2010

As mega scams get unearthed one after another starting with the serious irregularities in the Commonwealth Games and Mumbai’s Adarsh Housing Society (meant for the families of the Kargil martyrs but regrettably cornered by the kin of not just leading politicians but also high-ranking retired military officers including a former Chief of the Army Staff) as well as the fraud perpetrated around the 2G spectrum, the latest being the multi-crore corporate loans scam, several important public (…)

As scams get unearthed you can well imagine what lies ahead.Dark patches are getting darker, disillusionments are turning into nightmares, those disparities are widening,and hopelessness looms large.The crux is: the mess is getting messier. And yet there is that lingering hope that perhaps sense and sanity might prevail.
In fact, last week-end as I sat hearing the Dalai Lama talk on the human approach to world peace, at the Institute of Social Sciences, those simple thoughts and simpler (…)

The fifth Summit of the G-20 was held in Seoul on November 11-12, 2010. Before that, the G-20 had met four times at the summit level in quick succession during a period of a little over a year- and-a-half. The Seoul Summit was the first meeting of the leaders of the G-20 held in a country other than the advanced industrial countries constituting the G-7. The first three summits held during the peak of the global financial and economic crisis had achieved notable success in collectively (…)

TRIBUTE
L.C. Jain Sir is no more…. a fact impossible to digest and believe. I was numbed into silence when I was first informed by a friend about his passing away… it appeared as if I had just spoken to him… his persuasive voice complimenting me for a very tentative article that I wrote and knew had serious limitations... he would have none of it and put a smile on my face with his genuine appreciation. When I informed friends about him no longer being with us, the response from all was (…)

Two Articles of P.N. Haksar November 27 this year marks the twelfth death anniversary of P.N. Haksar, the eminent administrator and distinguished diplomat as well as one of the country’s foremost thinkers. On this occasion we offer our sincere homage to his abiding memory by reproducing the following articles. The first one was written in November 1977 and published in Mainstream (February 21, 1987) and the second one appeared in Mainstream Annual 1989. Both are relevant in the present (…)

For quite some time, India and China have been at odds with each other and have watched their relations turning from bad to worse. The downward slide in relations between the Asia’s two neighbours has caused concern to all those who believe that it is not necessary for the two neighbours to continue living in hostility.
The way things were going out of hand recently both in Beijing and Delhi could lead to serious consequences for stability in a region where one-fourth of the humanity (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
Foggy days with low visibility are not unusual in this season in New Delhi but they have never been so hazardous as they are in Indian politics today. In fact, there is little sign of sunshine breaking out in the near future as Parliament meets for its Budget session in less than two weeks, on February 20.
Twelve months ago, there was no warning from the government how serious was the economic prospect. Rather the Finance Minister, heralding the so-called new (…)

The common man is now getting confused and also disillusioned by the way the social, political and economic affairs are being handled by the government, particularly more so after the globalisation concept was brought in by the present Prime Minister when he was the Finance Minister.
There are many types of problems the common man faces today. None of the problems can be isolated and solved independently. They are all interconnected. Food security, unemploy-ment, criminal activities, (…)

COMMUNICATION
Sumanta Banerjee in his communication (Mainstream, October 30, 2010) says that he does not need to be convinced that the CPI-M in West Bengal is indulging in “fascist atrocities and crass corruption”. Fine. At least on that point, one believes, he has no quarrels with D. Bandyo-padhyay. He is also aware that the people of West Bengal are “tired and exasperated” with the CPI-M.
But the next moment he is assailed by a crippling moral dilemma. Can “exasperation alone” be (…)

Every passing day makes it clear that the proposed food security law may not come by for a while. One report quoting the Planning Commission even suggested that it can be expected only in 2012. This Twelfth Plan (2012-17) launch has support from the concerned dual Ministry of Agriculture as well as Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution. In that eventuality it does mean a surge in food insecurity.
A dispassionate analysis will indicate that the National Advisory Council (NAC) will (…)