Justice J.S. Verma: A Mind Without Fear
TRIBUTEby Chaman LalThe death of Justice J.S. Verma, the former Chief Justice of India and erstwhile Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on April 22, 2013 marks the end of an...
View ArticlePoineering Work on Comparative Constitutionalism in South Asia
BOOK REVIEWComparative Constitutionalism in South Asia: ed by Sunil Khilnani, Vikram Raghavan and Arun K. Thiruvengadam; Oxford Univrsity Press, New Delhi; 2013; Pages 401.The book under review is long...
View ArticleOn CPI's Draft Party Programme
COMMUNICATIONThe Draft of the Party Programme of the Communist Party of India sets the task of completing the Democratic Revolution (Introductory Note) or New Democratic Revolution (12.4) and this is...
View ArticleBrahmins + Muslims = Jitin Prasada's UP Social Network
The serene and palatial Raza Library in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, that has a priceless collection of historical works in Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi and other languages, including manuscripts of earliest...
View ArticleCaring For Children — Preventing Child Rape
Everyday the headlines scream at us, with alarming frequency, of yet another rape. Every 32 minutes somewhere in India, a woman is getting raped. There is certainly a breakdown of the social fabric;...
View ArticleCivil Society Initiatives: The Case of BPAC in Karnataka
by M. ManishaIn the run-up to the Assembly elections in Karnataka, there was an interesting initiative by eminent citizens of Bangalore called the Bangalore Political Action Committee or BPAC.The BPAC...
View ArticleHow to Reform Parliamentary Democracy in India?
by B.K. KaushikKeeping in view the pluralist nature of the Indian polity, the makers of the Indian Constitution decided to adopt the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy instead of the American...
View ArticleDalit-Muslim Relations in Pre-Partition Bengal: Paradigm Shift in Dalit...
by K.S. ChalamIndian historiography is undergoing several challenges today. One of the issues that the contemporary historian encounters is about the selection of social categories to narrate changes...
View ArticleHow Long Will Bahadur Shah Zafar's Exile Continue?
India's First War of Independence (described by the British colonial masters as ‘Mutiny') began on May 10, 1857 at the Meerut Cantonment. The rebel sepoys of the East India Company marched to Delhi,...
View ArticleBeware of Beijing
This article was written before Beijing ended its stand-off with New Delhi on the Sino-Indian border and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Beijing.Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has...
View ArticleKerry couldn't set Moscow River on Fire
The foreplay of the Russian-American high-level exchanges can be very revealing. This time too the two sides indulged in some robust shadow-play in the run-up to the overnight “working visit” of the...
View ArticleLong-run Foreign Investors: Are they Easy Nuts to Crack?
Recently the Finance Minister was on a tour to Europe to lure the foreign investors to invest in India. Some years back, India was among the preferred destinations for the foreign investors. However,...
View ArticleWhen the Voter is Treated as a Fool, Beware the Ire of the 99 per cent
IMPRESSIONSThis piece was written before the Karnataka Assembly elections.The larger picture casts doubt on the very viability of democracy in our country. As the world knows it, democracy is a...
View ArticleGuilty at the Top
From N.C.'s WritingsSo, the fat is at last in the fire.The concern over the blatant speculation in the share-market which has shaken the country had to come over our Finance Minister only in driblets...
View ArticlePolitics even in the Tragedy of Death
Many great men, sickened by the way the contemporary society behaves, have been exas-perated to give vent to their harshest feelings. Author Samuel Johnson remarked: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a...
View ArticleA Lost Opportunity
Believe it or not, the Supreme Court gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) an opportunity to be independent in one of the matters before it, asking the agency why it was not independent. Yet...
View ArticleTribute: Asghar Ali Engineer
On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, passed away in Mumbai Asghar Ali Engineer, 74, after a brief illness. He leaves behind his son and daughter.He was the Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies in the city...
View ArticleIndia and Pakistan Must Exchange Prisoners
MUSINGSTo mark or start new beginnings, Dr Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif should not send mangoes to each other, but exchange imprisoned men. Yes, Indian prisoners held captive in Pakistani jails...
View ArticlePak Poll Outcome: Beyond Jingoist Rhetoric
The May 11 elections in Pakistan have produced a decisive verdict. Belying the anticipation of a hung parliament or a coalition government, former PM Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has won a handsome victory....
View ArticleThe Gift
This month marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Pokhran II nuclear explosions. On this occasion we are carrying the following excerpts from the play that appeared in Indian Literature (Sahitya...
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