Mainstream Weekly

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• Report on One Year of the Modi Regime

  20 June 2015

  DOCUMENT
  Executive summary
  The following is the Executive Summary of the Report on One year of the Modi Regime, edited by John Dayal and Shabnam Hashmi. The report was released by Harsh Mander, John Dayal, Apoorvanand, Vidya Bhushan Rawat and Shabnam Hashmi at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, New Delhi on June 18, 2015. The link to the full document—“365 Days Democracy and Secularism Under The Modi Regime—A Report” [PDF]—
  [See full report here: https://tinyurl.com/olj2o4x]
  On May 26, (…)

• Food Safety Management—Conflict and Control

  20 June 2015, by Latika Nath

  States have a primary duty to raise the standard of nutrition levels in the public, improve standards of living and prohibit that which is harmful to health. Food is one of life’s basic necessities. Food laws are enacted by states to protect the consumer with reference to food quality and safety. The UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection 1985 provides a framework for all countries.
  With globalisation and commercialisation international trade has increased. In this background food quality (…)

• Was Modi’s Visit Productive?

  20 June 2015, by Kuldip Nayar

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka was mistimed. It looked as if he had gone to shore up the sagging image of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He has only heightened the anti-India feeling graph. New Delhi is not seen neutral.
  I do not know why and for how long have we to support the authoritarian rule by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh. True, she is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who liberated East Pakistan from the distant and oppressive West Pakistan. But that (…)

• Nobel Prize

  20 June 2015, by Badri Raina

  However mighty the quake may be,
  I survive smartly in a Delhi high-rise,
  But such is the bias of the Committee,
  I do not get the Nobel Prize.
  I drive in a mid-day blistering sun
  Through desert sands where everything dies,
  But the Committee takes little note,
  And refuses me the Nobel Prize.
  I eat Maggi loaded with Lead,
  And counter anti- Corporate lies,
  But the Word Bank will not recommend
  Me for that coveted Nobel Prize.
  One reason for such unfairness—
  I belong to a poor (…)

• Army’s hit against Rebels was masterly. But some things a Government must keep to itself

  20 June 2015, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  The wise keep their own counsel, the foolish boast. Did we forget this timeless principle in our very moment of triumph? India’s commando operation against insurgent groups in Myanmar was skilful in planning and brilliant in execution. It was also unambiguous in the messages it conveyed—that attacks on our soldiers would not go unpunished, that insurgents who thought they were in safe havens because they were outside the border would have to think again. To the extent that (…)

• Manipur-Myanmar Attacks: Why the Violence is Unlikely to Stop

  20 June 2015

  by Bharat Bhushan
  Contrary to popular expectation, the attacks on Indian security forces in Manipur and Nagaland are unlikely to come down.
  The cross-border Indian military action in Myanmar may indeed have been a strong message to the North-Eastern insurgent groups sheltering there. However, there is every likelihood that their attacks on the security forces will become more frequent in the coming days and expand into new areas.
  ’Revenge’ for attacks on their camps in Myanmar may only (…)

• Bandung Spirit and the New Indian Regime

  20 June 2015, by Manoranjan Mohanty

  That India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, decided not to attend the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of the Bandung Conference of Asian and African countries on April 21-24 and instead sent Ms Sushma Swaraj, the Minister for External Affairs, is indicative of the evolving approach of the new regime in India that came to power a year ago in May 2014. Questions are being raised in India today if the Modi Government has opted for a foreign policy line that distances itself from the (…)

• Citizens Speak Out Against Jingoism

  20 June 2015

  Statement on Indo-Pak Relations
  We are profoundly disturbed by the thought-less articulation of jingoist sentiments by high level representatives of the Government, prominent spokespersons of the ruling party and strategic thinkers and experts associated with the think-tanks close to policy-makers, following the Indian Army’s seemingly successful operation against the militants in the North-East along the Indo-Myanmar border. We are deeply concerned about its dangerous implications for (…)

• Reaching out to our Neighbour / India-Pakistan: Imperative of Amity

  20 June 2015, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  Reaching out to our Neighbour
  Indo-Pak relations have again come under a cloud. The tension over Kashmir and the recent border skirmishes have touched off speculations about an imminent military confrontation. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao has of course under-lined his government’s eagerness to strengthen mutual understanding between the two countries, while reiterating its resolve not to relax vigilance in safeguarding the country’s security.
  To buttress the case (…)

• Theoretical Perspective of Decentralisation,...

  20 June 2015

  by John S. Moolakkattu and Jos Chathukulam
  Introduction
  Decentralisation has a long history. Political thinkers from Montesquieu to Madison suggest that decentralised governance can contribute to democratic participation, better representation, accountability and policy and governmental effectiveness. It is also seen as a means to moderate potential conflict from people who are ethnically and culturally different from the majority groups. Several philosophic traditions have enunciated (…)