Will Rice’s visit help push forward Mideast peace talks?
By Guo Chunju, Yu Zhongwen, Xinhua
Cairo : As U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday started her latest Mideast regional tour with the aim to salvage the U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Arab experts and media here didn't hold high expectations on her visit to achieve tangible results to push forward the stalled Mideast peace process.
Visit amid difficult situation
While on Tibet, India and China beg some comparisons
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
The old colonial scene of a restive people opposing a repressive regime is again being enacted in Tibet. There are other similarities as well. For instance, there is a charismatic figure symbolising the "struggle".
The emphasis on non-violence also recalls Mahatma Gandhi. Like the Mahatma, the Dalai Lama does not bear any ill will towards the putative oppressors. The Tibetan spiritual leader only wants China to grant full autonomy to his country.
Are Nepal Maoists more mature than Indian communists?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The pragmatic good sense shown by the Nepal Maoists stands in sharp contrast to the ideological rigidity of the Indian communists.
Whether it is a mainline outfit like the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its allies in the Left Front or the insurrectionary "underground" organisations of the Indian Maoists, their guiding principle is the standard Marxist ideal of a one-party state.
Dravid’s stature as cricketer is undiminished
By K. Datta, IANS,
Close on the heels of the shocking slapping incident involving Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth and those fines imposed on Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne and Ishant Sharma, the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) has made news with the midstream sacking of the CEO of Bangalore's Royal Challengers because the team had failed to get into the winning habit.
UN Security Council seat: China outsmarts India
By Sreeram Chaulia, IANS,
The symphony of South-South cooperation at the recent conclave of foreign ministers of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) at Yekaterinburg was jarred by China's refusal to endorse India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC). In the joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, Chinese delegates scotched Russian proposals of supporting India's cause of entering the elite league at the UNSC.
Congress must throw weight behind its regional leaders
By Gilles Verniers, IANS,
The successive defeats of the Congress in regional elections in the past 12 months show such commonalities that one may wonder if the Grand Old Party has any capacity of learning from its mistakes. The inaptitude and unwillingness of the party's "high command" to field a credible local political leader in the regional elections have proved a major obstacle to victory. The recent defeat in the "safe haven" state of Karnataka comes as one more confirmation of that trend.
PM scores a morale-boosting goal for Indian hockey
By K. Datta, IANS,
Prime minister Manmohan Singh meant to cast no aspersions on cricket when he revealed he was no devotee of the game. He was only voicing the feelings of millions of people, the 'aam admis', as politicians with an eye on votes describe them, a class of people among whom there is little fervour for the so-called religion of cricket. These masses, less articulate than cricket fans, are drawn more to games like hockey and football.
Iran nuclear deadlock hard to break up
By Che Ling, Xinhua,
Tehran : The stalemate surrounding Iran's nuclear issue seems to remain hard to break up although an updated package of incentives offered by six major world powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States was handed over to Iranian officials by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Saturday.
India’s counter-terrorism centre should be a unique model
By Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay, IANS,
Jaipur, as usual, is fading away from the headlines of the national media, as it always does till another terror strike jerks our collective psyche with gory images, wrecked vehicles and charred human limbs. Like in earlier instances, in the case of Jaipur also, claims and denials about the failures of the state and central agencies, issues like lack of information gathering at the base, unhindered exchange of information amongst agencies and, most crucial, the analyses of data collected came to fore in the aftermath.
Cussedness, underhand dealings mark countdown to trust vote
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The prelude to the July 22 trust vote in parliament on the nuclear deal on which the fate of the Manmohan Singh government depends has added yet another dark chapter of opportunism and horse-trading to Indian politics.
Manmohan beats the Marxist-Mayawati-Manuvadi trio
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
It will not be wrong to say that Tuesday's trust vote in parliament marked a watershed in Indian politics.
At the international level, it will undoubtedly move India into the American orbit via the nuclear deal, which will now probably be put on the fast track by Washington.
The clinching of this path-breaking agreement will mark the end of India's half-a-century-old policy of non-alignment although New Delhi may continue to remain a member of the virtually dysfunctional non-aligned Third World club.
Media needs to be more circumspect in literate Kerala
By B.R.P. Bhaskar, IANS,
"Kerala trembled", screamed the nine-centimetre deep headline in the state's largest circulated newspaper Monday. Those words summed up the totally literate state's response to some sensational media reports that it was the terrorists' next target.
On Sunday afternoon, as the nation was slowly recovering from the impact of the serial explosions in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, the Bangalore office of a television channel informed a Malayalam channel that a caller from Pakistan had said blasts would occur in Kerala at 7 p.m.
