It seems like yesterday when so many, after the dismissal of Communism signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall, looked forward with shivered expectations to a “lone superpower rule” in the world. Later, during the George W Bush years, the world witnessed a sort of political takeover of the US by the neo-cons, promising a new American C
How did a nation of would-be self-sufficient yeoman farmers and master craftsmen become the wellspring of the new thralldom? Can we blame corporate barons and their enablers in government for our dependence on "systems that mask and disperse responsibility while simultaneously spreading and intensifying risk" or have our own frivolity and
Commando operations to free hostages and capture or kill the remaining terrorists are still going on in Mumbai at the time of writing this piece, hence it would be difficult to comment upon the terror attack with accuracy. What we do know is that 14 police officers, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Mumbai's Additional Commissioner of Police (Eas
"The Winter of 2008-2009 will prove to be the winter of global economic discontent that marks the rejection of the flawed ideology that unregulated global financial markets promote financial innovation, market efficiency, unhampered growth and endless prosperity while mitigating risk by spreading it system wide" - Economists Paul Davidson
Afghanistan has been almost continuously at war for 30 years, longer than both World Wars and the American war in Vietnam combined. Each occupation of the country has mimicked its predecessor. A tiny interval between wars saw the imposition of a malignant social order, the Taliban, with the help of the Pakistani military and the late Benazir Bhutto
The G-20 met last Saturday [15 November]. Afterward, the group issued a meaningless statement and decided to meet again in March 2009, or perhaps later. Clearly, the urgency of October is gone. First, the perception of imminent collapse is past. Politicians are superb seismographs for detecting impending disaster, and these politicians did not act
As terrorist charges against Sadhvi Pragya, Lt. Col. Purohit, and an endless list of others become increasingly surreal, the possibility of their being substantiated in a court of law also appears more remote. Rather than struggle daily with new sub-plots, the Mumbai Anti Terror Squad (ATS) would do well to release the accused and abort its nascent
As Barack Obama assembles his foreign policy team, he appears to be drawing from two primary sources: the Clinton faithful and Republican renegades. These old dogs might be up for some new tricks, but one risk of relying on such "experience" could be the triumph of conventional thinking in Washington - when the world expects, and the time
The financial crisis is deepening, with the risk of seriously disrupting the system of international payments. This crisis is far more serious than the Great Depression. All major sectors of the global economy are affected. Recent reports suggest that the system of Letters of Credit as well as international shipping, which constitute the lifeline o
Russia’s struggle to become a respected player in world affairs moved forward tentatively this past week with a Russian-European Union summit in Nice [14 November 2008]. Participants said Friday that the meeting underlined improved relations. The European trade commissioner, Catherine Ashton, said talk had been "robust, but very open. Pr
The sixth World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” held in Rhodes in the second week of October 2008, convened as all the previous ones under the joint auspices of the Glory of Russia Foundation and Kapur Surya Foundation, acquired added relevance from the troublous global context in which it was taking place. The planetary econom
After a three-month hiatus, Iran seems set to re-emerge near the top of the US agenda. Last week, the Iranian government congratulated US President-elect Barack Obama on his November 4 electoral victory. This marks the first time since the Iranian Revolution that such greetings have been sent. While it seems trivial, the gesture is quite significan
The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States was made into a big news event in this country, as though he was elected Prime minister of India. Every newspaper and television channel went berserk; some called it a revolution, some a renaissance, some even suggested we should introspect and learn from his victory. The last
The leaders of the Indian Church are being accused of not giving equal status and opportunity to Dalits in the Catholic Church to this day. The scheduled castes and tribals fought against religion, an unjust society, and unequal economic distribution, and accepted Christianity, only to later realize that in Christianity also there was/is no equal j
NACO is the Indian government’s National Aids Control Organisation. Dr S Solomon is an Indian AIDS "expert" with extensive Western sponsorship and wide Indian connections(http://www.yrgcare.org/overview/dr.suniti.htm). At an international conference in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Solomon made four statements about India that should have m
