May 10, 2008

Beyond all trivialities in the domestic field the tabling in the Rajya Sabha on May 6 of the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill that guarantees one-third reservation of seats for women in Parliament and State Legislatures is indeed a significant development and that it was made possible due to rare solidarity among different shades of our political spectrum makes it all the more a striking feature on the contemporary scene. One cannot, however, be blind to the challenges the legislation is (…)

The wholesale price index (WPI) touched the high level of 226.0 by end March 2008 as against 210.4 end March 2007 (1993-94=100) signalling a 7.4 per cent rise in the WPI during the year, the highest witnessed during the last ten years. It crossed the limit of the five per cent comfort zone specified by the RBI. Consequently, the UPA Government was upset due to the inflationary rise of prices.
Critics, however, raised issues about the flawed measurement of the WPI. The parliamentary (…)

The news of the sudden passing away of Nirmala Deshpande, the most prominent Gandhian of contemporary India, is a great shock to all the workers in the peace and social transformation movements of India. Rajya Sabha MP, leader of the Harijan Sewak Sangh, Gandhi Smriti and President of the Peoples of Asia, she was, above all, an ever-smiling, self-effacing social worker always ready to help. With her demise India has lost a devoted social worker who dedicated her whole life to the service (…)

Russia has a new President. On May 7, President Vladimir Putin has stepped down after serving two straight four-year terms and his chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, who won the presidential election overwhelmingly in March, has taken over.
Putin will keep his hold on power as the Prime Minister. Medvedev has asked him to head the government and he has agreed. All the same, Putin’s departure as the President marks the end of an era that will be remembered, above all, as a triumphant (…)

Introduction
The doomsday predictions about the future of the newly independent Central Asian states that were endemic in the 1990s have died down. No one speculates anymore that it was inevitable that the region would descend into anarchy. True, the problems endemic to a critical period of state formation still linger. The transition economies are just about switching gear. Regional cooperation has not gained traction. There is widespread poverty and deprivation.
But on the positive (…)

REVIEW ARTICLE
Towards a New Paradigm in Higher Education by Ashok Celly (ed.); Papaz Publication, Delhi; pp. 206; price: Rs 400.
Dr Celly has selected writings of well-known intellectuals and academics like Tagore, Professors Daya Krishna, S.C. Dube, P.C. Joshi etc. in this publication. It is a timely book in that not many thoughtful people, even academics, are taking the question of higher education and research in our country seriously. In spite of the Knowledge Commission, which has (…)

On September 2 came a proud moment in the nation’s history when Ms Harita Kaur Deol, a young girl from Chandigarh, landed at the Air Force Station at Yelahanka near Bangalore after completing her first solo flight—the first woman cadet of the Indian Air Force to do so. There have been other women pilots before in our country, but this was the first time an Indian woman was trying on her own in the Indian Air Force.
What a lifting thought for the entire country—the majesty of India’s (…)

DISCUSSION
CPI leader and former Union Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra, in his article “Need to Redefine Socialism after the Collapse of the Soviet Union” (Mainstream, Annual 2007), called for a discussion on the subject. D.G. Bokare’s “Defining Socialism” (Mainstream, March 22, 2008) was the first contribution to the debate. The following are two more contributions. -—Editor
The proposal by the editor, Mainstream, to have a discussion on the matter of the article entitled “Need (…)

At present a hot discussion on the subject—whether socialism is possible in future—continues after negative observations of Jyoti Basu on the subject recently. Along with a discussion on the possibility of socialism, a study on its acceptability may also be conducted. Because some Indian Communists persist that socialism is possible and acceptable if it is remoulded using the lessons of the Soviet experience. But the fatal reasons that culminated in the dissolution of the Soviet Union lay in (…)

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Spain was one of the most backward countries of Europe. The fabulous wealth plundered by the conquisitadores from America by utmost brutality was wasted in the conspicuous consumption of a decadent feudal aristocracy or senseless wars.
A predominantly agricultural country, Spain remained neutral during the First World War (as also during the Second). The country, or rather its rulers, prospered by exporting agricultural produce to belligerent (…)