Will anyone ask for Bob Houghton’s head now?
By K. Datta, IANS,
Baichung Bhutia's men had done well enough in Hyderabad till the mud and slush at the Gachibowli Stadium became so unplayable as to force the organisers to shift the final to Delhi. They did even better on a drier, greener turf in the capital by winning the AFC Challenge Cup and qualify for the Asia Cup after 24 years.
Terror in Delhi – will the political leadership be found wanting again?
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
The multiple terror attacks that struck the national capital Saturday is the fifth such lethal attack since May this year. In the last four months, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad within the country and the Indian embassy in Kabul have been targeted. This begs the obvious question: is the Indian state unable or unwilling to prevent such attacks and protect its citizens?
The related issue is: what is the way ahead in a robust democracy that otherwise sees itself as an emerging major power in the Asian and global grid.
Registration of marriages: A necessity
By Dr. Md. Faiyaz Khan,
India is a signatory to the convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women Which was adopted by U.N. General Assembly in 1979 and ratified on July 9th, 1993. Under this convention India agreed in principal that compulsory registration of marriages was highly desirable, nevertheless, she expressed reservation by stating that to go in for compulsory registration like India with its variety of customs, religions and level of literacy.
Premier NRI event needs big shake-up
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
In these weeks, selected overseas Indians from across the globe are being invited to attend the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Jan 7-9, 2009, in Chennai. Meant to network with more than 25 million non-resident Indians, called NRIs, round the globe, this is the seventh flagship event of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA).
Needed: Revamp of national security apparatus
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
The multiple terrorist attacks that ravaged Mumbai with the death toll overshooting 180 have led to a justified outpouring of anger and anguish across the length and breadth of the country. India is outraged. Period. This is not the first terrorist attack that India has experienced - Mumbai alone recalls 1993 and 2006 with bitter memories. And tragically this may not be the last, given the ruthless determination of the extremist groups ranged against the idea of India.
TV blabbering is not journalism: Lessons from the live coverage
By B.R.P.Bhaskar, IANS,
News channel bosses must be patting themselves on the back on their marathon terror coverage. For three days they had treated the viewers to live coverage of the multiple terror strikes in Mumbai. In doing so, they probably set a record in television history.
As the terrorists delivered the heaviest blow yet on the country, the 24x7 news channels rose to the occasion. They took the nation's attention off everything else so that it could concentrate fully on the mayhem in Mumbai. What more could the terrorists have asked for?
U.S. policy in the Middle East before, during and after Bush
MOSCOW : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday issued a "last-minute" appeal to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to reject their Hamas rulers and stop missile fire at Israel, warning them he would not hesitate to use force.
About 210 targets associated with Hamas have been hit since Saturday, while Hamas militants have launched more than 110 rockets into Israel. The UN has called for the hostilities to stop, but Olmert said at Sunday's Cabinet meeting the operation "is liable to continue for some time."
Mangalore pub attack: Lessons India’s civil society must heed
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
The violent attack on a group of women in a Mangalore pub (Jan 24) by activists of the self-styled Sri Ram Sene who could not countenance such innocent revelry is to be condemned in the most unambiguous terms. Ostensibly carried out to protect the ''morals'' of society and the ''honour'' of the women involved, the invocation of Hindu religion to justify the mob violence that included beating up the women and sexually molesting them is an act that ironically sullied the 'very idea' of India on the eve of the Republic Day celebrations on Jan 26.
The cases of Varun Gandhi and Binayak Sen: one land, two laws
By Nupur Basu, IANS,
This is a country where the law clearly protects the rich and famous and comes down heavily, very often unfairly, on the poor and powerless.
For all those listening / watching aghast at how low our politicians can sink - e.g. Varun Gandhi's vituperative attack against the Muslim community in an election address in Pilibhit from where he will contest on the BJP ticket - they always knew deep down that nothing would come of it. The interim anticipatory bail granted to him on Friday is on those very predictable lines.
Sri Lanka situation will impact on elections
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Even as the Maoists continue their desperate, if ultimately futile, attempts to disrupt the polls, perhaps the most uncertain aspect of the present scene is the impact of the suffering of the Sri Lankan Tamils, first, on Tamil Nadu politics and then on government formation at the centre after the general elections.
Sri Lanka: Humanitarian disaster in making
By Bobby Ramakant, CNS,
Activists expressed their deep anguish and concern on unabated mass killings in Sri Lanka which is, as they underlined, "no short of a humanitarian disaster in northern Sri Lanka".
