Mainstream Weekly

Obituary: Vir K. Chopra | Ranbir Singh

Ranbir Singh — 2021-07-16T07:59:02Z

by Prof. Ranbir Singh Remembering a Multifaceted Personality
The demise of Vir K. Chopra is a great loss for the academic fraternity and Bollywood. After getting a first class first masters degree in Economics from Kashmir University Srinagar he had joined the prestigious Tata Consultation Service and has served on very important positions in hotel management. Thereafter he had obtained PhD degree in Political Science from London School of (…)

- 2021

Crazy is Dead, Long Live Crazy | Ranbir Singh

Ranbir Singh — 2021-02-27T07:19:29Z

Crazy had been gifted to my daughter by the wife of an Army Officer in 2010 when she went to Ranikhet (Uttrakhand) to do some interior designing work at her cottage. She was a seven-day old female pup, a cross breed between a Boxer father and Cocker Spaniel mother. One could guess from her face that she was a Boxer and her hair made Crazy resemble a Cocker Spaniel. My daughter got her tail cut off for reasons best known to her.
Be that as it may, she loved Crazy more than her parents. To (…)

- 2021

Jagmati Sangwan — A Committed Social Reformer

Ranbir Singh — 2015-03-22T09:26:22Z

WOMEN'S WORLD
Born on January 2, 1960 at village Butana of Sonipat district, Jagmati Sangwan, General Secretary, All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), may be legitimately acknowledged as a committed social reformer. She had to operate in a State characterised by the paradox of economic development and social regression.
Haryana has been able to emerge as one of the most developed States of the Indian Union on account of the success of the Green Revolution and White Revolution (…)

- 2015

Understanding Ram Pal Phenomenon

Ranbir Singh — 2014-12-15T12:17:02Z

Haryana has once again been in the news for the wrong reasons. The challenge to the authority of the State and judiciary by the self-styled Sant Ram Pal of Satlok Ashram of Barwala (Hisar) had created an explosive situation. It took more than a week of pressure by the huge force of the Haryana Police and Central Reserve Police and persuasion by some local leaders of the ruling party that made him surrender and help in averting an ugly situation. The administration undoubtedly demonstrated (…)

- 2014

INLD Victory in Hisar: A Game-changer in Haryana Politics

Ranbir Singh — 2014-08-31T11:22:43Z

by Ranbir Singh
The victory of the INLD candidate, Dushyant Chautala (grandson of O.P. Chautala and great grandson of legendary Jat leader Devi Lal), over the BJP-HJC alliance candidate, Kuldeep Bishnoi (son of former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhajan Lal), by a margin of 31,847 votes from the Hisar parliamentary constituency may prove to be a game-changer in Haryana politics. It is pertinent to mention that Kuldeep Bishnoi had been projected by the alliance as the prospective candidate for (…)

- 2014

An Anatomy of the Rapes in Haryana

Ranbir Singh — 2012-12-01T00:30:44Z

Haryana these days is in the news for the wrong reasons. There have taken place many incidents of rape of women of weaker sections in the State during the past one month. The media has been projecting it as a failure of governance. But the Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has been asserting that those who have committed these crimes shall not be spared. While the Opposition parties of all hues have been using these unfortunate events to tarnish the image of the ruling party, the (…)

- 2012

Valuable Addition to Literature on Election Studies

Ranbir Singh — 2011-12-27T17:25:15Z

BOOK REVIEW
India: 2009 Elections—Coalition Politics, Party Competition and Congress Continuity by Paul Wallace and Ramashray Roy (ed.); Sage Publications, New Delhi; 2011; pages XVIII+412; Price Rs 995.
This book is a continuation of the earlier election studies—Indian Politics and the 1998 Elections: Regionalisation, Hindutva and State Politics (1999); India's 1999 Elections and the 20th Century Politics (2003), India's 2004 Elections: Grassroots and National Perspectives (2007)—which (…)

- 2011

Welcome Addition to Studies on Punjab Politics

Ranbir Singh — 2011-04-07T22:08:15Z

REVIEW ARTICLE
Punjab Politics: Retrospect and Prospect by Bhupinder Singh; Readworthy Publications, New Delhi; 2010; pp. xx + 268; Price: Rs 950.
The study of State politics merits the attention of the Indian scholars in the discipline of political science for many reasons. In the first instance, some of the States of the Indian Union are bigger in the size of their area and population than many nation-states of the Europe. Secondly, the general belief about the weakness of the States (…)

- 2011

Valuable Addition to the Literature on Grassroots Democracy

Ranbir Singh — 2011-02-21T08:47:15Z

BOOK REVIEW
Evolution of Panchayati Raj in India – from Traditional to Constitutionalised Panchayats by Dr Mridula Sharda; Kanishka Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi; 2010; Price: Rs 450.
The constitutionalisation of the Panchayats by the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution (1992) has accorded a new salience to the Panchayati Raj Institutions. It has made them the third tier of the Indian the political system. Earlier there existed only two tiers, the Union Government and the (…)

- 2011

Dr Suraj Bhan

Ranbir Singh — 2010-10-24T14:44:15Z

TRIBUTE
The death of Prof Suraj Bhan, who passed away at the age of 79 years at Rohtak on July 14, 2010, has left a void which cannot be easily filled. He was an embodiment of courage, conviction and consistency. Dr Suraj Bhan could squarely fit into the category of academician-as- an-activist designed by the doyen of social sciences in India, Prof Rajni Kothari.
Prof Bhan, who had a Ph.D degree in Ancient History from M.S. University, Baroda, distin-guished himself as a teacher in (…)

- 2010