June 09, 2007

[(COMMUNICATION )]
I am surprised by Shri Chaturanan Mishra’s article entitled “The Caste Factor” (Mainstream, July 2, 2005). None of us supports casteism or communalism. At the same time we should be realistic enough to appreciate that both caste and religion are factors today in every sphere of life which affects distribution of power in the society.
I dare say that even the Left parties are not above taking caste or religion in consideration while choosing their candidates in (…)

P.C. Joshi, the General Secretary of the CPI from 1935 to 1947, left an indelible mark on the modern cultural history of India, in both the pre- and post-independence periods. And this is an extraordinary event of history. If we can credit any one person for the modern cultural renaissance and upsurge in India, it would undoubtedly be P.C. Joshi. Organising workers and peasants is commonplace, nothing new, though very important and crucial, but PCJ grasped the essence of his age and did his (…)

The issue of climate change has once again come to the global centre-stage. The recent report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has created an upheaval at the international level. A cursory glance of the report is sufficient to realise that doomsday is awaiting for some of the vulnerable countries.
If one goes by the statement of Dr R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the fourth Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, it would be clear that climate change is man- made. Dr (…)

For long in several circles in our country Russian equipment have been regarded as inferior to those of the West in different realms of scientific-technological activity. This perception has persisted over the years even if it is devoid of any foundation whatsoever. Russia, like the erstwhile Soviet Union, happens to be one of the few countries which are frontrunners in the phenomenal technological progress our planet has witnessed in the course of the last century—its breathtaking successes (…)

[(MUSINGS)]
There are two types of revolutions. One is full of blood and thunder and like a tornado bringing death and indiscriminate destruction. The French and Russian Revolutions were such. The other is quiet and peaceful like “tired eyelids falling upon tired eyes” or like dew falling upon morning grass. The Polish transition from communist rule to democracy under the leadership of Lech Walesa was one of the other kind. So was the benign Silk Revolution by which Czechoslovakia parted (…)