"We also protest the covert provision of economic and military aid to Sri Lanka by Indian government which has, certainly, deeply aggravated the situation in Sri Lanka" said Dr Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) and Convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM).
Media frenzy must end: Australia not an unsafe place for Indians
By Rajni Luthra, IANS,
Most Indian homes in Australia have had this phone call from concerned family in India by now. "Are you alright? What are they doing to you guys over there?" It's almost as if Australian gangs are roaming the trains seeking out Indians to bash up, or roaming the streets seeking out Indian homes to throw petrol bombs into.
"Stay safe," the relatives are saying over the phone from across hundreds of miles. "Don't go out alone at night; don't take 'pangas' with others on the trains ..."
Is Zardari more India-friendly than others in Pakistan?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Asif Ali Zardari's acknowledgement of the links between the terrorists and the Pakistani establishment is not exactly a state secret. Nor is this is the first time someone in authority has made such a confession.
Byline: A will without a way
By M.J. Akbar,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is juggling with a hydra-headed question that is both philosophical and practical. Worse, it is also immediate.
How much benefit should one give to doubt?
Gilgit-Baltistan amalgamation: India must react
By Alok Bansal, IANS,
With the signing of the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order 2009 by President Asif Ali Zardari Sep 7, the Pakistan government has taken the first step towards amalgamating this strategically significant part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir into Pakistan. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government has patted itself on the back for undertaking far-reaching administrative, political, financial and judicial reforms in this region.
Climate politics eclipses climate science
By Joydeep Gupta, IANS,
For the last few weeks, leaders of industrialised countries have been busy reducing expectations from next month's critical Copenhagen climate summit, while their counterparts in the developing world declare ambitious plans to control emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) that are warming the world.
Honour killings: Need for a stop to this barbaric practice
By Babu Joseph, IANS,
The media has rightly exposed the heinous crime of killing people under the guise of protecting the 'honour' of the caste or community. This monstrous practice reported from some states of India goes to show that there is something seriously amiss in our socio-cultural ethos.
Interaction with a warrior in the battlefield of Muslim reservation
By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Anna’s anti-corruption campaign: Viewpoints of regional press
By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Abusaleh report debunks Modi’s claims of growth
Part 1 of the 2-part series on Gujarat's development
By Faraz Ahmad
DMK to submit Tamil meet resolutions to UN: Karunanidhi
By IANS,
Chennai: DMK president M.Karunanidhi Tuesday said that his party will send the resolutions passed at the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) meet here to the United Nations (UN).
Open Letter to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on her visit to AMU
By Nazir Ahmad,
To,
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress
On safety, small-car-makers must look beyond pricing
By Rohit Bansal, IANS,
Some years ago in the US, Saurabh Narain, a top banking executive, was hit by a distracted trucker. His BMW turned...
Tebbit Test for Kashmiris who applaud Pakistan cricket team?
By Saeed Naqvi,
Across its six columns on page one last Wednesday, The Indian Express screamed: “For ‘cheering’ Pakistan in India Match, University in Meerut suspends 67 Kashmiri students.”
The other Pakistan – that is different, yet like us!
By Shilpa Raina,
For anyone living either in India or Pakistan, even the faint prospect of travelling to the other side is no less than a lifetime's opportunity. The strained sub-continental relations have however resulted in strict visa procedures, turning dreams into distant desires.
Elections 2014: Between Wave and Reality, the Shadow of Figures
By Saeed Naqvi ,
Anil Trivedi, tall, with an unkept grey beard, settles down over a cup of tea in my Indore hotel room,...
Modi accomplished the impossible, real test starts now
By Ashok Tandon,
Narendra Modi has proved in letter and spirit what Napoleon Bonaparte said: "Impossible is a word to be found only in the...
Global cues to guide Indian equities over the next week
By Vatsal Srivastava,
Prior to the finance minister’s budget speech, Currency Corner had argued that Indian equities are all set for a short-term correction irrespective of what Arun Jaitley delivers on the reform front. Markets have had an almost parabolic up move since April and profit booking around these price levels was inevitable. Markets still look overbought as current valuations are pricing in a substantial earnings upgrade in coming quarters. However, one can look at adding quality mid-cap and small-cap names as well as PSU banks which have witnessed a deep correction due to their higher betas in the last week while the Nifty has just fallen only a couple of percentage points.
Ebola: No panic movement by Indians from West Africa
By Francis Kokutse,
Accra: There is no panic movement out of West Africa by Indian nationals living in the region following the spread of the...
