but there has to be evidence. Otherwise, the (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
It is almost platitudinous to say that this nation has reached the crossroads. In a sense, one reaches the crossroads with every new situation. But more than in the ordinary sense, there is no denying the fact that India today has definitely reached the point which demands clear answer to the question: Where do we go from here?
Whatever might have been the immediate motivation behind the imposition of National Emergency, it may safely be stated that the first phase (…)

by Samit Kar
In his recent address in the ‘Man ki baat’ aired through the public broadcasting system all over the country, Narendra Modi described June 26 as the Dark Day in the history of India. This year, this day happened to be the 41st anniversary of the day of the declaration of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975. The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, twitted on this day to remind the countrymen how Indira Gandhi on the alibi to restore public order had tried to continue her stint (…)

MEDIA
By Mohd. Afsar
The muder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan at Siwan—the most recent one in a series of attacks on journalists in recent times, is an alarming sign of danger on freedom to report in India. As per the latest report released by the worldwide known organisation ‘Reporters Without Borders’, India is among the top three most dangerous countries for journalists. It has named India as “Asia’s deadliest country for media personnel, ahead of both Pakistan and Afghanistan”.
Recent (…)