2018

by Pranjit Agarwala
For four decades in the interests of vote-bank politics both the State and Central governments have indulged in political brinkmanship on the vital issue of illegal influx from Bangladesh. However, in 2009 the Supreme Court (SC) taking cognizance of the matter ordered the revision of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1951 in Assam under its direct supervision. The objective was to prepare a register of genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam so that all illegal (…)

by Bhartendu Kumar Singh
The ongoing domestic political crisis in Maldives could be a concern for the international community but China thinks otherwise! In recent times, China has issued a series of statements insisting that the Maldives Government be allowed to resolve the crisis on its own without any outside involvement. However, behind the ‘veil of non-interference’, China wants to protect its own growing stakes in the archipelago. Any outside intervention and regime change could (…)

COMMUNICATION
According to recent media reports, small-scale trials of release of genetically modified mosquitoes were conducted in Maharashtra and it is likely that preparations are now being made for bigger field trials. In this context it is important to point out that there has been worldwide concern about the serious hazards of this technology. Although it is pushed in the name of disease control by powerful interests it may actually lead to a worsening of diseases, as pointed out in (…)

MUSINGS
During the recent election campaign in the North-East the BJP made promises to send senior citizens of Nagaland on religious trips, all the way to Jerusalem! Blatant wooing of the majority Christian population of Nagaland by setting up a senior citizens’ board which would annually select 50 members through lucky draw for a free trip to the Holy Land of Jerusalem. This tactic of the BJP is another of those double standards in governance! Not to be overlooked is the fact that just (…)

Tiny Qatar of 300,000 people is getting into problems with its neighbors of the Gulf Co-operation Council. It has gone into a frenzy of buying warplanes for its Air Force. In December it purchased from France six Mirage fighters, and earlier six cargo planes and a squadron of propeller-driven trainers, to form half of its Air Force,
It is the world’s wealthiest country.
Since June it has signed contracts worth $ 20 billion (over Rs 132 crores) to buy military planes from three countries: (…)

These are the Ides of March,
A hint of Spring is in the air;
An Easterly from Gorakhpur
Sings “Tyranny’s end is near.”
A scent of flowers from Phulpur
Sweetens, spreads the Easterly;
Araria says “I stand my ground”,
The Republic gives thanks to vox populi.
A million utterances assail
I AM THAT I AM;
Patchwork cunning comes apart
As pent-up miseries breach the dam.
Alas how the human gods forget
That oppressions have a season;
Come the time their fearsome frauds (…)

by Divyanshu Patel
Any opposition not based on rationalism or science or experience will one day or other, reveal the fraud, selfishness, lies and conspiracies”
Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy
This article makes an attempt to understand rationalism as a thought in the light of contemporary politics and a series of events such as killing of rationalists like Govind Pansare, D.R. Dabholkar, Gauri Lankesh and most recently vandalising the statue of Periyar in Tamil Nadu. These events have shaken (…)

The foreign policy resolution adopted at the 84th plenary session of the Congress Party on March 18 at New Delhi makes a revealing document. The Congress has a long tradition dating back to the pre-independence era of elevating itself from its mofussil/parochial roots by adopting an internationalist outlook. The focus of the present document is once again on differentiating the Congress from its existential rival, Bharatiya Janata Party.
This a brave attempt, because it is not so easy to (…)

The British Government has rejected a petition by the Sikh community in London to make public all papers relating to ‘Operation Bluestar’. Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the then British Prime Minister, was close to the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and reportedly helped her to plan the Indian military action at the Golden Temple in Amritsar between June 1 and 8, 1984, to oust militant religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale and his followers from the Harmandir Sahib complex.
It (…)

by Binay Kumar Malik and Ashok Kumar Sahay
1. Introduction
The South Asian sub-system in the field of international politics has assumed greater importance because of the hostile relationship before the two nuke adversaries, India and Pakistan. The diplomacy of India and Pakistan has been extremely competitive from the very inception. Scholars and think-tanks have already focused much attention on Indo-Pak diplomacy. But, we have yet to throw adequate light on the innovative concept: (…)