Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Russian Economy is Roaring Again

  3 December 2008

  President Dmitry Medvedev is coming to India in early December on his first visit to this country after being elected the Russian head of state. The following article is being reproduced from New Dawn in Russia (a journal published by the Diplomatist magazine in association with the Information Department of the Russian Embassy) to present a glimpse of the rise of Russia in the economic field after the disintegration of the USSR
  seventeen years ago.
  When the then Soviet economy (…)

• Obama Wins

  3 December 2008, by Shankar Sharan

  It is not Obama who has created history. It is history which created him.
  The human family has a common destiny and a common capability. Race and wealth may divide them for a while; lack of opportunity may help some to wield power and others to submit. That could put blinkers of arrogance in some and humility and helplessness in others. But they or very few of them feel unequal unless forced by denial of opportunity, feel as equals once back to their roots and have no sense there of (…)

• My Questions for Obama

  3 December 2008, by Fidel Castro Ruz

  These questions were raised by Fidel Castro at the height of the US presidential campaign.
  It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing Barack Obama’s speech delivered at the Cuban American National Foundation last Friday. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries a favour. I have therefore no reservations about criticising him and expressing myself (…)

• Hindu Terrorism: The Shock of Recognition

  3 December 2008, by Badri Raina

  Epigraph
  “Underlying these religions were a common set of beliefs about how you treat other people and how you aspire to act, not just for yourself but also for the greater good.”
  (Obama in his interview about Religion given to Cathleen Falsani, March 27, 2004; cf. to his mother’s teaching about the validity of diverse faiths and the value of tolerance.)
  I
  So, now, India is home to “Hindu” terrorism. Departing from the more usual banner-appelation, “Saffron Terror”, I wish the fact (…)

• Sabotaging Indigenous Production of Vaccines

  3 December 2008, by Bharat Dogra

  By now it is well-recognised that government authorities who come under the influence of imperialism and big business do not hesitate to kill their own invaluable institutions. Several public sector institutions and organisations of great value have been destroyed in this way, with the willing participation of international organisations which too are, sadly, frequently under the sway of multinational companies and developed countries. This crime becomes all the more unpardonable when it (…)

• Can the Caste Problem be Solved?

  3 December 2008, by Sangeeta Mall

  If there is one problem that keeps India’s progress in check, it is that of caste. The Hindu caste system divides society so rigidly that everyone is either an outsider or insider. There is always a side, depending on where one is looking from. This also prevents the country from moving forward in a single-minded manner, for there is no unifying social force that can make everyone come together to change their lot. Political parties, of course, are the worst exploiters of caste. But there (…)

• Rediscovering Nehru

  3 December 2008, by Sankar Kumar Ray

  While interviewing environmental activist, Medha Patkar, in 2004, Robert Jensen from the School of Journalism, Texas, made a conscious dig at the partial and biased perception on Nehru. When Medha referred to the general criticism of Nehru for describing dams the “temples of modern India”, Jensen shot back: Nehru said that in 1955, but three years later he changed tack and described big dams as “a disease of gigantism”. In other words, Nehru took three years to realise the need for judicial (…)

• Japan: Taro Aso faces Critical Challenges

  3 December 2008, by Rajaram Panda

  Taro Aso, a Roman Catholic, a “manga”-loving conservative with a wry smile and a sharp tongue, a colourful nationalist with a knack for offensive gaffes, was chosen by Japan’s beleaguered ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), battling recession, demographic crisis, financial turmoil and a general election, to be Japan’s 92th Prime Minister on September 24, 2008. The LDP must now wait to see if Aso’s ascendance will be enough for the party to regain the five-decade legislative (…)

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  Implications of the Majoritarian Offensive

  25 November 2008, by SC

  A week ago it was written in these columns:
  The constituents of the Sangh Parivar have been overactive in ... stereotyping a specific minority community by going to the extent of even suggesting, sometimes overtly but mostly covertly, that terrorism in this country was basically the handiwork of members of that community. They also want POTA to be used against those whom they brand as terrorists. Today with the probe into the Malegaon blast of September 29 ... having exposed the role of (…)

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  Sri Lanka: History Revisiting?

  25 November 2008, by Apratim Mukarji

  There was scarcely any surprise when the pro-rebel Tamilnet website of Sri Lanka accorded the pride of place in its news items on November 12 to the unanimous resolution adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly earlier, calling for a ceasefire in the island nation. Fighting a last-ditch battle for survival, the Tamil rebels and their supporters clutched at the Assembly resolution as one possible key to an eventual Indian intervention to save them from the relentless Sri Lankan military onslaught. (…)