Vol. LVIII, No. 49, New Delhi, June 17, 2007

N-deal stuck on US obstinacy By M.D. Nalapat AFTER having promised India an equitable deal, the country is being pressured to settle for a killer agreement. With the Bush administration moving away from its initial position on the core issue of fuel supply and re-processing even before the 1-2-3 agreement is inked, clearly hoping for a dilution of the several killer conditions set by the Hyde Act would be foolish.    more > SPECIAL REPORT Heavy influx from Pakistan Kashmir population doubles in two decades By Gopal Sachar THE population of terrorist?infected Valley of Kashmir has been almost doubled during the past 25 years. This has happened despite migration of over five lakh people, mostly Kashmiri Pandits and others who in Jammu also include about six thousand Muslim families who have been registered as political migrants    more > RESPONSE / CONTROVERSY Insinuations on Kalakshetra wrong, biased By Vrnda Devi RESPONSE to ?Demolishing a tradition at Kalakshetra? by P. Deivamuthu dated April 29, 2007. I WOULD like to address this letter not to P. Deivamuthu but to those who might have believed his allegations    more > Editorial Pakistan is at it again THE Army Chief General J.J. Singh has said that the ISI and elements of the Pakistani Army are pushing terrorists into India. The General?s revelation is no scoop. But it is alarming in the context in which it was made. Over the last fortnight there was a three fold increase in infiltration bids across the Line of Control.    more > ABVP National seminar on minority rights By S. Chandrasekhar IN the context of Christian, Muslim population becoming the dominant force in Kerala controlling the education sector, shielded on the armour of minority right guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of Constitution, ...    more > IDEOLOGICAL ENCOUNTERS Nation building is not for the faint hearted By Dr Gautam Sen NATION building is not for the faint-hearted. Unfortunately, India?s political culture is suffused with farcical vote-bank politics and prodigious nonsense. All sorts of mediocre, corrupt and dangerous people are strutting about the political stage engaged in low theatre.    more > REGIONAL ROUND-UP 14th Bhaorao Deoras memorial lecture in Lucknow Balance is necessary in life ?Swami Ramdev VHP deputes 150 full-time Hindu health workers in backward areas - By Debasis Tripathi No bail for terrorists, rules SC - By Dhananjay Mahapatra VHP urges President to expel foreign missionaries - FOC Discrimination in recruitment drive in J&K - By Prakriiti Gupta in Jammu Hindu Students Council exposes those involved in CSFH attack - FOC Guidance of saints necessary for nation?s progress?Narendra Modi FOC CHIEF Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi said that the total dependence on government for the uplift of society and nation is not fair. Each person should make effort to make a strong nation in his own ways.    more > Motherly love at Vatsalya Gram My six weeks with Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara By Dr Kusum Vyas IT was a fresh November morning in Vrindavan and over two thousand people had assembled at Vatsalya Gram to participate in the Inauguration Day festivities.    more > India?s Scientific Heritage-XI The iron pillar in Delhi: A miracle By Suresh Soni THE iron pillar next to the Qutab Minar in Delhi has been the centre of attraction for metallurgists from all over the world. For nearly 1600 years, it has been standing undaunted under the open skies, during all type of weather conditions. In so many years, it has not rusted; this has been a matter of surprise for the world.    more > Bhaluji Gokhale is no more FOC SENIOR Sangh Pracharak Bhalchandra Gokhale, popularly known as Bhaluji, passed away in Nagpur on June 3. He was 91. He had been unwell for the last 2-3 years and had stopped eating anything for a few days. As per his wishes, his eyes were donated to Madhav Netrapedhi, Nagpur.    more > SPECIAL ON 150 YEARS OF 1857 KALA PANI: 1857-2007 By Prem Vaidya THE history of the Indian Penal Settlement dates back to November 20, l857, when the site at the Andaman on swampy and dense forest was selected by the British officers?Dr. F.J. Mouat, Dr. G.R. Playfare and Lt. Heathcole.    more > Pre-1957 Left perspective on 1857?II 1857: Reactionary and feudal outburst By Prof. Devendra Swarup OBVIOUSLY these Communist intellectuals considered the 1857 Revolt a reactionary movement without any popular support and national character. In their view, those who supported the British government represented the progressive forerunners of nationalism.    more > The dialogue and the deal Persuasion and charisma work at last By Lokpal Sethi in Jaipur WHEN Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt Vasundhara Raje and her ministerial colleagues decided to initiate dialogue with the leaders of Gurjjar Sangharsh Samiti, under whose umbrella Gurjjar agitation for inclusion of the community in the Scheduled Tribes was launched, there was unanimity that government should offer only such things, which it could implement with all its honesty.    more > Don't commercialise education: ABVP FOC THE National Executive Council (NEC) of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that met in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, from May 28 to 31, has termed the three years? performance of UPA government on education front as ?disappointing?.    more >

