Mainstream Weekly

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• Budgets 2023-24 of Punjab and Haryana: High Temporary Loans from RBI - a Drag on Punjab Budget | Sher Singh Sangwan

  25 March 2023

  by Sher Singh Sangwan *
  The state of Punjab has projected total budget expenditure (BE) for 2023-24 at Rs 196452 crores compared to Rs183950 crores of Haryana. The increase in Punjab budget is 7 per cent while that of Haryana is 11.61 per cent over their RE of 2022-23. The highlighted 26 per cent growth in Punjab is over its previous year BE which has a little meaning. Out of this, interest expenditure will be Rs22000 crores in Punjab and Rs21250 crores in Haryana. In view size of (…)

• The upcoming 2023 Assembly Elections in Karnataka: Issues and possible outcome | P. S. Jayaramu

  25 March 2023

  by P. S. Jayaramu
  (23rd March 2023)
  The upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in Karnataka has kicked up lot of debate in the media and academia within the State if not at the national level. Newspapers and local television channels are devoting far too much space to cover the ensuing elections from the perspective of the Political Parties, the personalities involved, the role of caste and religion, including the ‘sermons’ being issued by Heads of important religious mutts. The focus (…)

• Modi government following Zia model to disenfranchise Rahul | Faraz Ahmad

  25 March 2023, by Faraz Ahmad

  The residual Pakistan after its dismemberment and creation of Bangla Desh in 1971, held its first elections to the National Assembly sometime around March, 1977. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the lines of the Congress party in India, as the first elected Prime Minister, led the PPP under the 1973 Constitution, to a sweeping victory across the remaining four provinces of Pakistan, including numerically strong Punjab.
  The right-wing Opposition refused to (…)

• Regenerating The Forest Ecosystem: Few Concerns | Suranjita Ray

  25 March 2023, by Suranjita Ray

  As India enters a 25-year-long journey towards its centenary, policy makers must have greater responsibilities not only to enhance economic growth but also to ensure an inclusive and sustainable development. One of the major concerns is to prioritise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to promote sustainable agriculture, conservation and regeneration of forests, combating desertification, reversing land degradation and biodiversity loss, and sustainable use of oceans, seas, (…)

• Saffron Clad Babas in Odisha’s Politics | Radhakanta Barik

  25 March 2023, by Radhakanta Barik

  Bola Bola Hari, Khay Magur machar jhola
  — Sri Chaitanya Dev
  The medieval Bhakti Cult spiritual leader from Nadia in Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534, whose followers are today known as the Hare-Krishna Cult and promote the ISKON movement) had initially pleaded with people for vegetarianism but failing to convince the coastal fish-eating people of Odisha and Bengal, later in life changed his view on vegetarianism. He then told the people, ‘Bola Bola Hari, Khay Magur machar jhola’, (…)

• A Discourse on State of India’s Democracy | Arup Kumar Sen

  25 March 2023, by Arup Kumar Sen

  While reviewing a recent book, To Kill a Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism (Macmillan,2021), authored by Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane, the eminent Dalit scholar, Anand Teltumbde, observed: “The Modi rule since 2014 has certainly accelerated its degeneration towards despotism on account of its anxiety to accomplish its long cherished dream of the Hindu rashtra in a compressed time frame”. (The Wire, March 14, 2023)
  Anand Teltumbde substantiated his argument about (…)

• Police Emcounters - a roaring industry | Humra Quraishi

  25 March 2023, by Humra Quraishi

  24 March 2023
  Latest news reports state that the Uttar Pradesh government has informed that more than 10,000 encounters have taken place between police and criminals in the state in the past six years during which 63 criminals had been killed while a brave cop had also been martyred, according to the data released by the government.
  To quote the details from one of the news reports: "The UP Police has conducted 10713 encounters since 2017 of which the highest 3152 were conducted by the (…)

• Democracy Under Threat: Can Ram Manohar Lohia be an Answer? | Gyan Prakash

  25 March 2023

  by Gyan Prakash *
  In the face of ever-weakening forces of democracy and liberal values across the globe, V-Dem’s recently published report acts as an eye-opener for all of us. As per the report, 72 percent of humanity is being ruled by autocracies and 28 percent of them are living under dictatorial regimes. During the last ten years from 2012 to 2022, the share of the global population living under autocracies has moved up sharply from 46 percent to 72 percent. The same report says that (…)

• Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh lives in his own make believe world | Arun Srivastava

  25 March 2023

  by Arun Srivastava
  Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has the intrinsic right to maintain equidistance from BJP and Congress. But his decision must have some rationale. His decision to keep away from Congress, made public after his meeting with Mamata Benarjee in Calcutta, where he was last week to attend his party’s national executive meet, puts his political wisdom under the scanner. Does he think that like the BJP, Congress also practices divisive and communal politics and has been (…)

• ‘They Can Exploit Only Bhagat Singh’s Emotional Quotient, Not the Ideological Quotient’ - Interview with Jagmohan Singh | Naren Singh Rao

  25 March 2023

  Professor Jagmohan Singh is one of the prominent conscience-keepers of our times. He is also Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s nephew. As a public intellectual, he has been studying Bhagat Singh’s life and work over the last several decades with deep intensity. His archival scholarship has opened a new intellectual horizon for understanding Bhagat Singh as a thinker and revolutionary. Currently, he is Director, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Creativity Centre, Ludhiana, Punjab.
  Naren Singh Rao spoke to him (…)