May 31, 2008

The West Bengal supremo and Polit-Bureau member of the CPI-M, Biman Bose, slapped a suspicion at the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leadership that the movement is inspired by US imperialism. In a more gossipy than substantive tone, he said: “We do not have evidence to prove the allegation but we have strong doubts that US Intelligence agencies are linked with the political turmoil in the Darjeeling hills.” Carrying on his political formulation in a cavalier fashion, he added that there might be a (…)

The phone call came on April 10. One of the organisers of the Champadanga Theatre Festival was on the line. On the receiving end was thespian Kaushik Sen, who has been active in the civil society movement of Nandigram.
“We will not be able to host your play. There’s pressure from the party. Look, I am also an activist of the party. But there are others here and some of them are very rough. And they insist that we should not allow you to perform here.”
This invited performance of (…)

Modern governments are committed to promote the welfare of its citizens and in the process, therefore, a number of initiatives have continued to be undertaken over time to protect them from various calamities and contingencies of life. The net of material welfare of the state has thus widened in an effort to ensure a minimum standard of life for its citizens. However, in this race relatively less developed countries like India have lagged behind in the absence of availability of adequate (…)