Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• No Work, No Pay

  15 August 2015, by Kuldip Nayar

  I was a member of the Rajya Sabha some 12 years ago. The Upper House would be disturbed over one matter or the other constantly. During my six-year tenure, I saw both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vying with one another in doing so, with no difference in passion or planning. On occasions, the parties tried to outdo each other.
  I felt strongly that we, the Members, were wasting public funds to the disappointment of the already disillusioned people. So the question was: (…)

• Milestone in History of Indo-Naga Relations: Naga Perspective of the Peace Accord

  15 August 2015, by Nandita Haksar

  On August 3, 2015 the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim or the NSCN (IM) signed an agreement. Although the contents of the Accord have not been made public, it is being hailed as an important milestone in the history of Indo-Naga relations.
  The Accord was signed by R.N. Ravi, senior Intelligence officer, on behalf of the Government of India and by Isak Swu and Thuingaleng Muiva on behalf of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN). So, is this Accord (…)

• Thoughts for Indians on independence day: Is Indian Democracy drifting towards Peril?

  15 August 2015, by A K Biswas

  “The part taken by Krishna Chandra Roy of Nadiya in the establishment of the English power reflected credit on his foresight; and in recognition of the services rendered by him, Lord Clive conferred on him the title of Rejendra Bahadur. He was also presented with a dozen guns used at Plassey. They may still be seen in the Rajbari.” —W.W. Hunter, The Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. II, Districts of Nadiya & Jessore, Trubner & Co., London, 1875, p. 158
  Part-I
  The Conspirator of (…)

• Seventy Years Ago: WW II on Japanese Front, and Hiroshima

  15 August 2015, by Anil Rajimwale

  Though the Second World War (WW II) technically ended on May 9, 1945 with the Nazi German surrender to the Soviet Red Army, the war in the Far East, particularly against fascist Japan, continued till September 1945.
  The Soviet Union had been preparing for the offensive in the Far East even before the end of the War in the German and Italian theatres in May 1945. When it became clear that the German end was near, the Soviets began to transfer their troops across Siberia on a huge scale (…)

• RBI and Ministry of Finance: Shadow-boxing over RBI’s Role

  15 August 2015, by Arun Kumar

  The RBI Governor and officials of the Ministry of Finance have often appeared to be at loggerheads in the last more than a year. He spoke on the economy in less than positive terms in his June policy pronouncement. There has been a controversy about the structure of the proposed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It appeared that this Committee was to be set up to end the veto of the RBI Governor over the setting of interest rates. A majority of the members of the Committee were to be (…)

• Tribute: P.R. Chari

  15 August 2015

  TRIBUTE
  One of India’s most well-known proponents of nuclear disarmament, P.R. Chari, passed away in New Delhi on July 24. Chari, a former officer of the Indian Administrative Service, served two terms in the Defence Ministry, and was also a former Director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) from 1975 to 1980. He was known for promoting a “consensual approach on the nuclear issue”, according to Commodore Uday Bhaskar, also a Director at the government-affiliated IDSA. (…)

• Tribute: Mourning Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

  15 August 2015, by S G Vombatkere

  The death of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been widely condoled. He was a person with unusual qualities, perhaps the most prominent of which is largely missing from contemporary public life, namely, simple living and honesty. His staff and associates when he was with DRDO, and others who had interacted with him during his presidency and after, have genuine high praise for his simplicity, humility and approachability.
  Some writers have opined that the whole nation mourns the death of Dr Kalam. (…)

• Modasa—It is Just a Beginning: How Hindutva Supremacists are rushing to give themselves Clean Chit in Terror-related Cases

  15 August 2015, by Subhash Gatade

  Introduction
  Are investigations into the Hindutva terror-related cases changing course? A series of apparently unconnected developments definitely strengthen that belief.
  Close on the heels of renowned public prosecutor Rohini Salian’s revelation that she is being pressurised to go slow on the Malegaon bomb blast case (2008), the news of a number of witnesses turning hostile in the Ajmer bomb blast case (2007) and the sudden decision of the NIA to shift the Sunil Joshi murder case back (…)

• Dilip Hiro’s Longest August: Perils of Action-Reaction Analysis

  15 August 2015

  BOOK REVIEW
  Yogendra Kumar
  The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan by Dilip Hiro; 2015; Nation Books, New York; pages: 520; price: Rs 799 (distributed by Penguin India).
  The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan (New York: Nation Books, 2015) is the latest book from the prolific pen of Dilip Hiro, the London-based journalist-author with 34 books already to his credit. With extensive writings on the Middle East, Central Asia (…)

• Sri Lanka: The Resurrection of Mahinda Rajapaksa

  15 August 2015, by Apratim Mukarji

  The audacious ambitions of Sri Lanka’s former strongman and President Mahinda Rajapaksa continue unabated despite a humiliating defeat barely seven months ago. A defeat-induced humility, on display immediately upon his defeat in the January 8 presidential election when he moved out of the official residence of his own volition, lasted not even a few days thereafter; and before the newly elected President, Sirisena Maithripala, had had time to even warm his seat, Rajapaksa was back with full (…)