2016

by Ram Puniyani
This time around (2016 elections) the BJP has managed to come to power in Assam, though as a coalition with its allies. Its vote-share this time came down to 29.5 per cent from the earlier 36.5 per cent (2014); still because of the strategically stitched alliances it beat the Congress in the number of seats won. The BJP’s election appeal was centred on the divisive issue of Bangaldeshi immigrants. It took care to regard the three per cent native Muslims on the ground of (…)

by Kadayam Subramanian
The BJP, which fared badly in the recently concluded State Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Union Territory of Puducherry, nevertheless did remarkably well in the Assam State Assembly elections. The party won 86 out of 126 seats in the State Assembly with its allies—the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Organi-sation (BPO). The reasons for the remarkable success call for an analysis.
The basic issue of contestation in the 2016 (…)

What the leading economists of the country had highlighted twentyfive years ago is of great sginificance even today. Hence it is being reproduced here. The statement—‘Structural Adjustment: An Alternative Viewpoint”—was issued on July 8, 1991 and carried in this journal’s July 13, 1991 issue.
To meet a financial crisis, the nature and magnitude of which have been shrouded in secrecy, the government has launched an all-out effort to obtain a large loan from the IMF. Despite protestations (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
Twentyfive years ago Dr Manmohan Singh as the country’s Finance Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Union Government unveiled the new economic policis under the guidance and instruction of the IMF. From the inception this journal’s founder voiced his vociferous opposition to this course. Here are three samples of what he wrote at that time.
IMF Loan: Fall-out on Foreign Policy
The storm over the IMF loan that promises to overcast this session of Parliament pertains (…)

by Pranjit Agarwala
Cleanopolis Energy Systems India Private Limited is a clean technology initiative located in the middle of the lush green paddy fields of rural Sonitpur district of Assam. Promoted by local educated entrepreneurs, the small-scale biomass gasification unit, now in the pre-commissioning stage, will convert organic waste to sustainable energy and also produce organic fertiliser. The unit will involve the local populace in an integrated system of waste management that will (…)

Brexit is a triumph of national chauvinism and is damaging to the Left. We have seen a dramatic spurt in instances of racism all over Britain. All this is a shot in the arm for the far Right.

These are of course extraordinary times in our country and the former Foreign Secretary M. K. Rasgotra might have for some incomprehensible reason felt the urge to be in sync with the zeitgeist, when he needlessly indulged in some Nehru-bashing at a function in New Delhi on Monday (June 27) as part of drumming up media publicity for his memoirs that has been published recently.
According to Rasgotra, Panditji goofed up historically—and the nation has paid a heavy price consequently—when he (…)

The West Bengal Assembly elections, held in six phases over seven days from April to May, saw some unprecedented steps being taken by the Election Commission, ostensibly to make the polls ‘free and fair’. For the first time the strength of the Central paramilitary force was raised from 40 companies to 700 companies or seventy thousand personnel. Some commen-tators said this was ‘militarisation’ of the elections. The way the polls were conducted, many would agree to this description. Besides (…)

by Renu Choudhary
Liquor prohibition in Bihar is the latest agenda of the Bihar Government which has been implemented recently and whose initial success has been well appreciated. Blanket ban on liquor is not new to India. It has been adopted in many states like Gujarat, Nagaland, parts of Manipur, Lakshadweep. Kerela has been implementing prohibition in a phased manner since 2014.In Tamil Nadu also it was a part of the electoral agenda and now after winning election Jaya Lalita is (…)

Even without a detailed study of the nitty-gritty and minutiae of the proposed legislation on the goods and services tax (GST), prima facie it can be maintained that there is a lot in its design and implications to endear it to the neo-liberal enthusiasts. Hence little wonder they go on to parade it as a major tax ‘reform’ in India, a tax reform which covers practically all the goods and services in every nook and corner of the country. It seems once this tax is legislated at the Union level (…)