On the day that Americans turned out in near record numbers to vote, a record was set halfway around the world. In Afghanistan, a US Air Force strike wiped out about 40 people in a wedding party. This represented at least the sixth wedding party eradicated by American air power in Afghanistan and Iraq since December 2001. American planes have, in f
As the Bush administration rumbles to an end, it is pushing with increasing urgency for a commitment to a long-term US presence in Iraq. Though the military aspect of this "commitment" has garnered substantial publicity, the administration is equally invested in the economic aspect: securing US control over Iraqi oil before Bush leaves of
There is now little doubt that the bizarre Malegaon Hindu Conspiracy Case is fast fizzling out, if ever it had any steam. This may be a relief for the individuals caught in the dragnet of “Hindu Terror,” but it is no consolation for the Institutions of State diminished in this contrived controversy - the Police, the Army, and the Judici
The October 2008 financial meltdown is not the result of a cyclical economic phenomenon. It is the deliberate result of US government policy instrumented through the Treasury and the US Federal Reserve Board. This is the most serious economic crisis in World history. The "bailout" proposed by the US Treasury does not constitute
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has obtained evidence suggesting that documents which have been described as technical studies for a secret Iranian nuclear weapons-related research program may have been fabricated. The documents in question were acquired by US intelligence in 2004 from a still unknown source - most of them in the form
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave his state-of-the-union address last Wednesday, just a few hours after Barack Obama's historic electoral triumph, and pointedly refrained from mentioning it, though he is on record as hoping for an Obama Presidency. "It would be easier to work with people with a modern outlook, rather than those whose eyes
November 5-Barring a miracle, it is almost a certainty that Pakistan will have to accept the International Monetary Fund’s standby arrangement, with stringent conditionalities, currently being offered, to avoid defaulting on foreign loan repayment. Pakistan has been pushed into a corner to accept an IMF programme that will reportedly provide
The nation's capital came alive after 11 p.m. on election eve, as thousands poured into the streets to celebrate a victory that everyone was calling historic. Car horns blaring, whooping and shouting, high fives all around, multi-racial crowds celebrating joyously. Historic it is, most obviously in the election of an African-American president, in
The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 bi
While the forthcoming elections in Jammu are significant, a connected issue - the reported views of US President-elect Barack Obama on the State - cannot be glossed over. The reaction of the main political parties has been on expected lines. The Congress is committed to J&K being an integral part of India; the National Conference is for greater
The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention. But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the
Renowned economist Mikhail Khazin predicted the US financial crisis in 2000. He predicted 9/11 on 9/10. Now he says the current economic crisis will have no end. Obama is the sacrificial lamb, in his view, to be blamed for the great collapse. A recent interview:KP.RU, Yevgeniy Chernyx (29.10.2008) Five years ago, I ran the cultural section at
Of all the challenges facing President Barack Obama next January, none is likely to prove as daunting or important to the future of this nation, as that of energy. After all, energy policy - so totally mishandled by the outgoing Bush-Cheney administration - figures in each of the other major challenges facing the new President, including the econom
A black man in the White House would have been unthinkable just a few years back. In 1961, when Barack Obama was born, many states in the US had laws that enforced segregation, banned mixed-race marriages, and restricted voting rights. Now America can claim that it has become colour blind, at least politically. Obama’s elevation to the most p
In a move fraught with danger to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Congress-dominated Central and Maharashtra governments have unleashed a sinister plot to undermine the institutions of the police and the defence forces. These two grids literally hold the nation together, particularly in these troubled times when internal and
In 1989, the global system pivoted when the Soviet Union retreated from Eastern Europe and began the process of disintegration that culminated in its collapse. In 2001, the system pivoted again when al Qaeda attacked targets in the United States on September 11, triggering a conflict that defined the international system until the summer of 2008. T
Contrary to popular belief, Christian priesthood is not a vocation; it is a profession [http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=221]. This was stated to the missionaries by Swami Vivekananda himself:You train and educate and clothe and pay men to do what? To come over to my country to curse and abuse all my foref
Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States by a large majority in the Electoral College. The Democrats have dramatically increased their control of Congress, increasing the number of seats they hold in the House of Representatives and moving close to the point where - with a few Republican defections - they can have fillibuster-pr
Do you "pal around with terrorists"? Are you a "radical" or express views that the government considers "extremist"?On October 28, the whistle-blowing website Cryptome published the FBI Directorate of Intelligence: Counterterrorism Division's Counterterrorism Analytical Lexicon. This eye-opening "Unclassified/For
Virginia and the rest of the old South always voted for Democrats for President when the Democratic party stood for racism, and for Republicans when the Republican party stood for racism, until tonight. Virginia just voted for a Democrat for President, while the Republican party still carries the banner of racism. In fact, the Republican candidates
Describing how ideology, special-interest pressure, populist politics, and sheer incompetence have left the US economy on life support, the author puts forth a clear, commonsense plan to reverse the Bush-era follies and regain America's economic sanity. When the American economy enters a downturn, you often hear the experts debating whether it is l
On the morning of 22 October, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) put the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into its initial orbit, the first phase of its journey to the Moon. An orbit-raising manoeuver was later performed, with commands issued from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)&rsqu
The Christian priesthood is a vocation (from the Latin for “to call”), quite literally, a calling. The Christian god Jehovah, or more usually his “son” Jesus, speaks to, calls a man (or woman) to His service. To enter His service without this divine call to it is gross hypocrisy and is treating His service as a p
Sadhvi Pragya’s prosecution fast resembles the farcical trial of Joseph K, sentenced to nothingness in a tedious trial in which charges were not even framed. The Sadhvi, of course, has been framed for plotting the 29 September Malegaon (Maharashtra) and Modasa (Gujarat) bomb blasts in which six Muslims died, an accusation being exploited
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Brazil, Russia, India and China will "coordinate efforts in overcoming the financial crisis". The statement suggests that the four countries will confront the dominant US-UK-EU alliance, which personifies Western banking interests, at the forthcoming Summit in Washington. “W
We gather in fateful, wonderful times. The great financial crisis is leading to a collapse of hegemony; the nets they made to catch us are being undone. We are like prisoners who notice that their jailers are in terrible commotion and confusion. Our first response is fear: maybe they will not deliver soup for our lunch, maybe our small privileges w
A week ago, I had a long conversation with a four-star US military officer who, until his recent retirement, had played a central role in directing the global war on terror. I asked him: what exactly is the strategy that guides the Bush administration's conduct of this war? His dismaying, if not exactly surprising, answer: there is none. Presi
Whether or not she deserved the sudden infamy thrust upon her, there is no doubt that the hitherto unknown Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has split the BJP into those who seek validation from Karachi and Kansas, and those who seek legitimacy at Kurukshetra. Once BJP president Rajnath Singh decided to brush aside the waffling of Venkaiah Naidu and
In a nationally televised speech on 24 September, George W. Bush said in support of the proposed bailout plan that it was meant to “help American consumers and businessmen get credit to meet their daily needs and to create jobs.” Bailout Lie ExposedBush’s story was subsequently peddled by the Ministry of Information: the more
Suzanne Olsson’s Jesus in Kashmir: The lost tomb is an eclectic mix of science fiction, hypothetical racial claims, and a good number of fantastic speculations and possibilities. The entire work is aimed at justifying the legitimate (sic) claim of Jesus to the throne of Kashmir, on account of his having allegedly been buried in a tomb named &
On 18 September, Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, reported the arrest of ten members of the British-headquartered Islamic militant group Hizb ut-Tahrir, in northeastern Bangladesh. The police said the Hizb ut-Tahrir men were distributing leaflets calling for the establishment of Islamic caliphate rule, and the ousting of the present parliamentary go
Maybe the polls and the conventional wisdom are all wrong, and John McCain will pull off a stunning upset. But right now the election looks like a blue sweep: a solid victory, maybe even a landslide, for Barack Obama; large Democratic gains in the Senate, possibly even enough to produce a fillibuster-proof majority; and big Democratic gains in the