Tribute: Dipankar Chakraborty
by Bishwajit SenHe was a democrat to the core of his being. He always gave the “other” voice more importance than his own, even if that meant giving up some of his own preferences. One hardly comes...
View ArticleThreat to River Ganga and the Life of its Saviour
Since the last two months the attention of the country and the media has focused on the Mahakumbh Mela on the shores of the holy river Ganga. In the meantime the most sincere devotee of the river has...
View ArticleA Long-term Loss
by Qazi Syed SajadA politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.—James Freeman Clarke, SermonThe untimely, tragic and politically surcharged execution of...
View ArticleThe Amazing Brazenness of Mahinda Rajapaksa
The Sri Lankan Government and the inter-national community are gearing up for a major confrontation in Geneva in March over the alleged human rights violations that had occurred in the final stage of...
View ArticleTribute: Subrata Sinha - Passionate Defender of Environment
The passing away of Subrata Sinha, the former Deputy Director General of the Geological Survey of India, on January 19 (born 1932), removes from the midst of down-to-earth environmentalists and...
View ArticleDalai Lama and the Tibetan Struggle
Whenever I see the Dalai Lama either in person or in picture, I feel that here is a man who presides over a receding culture of thousands of years and realises that it has a problematic future. Tibet...
View ArticlePolitical Profligacy
From N.C.'s WritingsAfter the setback suffered in the June by-election reverses, the Congress-I leadership—that is, in effect, Rajiv Gandhi himself—was expected to take a serious view of the declining...
View ArticleThey Do Not Extremists Are Extremists: Understand the Language of Reason and...
by Asghar Ali EngineerRecently we read with great pain that the extremists in Pakistan killed several women who were active in administering the polio dose to the children. They think it is an...
View ArticleJustice Katju Merits Compliments, Nothing Has Changed In Gujarat
MUSINGSHopefully Chairperson of the Press Council of India Justice Markandey Katju's words come in as a hurdle in Narendra Modi's march towards New Delhi. Katju spoke out loud and clear, and at an apt...
View ArticleDo Champions of Communal Fascism deserve any Tribute?
COMMUNICATIONCommunal fascism is the greatest enemy of Indian democracy as it aims at transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra and establish a Hindu state and is deadly opposed to the distinctive...
View ArticleTributes to Lotika Sarkar by Amita Dhanda and V.R. Krishna Iyer
Professor Lotika Sarkar, 91, a widely-known pioneer in the fields of law, women's studies and human rights, passed away in New Delhi on February 23, 2013. She taught criminal law and conflict of laws...
View ArticleNAPM and People's Budget Initiative's Stand on Union Budget
DOCUMENTNeed for a Progressive Fiscal Policy in India: Need to increase Tax-GDP RatioStop favouring the Corporates at the cost of the Toiling MassesDecentralisation and Self-Reliance through Resource...
View ArticleEconomic Survey 2012-13
Every year the Economic Survey of the current year is released just before the Union Budget for the coming year is presented to Parliament in order to make people aware of its background, problems and...
View ArticleUnion Budget 2013-14: Caught between Various Contradictions
The Union Budget is the largest single economic event of the year for the nation. It sets the direction for the economy for the coming year. Hence it is keenly watched by the public. The Union Budget...
View Article‘Balancing Act' at the Cost of Aam Aadmi?
Predictably Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's Union Budget 2013-14 has evoked mixed reactions.However, if one takes a close look at what the Finance Minister has done, it becomes clear even to the lay...
View ArticleBehind the CPI-M's Victory in Tripura
by SHOUVIK CHANDAThe CPI-M has returned to power in Tripura with a decisive victory. However, certain facts need to be brought into focus.On February 12 at a press conference in Agartala, the CPI-M's...
View ArticleJapan Under Abe: New Challenges
IntroductionJapan went to the polls on December 16, 2012 to elect members to the Lower House of the Diet, the more powerful of the two legislative bodies, and elected Abe Shinzo of the Liberal...
View ArticleWhy Do We Need Parliament?
by M. MANISHAThe recent debates surrounding parlia-mentary inefficacy raise several important, but unanswered, questions: why don't MPs participate in parliamentary proceedings on a regular basis? Why...
View ArticleSocial Justice for Inclusion
BOOK REVIEWNon-discrimination and Equality in India: Contesting Boundaries of Social Justice by Vidhu Verma; New York: Routledge; 2012; xv+pp.269; £ 85.00 $36, hdbk; ISBN: 978-0-415-67775-2The book...
View ArticleSilent Revolution In Bihar And Women's Empowerment
Of late 580 well-trained women are ready to move into the most difficult terrain of Bihar, the mostly Naxal-infested Rohatas district and its surrounding areas. These brave women were trained as the...
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