Cover Page The Moving Finger Writes Sectarianism and India?s essential unity By M.V. Kamath EVERY religion, every country, has its quota of sects. As long as man thinks, so long he will question every thesis presented to him by religious leaders and godmen. This is a fact of life.    more > Think It Over India: On the quest of its destiny By M.S.N. Menon WHAT has the future in store for India? I am not sure. The future is still hidden from us. But is there a purpose in the life of nations, in the life of the universe? On this, we know even less. But a universe without a purpose makes everything meaningless. Today, we come to the end of our life without knowing why we have lived!    more > A West Bengal Newsletter CPM lost Panskura: Will opposition adopt Panskura Model? By Asim Kumar Mitra AFTER the results were declared on May 30 in West Bengal?s five municipality elections and byelections in 398 Gram Panchayat, 94 Panchayat Samiti and 24 Zilla Parishad seats, it was found that CPI(M) had lost Panskura municipality to opposition parties.    more > Kids? Org The kind hearted animal ONCE upon a time, there was a hunter. One day he went for hunting with his bow and arrows into a dense forest.The hunter chased a wild pig. The pig ran fast and all of a sudden it disappeared into a deep mountain cave.    more > Learn & Play Jolly Joey Bookmark The rebellion and British brutality The Last Mughal: The fall of a dynasty, Delhi 1857; William Dalrymple; Penguine Viking; pp 578, Rs 695.00 By M.V. Kamath IF you have tears to shed, read this book. It is all about the fall of the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the capture of Delhi by British-led forces and the destruction of an entire culture.    more > ?The onus is on me? : Creating bondages Through the Eye of a Needle: Transforming Relationships; Ignatius Fernandez; Sterling Paperbacks; pp. 224; Rs. 250 By R. Narayanan WHILE beginning to read this book, I am reminded of Hal Clement?s famous scientific fiction novel of the same title Through the Eye of a Needle, for the prequel to the book, Needle, broke new ground in the science fiction field by depicting a symbiotic relationship between an alien life form living within the human body without hostility.    more > Jalan?s political prescriptions India?s Politics: A view from the backbench; Bimal Jalan; Penguin Viking; pp 244; Rs 350.00 By M.V. Kamath IF there is one man in India who can tick off all politicians and tell them where to get off, surely it is Bimal Jalan. His qualifications are unchallengeable. He has held top positions in the ministries of Finance and Industry and in the Planning Commission.    more > News Analysis Quota for social divide By Shyam Khosla THE agitation launched by the Gurjjar Arak-shan San-gharsh Samiti (GASS) went out of hand. Since political parties are scared of opposing demands raised by any caste or community,..    more >

Agenda Kargil, Ladakh and Kashmir: Role of Urdu and divisive politics By Dr Kunal Ghosh IN India we usually call the Pakistan occupied part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir PoK. Baltistan is that part of PoK that is contiguous with the Kargil region of north western Ladkh.    more >

Controversy SEZ: UPA promoting land grab, alien territory RECENTLY a large number of unarmed poor farmers were slained to death by West Bengal police and CPM cadres in Nandigram. Whether it is Dadri or Mumbai, attempts are being made to crush farmers? movements by the governments concerned, giving a damn to democratic norms.    more >

Readers? Forum Perverse protest, pornography as art (Organiser, 3-6-2007); ?RAM GOPAL, The way the Indian media, especially the English, is defending the outrageous paintings of M.F. Husain and others, including Chandra Mohan of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, is nothing short of putting India on fire.    more >

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