Madness of Development
By Jaspal Singh,
Much has happened in last few days that has possibilities for opening new path for humanity.More than 400 thousand people marched in New York City, to bring to the center stage,the danger posed to the planet by the devastation and destruction by the global capital in pursuit of maximum profits .People from all walks of life experts,scientists,social scientists and simply concerned folks gathered together to bring to the attention the necessity of finding a new path,a new mode of being,that is not destructive of humanity and society.
Why the Hindi belt must embrace English
By Birbal Jha,
Today, most people are aware that English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Moreover, English is no longer a foreign language in the strictest sense. Having the ability to contact with people globally and travel easily is just two of the many reasons for gaining English language skills.
Safe, Habitable or Smart? India’s 100 Smart Cities must be all three
By Sanjiv Kataria,
Each time there is a mention of Smart Cities in India, I get concerned about the safety of women because there is a surfeit of news stemming from the vulnerability of women in our cities. A few incidents that shook India recently, include:
Thoughts On UP Elections 2007
By Mohib Ahmed
BSP supremo Mayawati was sworn in as the 40th chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on 13th May. She is leading the most populous Indian state for the fourth time.
Rise of Fascist forces in India
Independent People's Tribunal on Rise of Fascist Forces and the Attack on the Secular State
By Anhad Delhi
Global giants make foray into Indian advertising industry
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS
The advertising scenario in the country came into sharp focus with the visit of Martin Sorrell, head of one of the world's largest advertising agencies, WPP. His agency also has a large footprint in India, having bought a stake in the major agencies like Rediffusion DY&R, Grey, and Ogilvy and Mather. During his visit, he made it clear that emerging markets like India and China are becoming increasingly important for multinational giants.
The return of the natives – global Indians are returning home
By Shubha Singh, IANS
Global Indians are wooing and are being wooed by top Indian corporates to return home to India. It is not just techies but Indians working in different sectors of industry are homeward bound to be part of a booming Indian economy. The number of returning non-resident Indians (NRIs) has swelled in the past one year as expatriates find better job offers in India.
Pakistani military bleeding through ‘someone else’s war’
By Rahul Bedi and Brigadier (retd) Arun Sahgal, IANS
The series of strikes on Pakistan's military battling Al Qaeda fighters and tribesmen aligned to the Taliban and its recurring operational setbacks are a pointer to the forces' declining morale and the overall will to fight.
Nearly 1,000 Pakistani soldiers have died fighting insurgents over the past year. And the army, under pressure from the US and other Western powers, appears increasingly unwilling to engage the well armed, battle hardened and cunning insurgents waging civil war against the state.
Is the BJP’s hold on Gujarat overrated?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
Since Gujarat was advertised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a laboratory for its experiments with Hindutva, the ideology that accords primacy of place in Indian society to Hindus, an electoral outcome in the state has considerable importance for the party. While the BJP's success will show that the saffron agenda is alive and kicking, a setback will mean much more than a similar failure in any other state.
CBI’s impartiality has taken a beating
By Rana Ajitn, IANS
Often seen as dancing to the tunes of the central government in politically sensitive cases, the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) impartiality has taken a fresh beating following its divergent stands before the Supreme Court in cases involving three politicians.
Pakistan’s third transition: Will it succeed?
By K. Subrahmanyam, IANS
In the 60 years of its existence, Pakistan has been under military rule for 32 years in three spells under four generals - Gen. Ayub Khan, who made himself a Field Marshal, Gen. Yahya Khan, Gen. Zia-ul Haq and Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Each spell of military rule had its distinct flavour and characteristics.
Ayub Khan experimented with basic democracy. Zia-ul Haq Islamised Pakistan. Musharraf coexisted with the assemblies elected in rigged polls and till he imposed emergency Nov 3, his military rule allowed full freedom to the media.
NRI passengers look for way out of the fog
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
The tourism promotion slogan 'Incredible India' can take a whole new meaning when NRIs land at Delhi or Mumbai this winter. Between Dec 10 and around Jan 15 each year, flights are badly affected by the dense fog in Delhi. As most flights from Europe and the US carrying full loads of NRIs and tourists arrive in the early morning when the fog is very dense they are sometimes diverted to other airports - as far away as Mumbai.
After Bhutto
By John Esposito
The world will long remember Benazir Bhutto as a modern Muslim woman who served two terms as Pakistan's first woman prime minister: bright, attractive, articulate, talented, courageous, charismatic, an astute politician and political leader who called for a secular democratic Pakistan. Benazir was all of these, but – like her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and a number of other Pakistani political leaders – she also left a flawed political track record that both reflected and contributed to many of Pakistan's problems.
