October 25, 2008

October 22 was indeed a memorable day in the annals of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) founded by that outstanding personality, Vikram Sarabhai, who, along with Homi Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme, imparted a new dimension to the country’s space and nuclear research. That morning at 6.22 am India’s moon mission Chandrayan-1 was successfully put into its initial orbit by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) notwithstanding inclement weather at the (…)

In the Singur controversy, the “Save the Land” movement, the Trinamul Congress, and the intellectuals opposing the Tata Motors’ Nano-car project highlighted only two aspects. One was that the project, by virtue of its being sited on arable lands, constituted a threat to food security. The other was that it had a potential for too few jobs (around 350)—that, too, mostly of non-locals—against displacement of locals, several times that number, from their only means of livelihood. That the land (…)

Reports on the anti-terror action by the ‘Special Cell’ of the Delhi Police in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, on September 19 are shocking indeed. The ‘Special Cell’ had come into adverse public notice on several occasions in the past. The serious human rights violations by the Cell in connection with the Parliament attack case in December 2001 are well known. The corrupt and high-handed head of the Cell, Rajbir Singh, was done to death not very long ago by one of his own (…)

The first two weeks of September saw the collapse of American giant financial institutions which fell, one after another, like nine pins. Actually earlier in March itself, the fall of Bear Sterns, the third or fourth large bank, itself was an indication of the shape of things to come. The bank was taken over by the American Government but then itself it was feared that the salvage of the bank was not enough and the rot would not stop. Rumours started floating that yet another bank would (…)

The current turmoil in the US financial market and its spilling over to financial markets overseas has made it once more evident that we need to scrutinise the validity and relevance of the neo-liberal theory and policies which brought about this mess.
We try in the following pages, to interpret the crisis: first, by identifying the two special characteristics of the current crisis which also explain its intensity. We also look into the dominant precepts behind, an uncritical acceptance (…)

Ever since the crisis originating on Wall Street has spread far and wide like a contagion, the clamour for state intervention to save the global economy in general and financial institutions in particular has become vociferous. Those who, till the other day, were decrying the role of state in the running of economy and were singing the virtues of the Washington Consensus-based globalisation have gone into hibernation. Nobody now talks of ‘the magic of the marketplace’ and of great sermons by (…)

"He acts as if his head was only made to hold his ears apart." —Hank Williams "I’ll come down and help you, I’ll rape you, I’ll scalp you." —Woody Guthrie “I’ve been struck by Lightning, Struck by Congress.” —Woody Guthrie
It has been eight years since the putsch in Florida by the neoconservative Storm Troopers stole the presidential election and installed George W. Bush on the White House Throne. The dark days had begun and these dark days have not yet ended. The going after the country (…)

Dear leaders and people of Tamil Naad,
The First thing the Sri Lankan Tamils expect Tamil Naad to do immediately is to save the people trapped in the LTTE controlled area, where they are kept under compulsion, and secondly to have a true briefing of the present situation without being misled by the TNA parliamentarians of Sri Lanka who are presently in Chennai to have the LTTE rescued. The people whom they claim to represent are in the verge of total annihilation.
I was deeply moved by (…)

When New Delhi‘s diplomatic enclave at Chanakyapuri was planned, the sprawling Chinese Embassy compound came next door to that of the US Embassy. But over the years, many wondered if they would ever talk across the walls. In fact, the Chinese preferred to put up their Chancery entrance furthest from the American.
Today, as one drives down the same Shanti Path, it is not difficult to visualise the neighbours shaking hands and playing many more games other than ping pong. Once again, the (…)

An impression is being created that there is a “rift” between the United States and Britain regarding the reconciliation track involving the Taliban. The plain truth is that the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are in this murky game together.
The essence of the game is to make the “war on terror” in Afghanistan more efficient and cost-effective. Surely, it is official American thinking that there has to be some form of reconciliation with the Taliban. US Defence Secretary Robert (…)