Building a Dialogue on Status of Elementary Education
The debate was generated on the verdict of the Supreme Court for maintaining 25 per cent of reservations in the public and convent schools. This was declared a historic step. In fact, it may prove to...
View ArticleLessons of Presidential Poll
From N.C.'s Writings The excitement over the Presidential poll having ended with Giani Zail Singh winning it —though the official results are yet to be known when these lines are written—it is perhaps...
View ArticleOn the Topology of Corruption
Corruption co-existed with all systems of governance whether ancient, medieval or modern. Its basic feature of misuse on abuse of power for personal gain and advantage of public officials remains the...
View ArticleEducational Issues are best left with Parliament and not with ‘Intellectual'...
Ever since the Thorat Committee submitted its report on the political science textbooks of the NCERT of class IX to XII recommending deletion of some cartoons, changing of some words, a gnat war has...
View ArticleFrom Colonialism to Neo-colonialism
The following is the valedictory address delivered by the former Union Minister, Eduardo Faleiro, at the International Conference on “Decolonisation, Development and Diaspora: The Afro-Indian...
View ArticleNo Crime but Punishment and No Punishment for Crime
Hundreds of encounter deaths take place in the country every year and over the years this number has multiplied into thousands. Ask any layman and he will tell you that not more than a few hundred of...
View ArticleSkeletons in Pranab Mukherjee's Cupboard
This article was written much before the presidential poll but refused publication by several newspapers. Finally it appeared in Kashmir Times (July 18, 2012) from where it is being reproduced with due...
View ArticleNCERT's Political Science Textbooks Controversy: Cartoon-centred Pedagogy
The NCERT brought out a series of textbooks in Political Science, as in other subjects, based on syllabi which were formulated after the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005) developed by it was...
View ArticleBackground to the Recent Violence in Assam
From the first week of July, Assam has seen widespread clashes between the Bodo tribals and the Bengali Muslims living in the Bodoland Terrtiorial Autonomous Districts in southern Assam. It is...
View ArticlePresident Pranab as South Assam Burns
As was only expected, Pranab Mukherjee, who left no stone unturned to win the Congress' nomination as the UPA candidate for the office of the President, has won the presidential contest defeating his...
View ArticleJournalism in the Subcontinent in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
by Naresh Nadeem The first half of the twentieth century holds a unique place in the history of mankind. On the international plane, this was the period when the old-style colonialism entered the phase...
View ArticleUrdu needs Kiss of Life and not Myopic Policies
by Ather Farouqui I would like to take this opportunity of congratulating Nusrat Zaheer on his excellent views on various aspects of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) in Mainstream (vol. L, no....
View ArticleLight and Dark | Measuring up to Crisis
From N.C.'s Writings Twentyfive years ago, on July 29, 1987, the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement came into force. This Agreement, signed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Junius Richard...
View ArticlePension for the Elderly: It's no Charity, but a Human Right
It is a truism, though painful, that the Central Government's priorities in fiscal matters are determined by the perceived sensitivities of the foreign and Indian corporate sector and the richer class...
View ArticleSyria's Curse could as well be India's
The ascendancy of Wahhabism in West Asia will pose a serious threat to India's social harmony and national security as time passes. The Jerusalem Post newspaper recently featured an illuminating piece...
View ArticleNew Delhi's Craven Policy vis-a-vis Damascus
by Kanwal Sibal The position India is taking on the unfolding Syrian crisis does not do honour to our diplomacy. Last week, we supported the Western resolution providing for sanctions on Syria under...
View ArticleRegional Leaders in Demand
The President in India is only a constitutional head. He or she draws his/her authority from the elected Parliament and State Assemblies. Yet the office became a point of contest because both the...
View ArticleAs Our Nation faces Grave Challenges, Leaders only Think of Themselves
From economic slowdown and failed monsoon to the spread of violence and unabated communal passions (see Assam), the challenges facing India have assumed critical proportions. But all we get from the...
View ArticleCountry at Crossroads: Whither India, Whither Bharat?
The core group led by Anna Hazare (called Team Anna) is looking to the 2014 general elections to support any political entity that is non-Congress, non-BJP and non-regional, that will support Team...
View ArticleBlackout in India, Team Anna's New Decision
In the early hours of July 30, seven States in North India—Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, UP, Rajasthan—alongwith the Capital Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh...
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