Pot of gold at both ends for India, Britain
By Karan Bilimoria, IANS
As India and the United Kingdom celebrate 15 years of their renewed economic engagement under the aegis of UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), the two great nations have only scratched the surface of the potential that exists today for bilateral trade and investment.
The potential for bilateral trade, which has doubled to 10 billion pounds in the past five years, is truly immense. So it is for investment opportunities that are highlighted by the Tata-Corus and the Essar-Vodaphone deals.
Who is spreading avian flu?
MOSCOW. (Yevgeny Kuznetsov for RIA Novosti) - In the first month of 2008, avian flu caused by the H5N1 strain was registered at least in 12 countries - Israel, Vietnam, Britain, India, Iran, China, Egypt, Germany, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.
Surprisingly, there have been no cases of avian flu in Russia, but there is a high risk of an outbreak in Russia's European South - the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories.
Will Muslim veil split secular Turkey?
MOSCOW. (Alexander Bakustin, RIA Novosti) - The Turkish parliament recently adopted a government bill lifting a decades-old ban on wearing the hijab - a headscarf used by Muslim women to cover their hair.
This revolutionary change has already caused fierce disputes between different classes of Turkish society, and may eventually split it altogether.
Budget will spur sustainable, inclusive growth
By Lt Gen (retd.) S.S. Mehta, IANS
The budget 2008-09 has taken the necessary steps to boost consumer demand and revive manufacturing in the light of emerging global slowdown and inflationary pressures. The strategy to revise upwards the slabs for personal income tax, reduce excise on key items and reduce Cenvat from 16 percent to 14 percent will help bolster flagging consumer demand, and consequently favourably impact the consumer durables segment.
Budget sidelined NRIs, but still something to cheer about
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
Have NRIs been sidelined in the latest Indian budget? Since the government is all out to get votes for the general election next year, special concessions for NRIs were perhaps not a priority. The focus was clearly on farmers and the common man. Another factor could be the high inflows of foreign funds invested in stocks and India's foreign exchange reserves crossing the $300 billion watermark.
Noida incidents – collusion, connivance, or callous incompetence?
By Maxwell Pereira, IANS
It was a bit queasy to read in a national newspaper about the Noida police "pressurising into surrendering in court" a notorious criminal suspected to be behind last Tuesday's horrendous crimes of killing an ex-airhostess and shooting a former army lieutenant general! In the policing I knew, we did not pressurise or persuade criminals to surrender in court - we just went and arrested them, or at least endeavoured sincerely to arrest.
Will the Nepali Maoists go the Hamas way?
By Shylashri Shankar, IANS,
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) pulled off an upset over the traditional ruling parties such as the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) in the elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA).
Once the results for the 240 seats decided on first-past-the-post and the 335 seats decided on the basis of the proportional electoral system are tallied, the Maoists are likely to be the single largest party.
Why did Congress leadership not back Rahul Gandhi as PM?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Contrary to what recent events may suggest, the cloying sycophancy associated with the Congress is a relatively new phenomenon in the organisation.
Its roots lie in Indira Gandhi's emergency rule of 1975-77, a mere 30 years ago in a 123-year-old party. Like the display of servile obsequiousness, the Emergency itself was out of tune with the Congress' liberal tradition.
India must market for global satellite contracts
By R. Ramaseshan, IANS,
The success of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Monday in putting into orbit 10 satellites with a single launch is certainly a commendable achievement marking as it does the second largest number of satellites launched at one go. Now it needs to push aggressively for more contracts in this niche market.
Besides ISRO's own two primary satellites, Cartosat-2A (690 kg) and IMS-1 (83 kg), Monday's payload included seven nanosatellites (1-10 kg class) and one microsatellite (10-100 kg class) from foreign customers, which together weighed about 50 kg.
What is a vote worth in Iran?
By Ahmad Sadri
Real change can result from elections in Iran as long as there is a home grown democratic heart beating within the theocratic Republic. But for how long will that be the case?
Iran may not be a liberal democracy but it is certainly a far cry from those fake Democratic Republics that littered the world before 1989. A representative democracy grafted onto a theocracy, the Islamic Republic is a unique specimen in the menagerie of political systems from Uruk, Constantinople and Geneva to Athens, Philadelphia and Moscow.
Don’t depend on outsiders to settle the Mideast dispute
By Shlomo Avineri,
Israel's 60th anniversary has come and gone. So, too, has President George W. Bush's final visit to the Middle East. Amidst the celebrations and the soul-searching, no meaningful breakthrough in the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is visible.
