Friday, October 5, 2007

Hardnews

Cover Story: Rage of the Native

The anger in the countryside over dispossession of land and livelihood to big business would define the politics of tomorrow

Cover Package:

1) Seething Rage by Sanjay Kapoor and Amit Sengupta, Delhi/Kalinganagar

Political parties are poised to face this ‘structural adjustment conflict’ in the next polls. So how are they going to represent the people’s aspirations in the face of such resistance? Will land become the main contradiction in the coming elections?

2) Blinded by SEZs

As the tale unfolds, the big business beginning might not be as rosy as the end. The UPA and the Congress-NCP know that fully well. Because the farmers in Maharashtra are not going to take it lying down

3) For a few Acres more by Jeemon Jacob, Thiruvananthapuram

As agricultural land disappears in Kerala, the vast majority of small land-holders and farm-workers are hit the hardest

4) ‘Panjiri mafia’ and hungry kids by Pradeep Kapoor Azamgarh, UP

The Supreme Court had given directives that each child up to six years of age should be fed six to 10 grams of protein and 300 calories of panjiri (nutritional food) everyday. Are the Supreme Court directives to provide adequate food to children being followed by the Child Welfare and Nutrition Department of the UP government?

5) The poverty of poverty-line by Kamal Nayan Kabra, Delhi

Our poverty alleviation policies have only managed to make the poor poorer

Other Stories:

1) A bridge for Ravana by Mohan Guruswamy, Delhi

This fear of taking on religionists head on costs us much more than we allow. If Rama was real it is high time the Ramayana underwent some rewriting. Both logic and political correctness demand it

2) When the Saints go marching in…by Satya Sagar, Bangkok

With tens of thousands of monks and citizens on the streets in peaceful protests against the ruthless military junta in Burma, will the Indian government turn its eyes away from the pro-democracy movement yet again?

3) Ms Social Engineer by A K Verma, Kanpur

She’s not the same. Her open-ended, catalytic rainbow coalition across castes and communities might push the threshold of Indian politics beyond archaic equations and twilight zones. And for all you know, she might succeed. This insightful essay enters the depths of her social engineering process and rediscovers a changed Mayawati and the dalit factor – Editor

4) Twinkle Twinkle Red Star by Prashant Jha Kathmandu

Integrating the Maoists into the mainstream and sensitively tackling issues of the marginalised, especially the Madhesis, will be the two most important challenges in the days ahead

5) Back to backyard by Pranay Sharma, Delhi

The Maoists’ decision to stay out of polls and the UN mission extending its stay in Nepal are two worries that trouble India

6) New vote, new hope by Salman Khursheed, Delhi

Will proportional representation work better than our present winner-take- all electoral formula? Chances are it will

7) Master’s slave by Akash Bisht, Delhi

The Nithari murder case shows the CBI in a poor light. After the murders of children, is the case being deliberately botched up?

8) Open the Iron Curtain by Pranay Sharma, Delhi

For Indian diplomats growing Indo-US relations are not a zero-sum game. Despite fears and scepticism, there is nothing that establishes that India has lost its sovereign foreign policy

9) War games by Srinath Raghavan, London

Joint naval exercises are a good opportunity for evaluation, not a warmongering alliance

10) Reluctant Inheritor

The coalition has cannibalised the Congress. And Rahul Gandhi knows that ‘family charisma’ might not work on the ground without pro-people social and economic policies

11) The commodification of mysticism by Mehru Jaffer, Vienna

The 800-year-old poetry of Sufi saint, Rumi, who was born in Afghanistan , lived in Turkey and wrote in Persian is being used today for geopolitical propaganda

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Contact: :Akash Bisht, Editorial Coordinator

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