October 11, 2008

Does the present crisis in the US economy herald the collapse of laissez-faire capitalism? Certainly not. But it does underline the validity of the concept of cyclical crises that capitalism is bound to experience over time thereby reinforcing the idea that Western style capitalism, especially in the current period marked by the surge of neo-liberalism across the globe, is far from being the ideal system that was advertised worldwide after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the (…)

[(This article was written prior to the George W. Bush-Manmohan Singh meeting at the White House on September 26, 2008. It is being published here, nevertheless, as the validity of its contents is unquestionable. —Editor)]
Like Banquo’s ghost at Macbeth’s dinner table in William Shakespeare’s play, there will be an unseen presence in the Oval Office in White House on September 26, 2008 when President George W. Bush receives Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. That will be the ghost of the (…)

A brave fight is on against the flood ravages of the Kosi in the Kosi division spread over Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul districts which had been flood free for 50 years after the building of the Kosi Barrage and embankments because of a breach in the eastern embankment at Kusaha one km long and 12 km upstream in Nepal. The breach had been preceded by erosion and blame has been thrown respectively for failure for timely repairs on the State Government, the Central Government and the (…)

Pertinent questions have been raised on journalistic proficiency and an environment that makes light of the gravity of human worth and freedom. It could be a stern reality check for print journalists if they are rendered redundant save for the fact that the time has not come in India. The issue is what the reader thinks. Does the quality of coverage interest and impress him? The answer can come as a bolt from the blue for some, particularly those who have not had first-hand experience of (…)

[(The following article was written before the passage of the bill for the nuclear deal in the US Senate. —Editor`)]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his latest and possibly last meeting with the outgoing US President, has expressed the hope that the nuclear deal would be approved by the US Congress in a manner which will be “satisfactory” from both countries’ viewpoints. One wonders if his delusion is limitless. If he had any sense of dignity which a sovereign nation’s chief executive (…)

Summit meetings are not boxing rings which the public watch to cheer or boo at the players punching at each other. Most of the summits are meant for serious business either to thrash out differences or haggle over a coveted prize.
Judging by this criterion, the Prime Minister of India’s summit with the President of the USA at Washington (May 19, 1994) could be regarded as useful as they noted in clear terms the points of difference on some of the major issues not so much of concern (…)

I. Missing Dimensions
The past, present and future challenges and problems that concern the “West Balkans”—now used to denote the former republics of the SFR of Yugoslavia that have emerged as sovereign states from this country’s break-up—cannot be understood fully unless analysed within the broader context of world politics and with appropriate recognition of Yugoslavia’s post-World War II role and place in the global arena.
When this complex and controversial problématique is (…)

It lasts until the next blast: the empirical-causal manifestations of a terror-strike. Everybody fears it while feeding on the gory details repeatedly dished out by every means of media. Everybody however grows exceedingly intimate with it. An exemplary oxymoron of our times: an awesome fear, akin to the thick plot of a Hitchcock drama, that springs from terror-strikes. Even though we dismiss the hyperbole in it, there is a chance validity for the question as to how any fear becomes awesome. (…)

Malayalees call their State ‘God’s Own Country’, a silly claim but fully satisfying their national ego. Indeed Kerala is a beautiful geographical region with its lush green vegetation but rapidly dwindling paddy fields, palm-fringed lakes, lagoons, rivers all becoming rapidly polluted and bounteous sea that occasionally turns furious and devastating its fronts densely populated full of squalor and poverty. As the poet wrote, “Every prospect pleases but man alone”, to change the words of the (…)

I enjoyed reading Badri Raina’ article, “J&K Heal and Renew” (Mainstream, New Delhi, August 30, 2008, pp. 11-13). He appears to write poetry in lucid prose, aimed straight for the heart, when he describes Kashmiri syncretism between the Muslim and Hindu faiths, its past and fraying present. I hope that his message touches the heart of the common Kashmiri man, but I am afraid it may not. Here are the reasons why I think the message may miss the mark. Raina says (ibid.):
“...some Sunni (…)