~Youth Views~ Is war as diplomacy obsolete?
By Stephen Coulthart, CGNews,
Five years ago in May, President Bush, standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, proudly declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq and stated that major combat operations were over.
The event comes as a reminder of the limits of American military might, or "hard power". Indeed, the US easily toppled the Iraqi regime in days but it failed to win the peace after the conventional conflict ended. As a result, it is clear that the US must place greater emphasis on soft power than ever before. But what is soft power?
India’s national interest and smaller parties
By K. Subrahmanyam, IANS,
The current political turbulence and the calculations about the way in which the smaller political parties will vote on a major issue involving India's changing foreign policy paradigm have highlighted the need for smaller parties taking interest in foreign policy and international relations.
Trust! Manmohan Singh will now bat for reforms
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS,
By using the term "bonded slave" in his speech at the conclusion of the trust vote, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh eloquently expressed his feelings during the four years of ties between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left parties. The pioneer of economic reforms in the 1990s, Manmohan Singh was expected to push forward the reform agenda during his tenure as prime minister but was hamstrung at every step by the Left partners.
Somalia: Time to pay attention
By Frankie Martin, CGNews,
While the world looks elsewhere, Somalia is in flames. The nation just topped a list of the world's most unstable countries by Foreign Policy magazine, and the United Nations has declared the humanitarian situation there "worse than Darfur."
Opening address at the World Conference on Dialogue
By King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, CGNews,
In the name of God, most merciful, most compassionate.
Praise be to God Almighty, who revealed in his Holy Book: "O mankind! We have created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of [God] is (he who is) the most righteous of you."
And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and on all the prophets and messengers.
Your Majesty, my friend, Juan Carlos, King of Spain:
Is Morocco a model for curbing extremism?
By Helen Wilkinson, CGNews,
The British government's recent announcement about tackling religious extremism by giving young Muslims "citizenship lessons" among other things is an interesting one. It's easy to sneer at initiatives in the face of the omnipresent threat of Muslim religious extremism worldwide, but Britain is not the only country pursuing such an approach. So too is Morocco, where I live for part of the year.
For peace in Nagaland, dialogue among Nagas must succeed
By Sanjoy Hazarika,
For months, the fragile peace in the Naga Hills has been shattered by internecine conflict. This is ironical because the ceasefires between the government of India and its armed forces, including the paramilitary, and the two factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (or Nagaland) -- the group led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah and that headed by S.S. Khaplang -- remain in place.
US-Russia Escalation at heights over US missile deal with Poland
By IRNA,
Tehran : Escalation between Washington and Moscow reached its heights when the United States signed a deal with Poland to house the 10 interceptor missiles as part of the defense shield whose directional radar is to be sited in the Czech Republic.
The US and Polish officials say the timing of the deal had nothing to do with events in Georgia, but no one is going to believe this, least of all the Russians who will inevitably see it as a further gauntlet thrown down by the Bush administration.
Changes brought by Games highlight scientific outlook on development
By Huo Xiaoguang, Yuan Zhenyu, Meng Na, Xinhua,
Beijing : With the Beijing Paralympic Games in full swing, people in the Chinese capital are not only experiencing the same enthusiasm for sport in full-packed competition venues as during the Beijing Olympic Games, but also enjoying the same cheerful living environment, including blue skies, clean air and smooth city traffic.
This is because the city has continued to enforce a series of environment-friendly and traffic control measures, introduced in late July in the final run-up to the Olympics.
India’s nuclear deal – and two worldviews
By K. Subrahmanyam, IANS,
Now that India and the US have formally inked the 123 civil nuclear cooperation agreement and sealed another pact with France following the Sep 6 waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), it is time to look at the fierce debate on the issue in this country with some detachment.
A train and a resolve: Symbols of hope for South Asia?
By C Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
History was made in South Asia last week by two seemingly different but yet inter-connected events that could become symbols of hope in a region that has been blighted by terrorism and discord for well over a decade.
The Thackeray family’s dubious inheritance
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The Thackeray family's parochial agenda has a long history. It all began with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's father, Keshav Sitaram, who was a member of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, the organisation which spearheaded the agitation for a separate Maharashtra in the 1950s.
Can Obama convert his many crises into opportunities?
By Gwynne Dyer,
Tehran : US president-elect Barack Obama inherits the in-box from hell, but an all-points crisis like the present one also creates opportunities for radical change that do not exist in normal times.
