Populism Finds the Way: Trump, Pollsters and the People's Choice
by Pradeep Nair and Sandeep SharmaIn the aftermath of the American presidential elections, streets in several cities of America rocked with the slogan “Not My President”. This sloganeering rose against...
View ArticleThe Year of Unravelling
The best of times were promised, but the worst of times are here. Not in any war fought since the independence of India were so many millions seen waiting their turn in interminable lines, not before...
View ArticleBangladesh deserves More Attention and Appreciation from India
Suppose you have two neighbours—one hostile neighbour and one friendly neighbour. For different reasons you need to give a lot of attention to both. The hostile neighbour requires attention for some...
View ArticleNehru for Today / India-Pakistan: Imperative of Amity / We Must All Resist...
From N.C.'s WritingsNehru for TodayMore than twentyone years after his passing away, Jawaharlal Nehru remains a colossus in the eyes of his countrymen and of the world abroad. Age has not withered his...
View ArticleBraving the Heaviest of Odds
EDITORIALWith this issue of the Annual Number 2016, Mainstream steps into the fiftyfifth year of its modest existence.In its inaugural issue on September 1, 1962 the Mainstream editorial clearly...
View ArticleThe Indian History Congress and its Cultural Intervention
by Suresh JnaneswaranThe 77th session of the Indian History Congress took place at the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram from December 28 to 30, 2016. The following article has been written...
View ArticleShould Retired Military Officers join Politics?
by Bhartendu Kumar SinghThe recent decision of a retired Army General (General J.J. Singh, the former Chief of Army Staff, and Governor, Arunachal Pradesh) to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in...
View ArticleIndia's Ideological Contradictions
by Mrinal PradhanIn the wake of Communist leader Fidel Castro's demise, when one ponders over the future of communism, one gets the feeling that the Leftist movement is never going to succeed in India....
View ArticleTurkey's bid to join the EU: Have we reached a Point of No-Return?
by Sanjal ShastriThe year 2016 has been a testing year for Turkey's relations with the European Union (EU). With Austria's Foreign Minister threatening to freeze talks regarding Turkey's EU membership...
View ArticleThe Meaning of being Gandhi
A controversy erupted recently when Narendra Modi's photo appeared behind the charkha in a calendar of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission where people are used to seeing Mahatma Gandhi. Some...
View ArticleHatred Justifies All
A judge of the Bombay High Court recently gave bail to three men who were charged with a murder committed in the presence of eye-witnesses. Here is part of the judgment, which looks not at facts but at...
View ArticleXi Jinping's China
After having some serious hiccups last year in its long march to a market economy with Chinese characteristics, the synod of the top Mandarin bosses has confabulated for resuscitating the second...
View ArticleKalpana Dutt
From N.C.'s WritingsThe following lines were written by N.C. twentytwo years ago and published in this journal's February 18, 1995 issue. It is being reproduced on the occasion of the distinguished...
View ArticleLabour Issues in the Current Milieu: An Introspection
by l. MishraLet me begin with a historic introspection.“O mother! Why is it that I am black when everybody else around is white? The angels, the Tarzan, the little stars who twinkle are all white. The...
View ArticleUnimportance of Awards
When the distinguished writers and artists return to the Academies the awards which had been conferred on them, the question to ask is not why they did not do so earlier, say, at a testing time like...
View ArticleTrump, Modi and a Shaft of Worrying Similarities
Francis Fukuyama, the celebrated Japanese-American intellectual, who saw the end of the Cold War as the “End of History” but a “Clash of Civilisations” as the next stage, has explained the accession of...
View ArticleTrump and Modi hover over the Jaipur Literature Festival
by L.K. SharmaThe reports of America's decline are exaggerated. The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) proved it. The POTUS—the President of the United States—matters. Donald Trump got mentioned in...
View ArticleUS-Russia Ties: As Trump moves in, Memory mixes with Desire in Moscow
A close look at the inaugural speech by US President Donald Trump and the outline of the various key plans of his administration that has been published immediately afterward on the White House website...
View ArticleUnion Budget 2017-18: Inadequate Response in Times of Crisis
The Budget is an instrument of macroeconomic policy first and then anything else. If its aggregate figures are found wanting, its allocations and goals would also not be attained. In times of a shock...
View ArticlePM's Jibe in Parliament
COMMENTARYOne part of PM Narendra Modi's speech in the Rajya Sabha during the debate on the motion on the President's Address to Parliament has caused a veritable political earthquake even if he...
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