As Rahm Emanuel, his newly appointed chief of staff, put it: "Never waste a crisis." Is Obama clever, radical enough to seize those opportunities?
For example, he has promised to shut down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
While he is at it, why not hand the whole US military base at Guantanamo back to the Cubans?
Poll outcome: the BJP loses its terror plank
By Amulya Ganguli
New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Prima facie, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not fare too badly in the recent elections in north and central India. It beat the anti-incumbency factor in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to retain power and its vote share in Rajasthan, where it lost, was marginally less than the Congress'.
Iran goes into space
MOSCOW. (Andrei Kislyakov for RIA Novosti) - On February 3, Iran fulfilled its promise to launch its first satellite, Omid (Hope), into orbit by its own carrier rocket before the end of the Iranian year (which ends in March).
The world media reported that it has already transmitted a message from the Iranian leader to the effect that the successful launch "officially seals Iran's presence in space."
Pranab Mukherjee: jack of all trades – except one
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Even as Pranab Mukherjee acknowledged with folded hands and a shy smile L.K. Advani's lavish praise for him in parliament, both he and members on both sides of the house knew that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was right in saying that without the external affairs minister, who is now also India's finance minister, at the helm, the government might have found it difficult to function during Manmohan Singh's hospitalization and recuperation.
The race for Delhi has begun, but winner is anyone’s guess
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Although marred by Maoist violence, the first phase of the Indian elections can be said to have got off to a reasonably satisfactory start.
In the context of the vastness of the exercise - an electorate of 714 million voting in 180,000 polling stations for 1,715 candidates in five phases for a month - the stray attacks carried out by the Maoist desperadoes are not expected to have much of a demoralising impact outside the affected areas despite the tragic loss of lives.
‘Bluestar’ will remain etched in the Sikh psyche for generations
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently asked the Sikhs to move on with the cataclysmic events of 1984. Though the comment of the country's first Sikh prime minister were in the context of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other places, the reference was also obliquely linked to the other, and bigger, happening of the same year - the June 6, 1984 military assault on the holiest of Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple.
Anand Model should be replicated for inclusive growth
By Animesh Banerjee, IANS,
Traditional growth models are the legacy of the industrialization era that started a couple of centuries ago. The approach meant leveraging lowest cost resources with an aim of maximizing benefits to the owners of the enterprise. It is apparent now that pursuing a growth model that brings prosperity to a few while leaving the majority out of the ambit of its benefits is only furthering the gap between the haves and have not. There is a need to change that for inclusive growth, and the 'Anand experience' provides an excellent model.
India’s budget places common man above fiscal responsibility
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS,
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has pleased the "aam aadmi" (common man) but made the "khaas aadmi" (the elite) unhappy in his 2009-10 budget proposals. Constrained by the global recession and domestic economic strains, he has provided a much awaited further stimulus to the economy by raising plan expenditure by as much as 25 per cent in real terms.
Activists oppose reintroduction of land acquisition and resettlement bills
By Bobby Ramakant, CNS,
The proposed introduction of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bills by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the last day of the Budget Session despite of the objections by struggling peoples movements and one of the UPA key allies Trinamool Congress smacks of a conspiracy and only reflects the government succumbing to the demand of the industries, builders and corporations, said the activists of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM).
Seminal changes in Indian politics in 2009
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The year 2009 saw a major turnaround in the Indian political scene which augurs well for the future.
For the first time after a longish period, the divisive elements have taken a back seat. Since these include both the Communists and the rightist forces represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the list encompasses those cutting across the political spectrum who thrive on class and communal animosity.
Media gets up, close and too personal – again
By Minu Jain, IANS,
That same question of space again. From Sania-Shoaib to Shashi-Sunanda, it has been a seamless transition for the gossip hungry reader being fed by large sections of the media that have once again decided to go up, close and too personal, in the reporting of what should actually be nothing but a minister and his alleged involvement in a multi-million-dollar cricket franchise.
Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case
If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging
By Siddharth Varadarajan,
With few reservations, Muslims support Anna Hazare’s fast for Jan Lokpal
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
One cannot pursue political ambition at cost of one’s life, says Shweta Bhatt
By Sayema Sahar for TwoCircles.net,
Till when Mr.Raghavan…
By Sayema Sahar,
Read a comment by a facebook user: Sanjiv Bhatt provides provides and provides, Raghavan neglects neglects and neglects…True indeed.
‘Protest becomes necessary when the oppressor is an outsider’
By Mohd. Ismail khan, TwoCircles.net,
What Sunderbans’ closed schools say about climate change
By Nagraj Adve and Partha Kayal,
At the Boatkhali Kadambini Pre-primary School on Sagar island in the Sunderbans, classes stop for five-six days each, twice...
Chandigarh’s the ‘birthright’ of these two celebs!
By Jaideep Sarin
Chandigarh: They may have been para-dropped into Chandigarh with an "outsider" tag but two celebrity women from Bollywood are now claiming...
Bond market’s take on Indian election outcome
By Vatsal Srivastava,
As the world's largest democracy braces itself for the results of the ongoing general elections, due May 16, Indian equities already seem...
The Gandhis must vacate for an opposition to take shape
By Saeed Naqvi,
After the vigorous opening speech in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi's rump of a party looked even more battered and bruised.
Vindictive ‘democracy’
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat,
A priest was found to have ‘sacrificed’ his wife to please the God in Indore, a story revisited the gory “tandoori murder” of Naina Sahni by her politician husband Sushil Sharma, who is serving life imprisonment in the jail and wanted to spend time with his mother to perform his ‘sonly’ duties. Girls are being hanged to deaths after being gang raped and political class as a whole speak of controlling time and choices. It is not that we suggest here that all the ills of the country began with the current government but there are certain trends.
Over 160 civilians killed in Nigeria
Abuja: At least 160 people have so far been killed in recent attacks in central Nigeria by unknown gunmen, a media report said Saturday.
According...
“Netanyahu you will see, you will see, Palestine will be free”
Thousands chant In London
By M Ghazali Khan,
London 27 July: At least 60,000 protestorsfrom amazingly and admiringly multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-ethnic backgroundsrallied yesterdayin front of Israeli Embassy and from where they marched to the British Parliament to demand lifting of siege of Gaza and freedom for Palestine. “You don’t have to be a Muslim to stand for Palestinians. Just be a human” read a placard raised by a marcher.
Special Social Development Corridor can ensure inclusive growth
By Sachi Satpathy,
Can the new NDA government break the existing political vendetta in the administrative system and open space for all chief ministers, irrespective of their political affiliation, to collectively work and take ownership of the much-awaited nation building process and help achieve the much needed growth in selected worst performing states on major human development indicators? In this direction, a national program with focus and complete concentration on specific areas and issues can be an option to bring balanced inclusive growth in the country.
Israel and Saudi Arabia in a jam in Gaza
By Saeed Naqvi,
The US decision to launch limited air strikes to check the ISIS in Iraq and the Gaza initiatives in Cairo are obviously linked.
To understand the collective Arab panic over the Gaza ceasefire, an overview is required.
Is Japan in bubble territory again?
By Vatsal Srivastava,
With another round of a massive bond buying program unleashed by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Nikkei bulls are most likely having the best time of their lives since the late 1980s. It is easy to ride in a sea of liquidity. Although, Currency Corner fears that the BoJ exit from its quantitative easing program will be a more complex scenario than the US Fed’s exit, the current upward bias towards Japan is likely to remain for the coming few quarters at least.
IPR policy and India’s competitiveness
By Amit Kapoor,
India's current Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime is at the cusp of a major change. The past year has been quite momentous...
Summer safaris and spirituality for NRIs
By Kul BhushanUnlike most NRIs who would not go to India during summer, Siddharth 'Sid' Verma landed in New Delhi this month. With temperatures...
PM speaks his mind: But his government needs to look inward
By Sushma Ramachandran
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to be in a mood to speak his mind. In a series of speeches lately, he has made blunt comments about the state of the economy and the role of private industry. The question is: what has prompted the prime minister to suddenly shift from his usual moderate tone to aggressively talk about the ills affecting the country.
Presidential polls – more about politics than the candidate
By Gilles Verniers
One does not remember a presidential election in India where the role of political parties has been so blatantly exposed to the public eye. The scrutiny of a candidate's credentials by the media is unprecedented. Public interest has also been fuelled by the hurdles faced by the Congress in carrying out an election process announced as having been won in advance.
Machiavellian method behind BJP’s manoeuvres
By Amulya Ganguli
There is seemingly a Machiavellian motive behind the Bharatiya Janata Party's confrontation with the Election Commission over the party's anti-Muslim compact disc, which was meant for use during the campaign for the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections.
India should take seismic protection more seriously
By Sandeep Donald Shah, IANS
India's growing economic might is making many countries look at it with a sense of envy. This newfound economic prosperity has also left India more vulnerable and susceptible to natural calamities. It is imperative that we start following the global best practices and stop living in a sense of denial.