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| THIS
OUR NORTH AMERICA |
| Shaheed
Bhagat Singh in for grabs |
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Gurpreet Singh writes from
Vancouver
WHEN the Sikh separatists took out a procession
to celebrate Baisakhi in Surrey last month they
not only stirred controversy by displaying the
pictures of the militants, who had died during
the bloody struggle for Khalistan, but also
caused ripples by adding the picture of Bhagat
Singh, one of the most revered martyr of India
among them. Indeed the presence of the picture of Bhagat
Singh, who died as an atheist and had opposed
religious orthodoxy in his writings among the
pictures of the theocratic separatist militants,
had offended the progressive thinkers in the
community. More |
| Casting
light on corporate influence |
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IN January this year , the US Supreme Court
struck down a 63-year old ban on corporate money
in elections in the Citizens United case,
clearing the way for corporations, unions, and
advocacy groups to anonymously spend unlimited
amounts of money on political campaigns. The
decision drew instant criticism from government
transparency watchdogs, consumer advocates,
legal scholars, and even some businesses which
warned that the ruling would lead to a flood of
corporate money into politics that would allow
deep-pocketed organizations to "drown out any
voices that disagree with them."
More |
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ANALYSIS |
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The violence by the khap panchayats in Haryana
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Jagmati Sangwan
THE number of cases in which the totally
unconstitutional caste panchayats have openly
defied the law of the land by issuing illegal
diktats has increased manifold. In Haryana
today, rapid capitalist transformation is
accompanied by a regressive feudal
consciousness. As education and political
awareness spread among Dalits, women
and backward sections, alongside there is a
massive consolidation of caste (khap) panchayats
in defence of the status quo. More |
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| Let us seize this opportunity |
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Ishtiaq Ahmed
 WITH
a population of over one and a half billion and
continuous, composite civilisation going back
several thousand years, South Asia is a
fascinating ethnic, religious and linguistic
mosaic. The 16th SAARC Summit held on April 28-29
in Thimphu, the capital of tiny Bhutan was, on the
whole, a positive and productive meeting of
South Asian heads of states and government.
More
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Kashmir: No formula, build trust-2 |
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Urmilesh
THERE is no dearth of formulas for the
resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Innumerable
suggestions, demands, proposals and formulas have
cropped up since 1947-48. Some of them were
discussed at bilateral forums, others reached
international platforms. More
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MEDIA, ART & LITERATURE |
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Punjab language will survive
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Iqbal Mann writes from Toronto
I WONDER what ran through the mind of
this song writer when he wrote this song two
decades ago. Probably he was briefly referring to
the changing times of early nineties when singing
and lyrics were drifting away from the culture and
folk. But this song seems to fit more
appropriately in today’s times where Punjabi is
really losing its charm and appeal.
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Sporadic clashes mar WB civic polls; 75% voter
turnout | BJP should clarify stand on caste based
census: Vaidya | Questions to Headley around post
26/11 stay | 8 of top-10 cos lose nearly Rs 44,000
cr in m-cap in a month | Sharma-Kohli seal emphatic
win for India
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| Sporadic clashes mar WB civic
polls; 75% voter turnout |
| CPI-M
and Trinamool Congress workers clashed on Sunday during
the fiercely-contested West Bengal civic polls, which
recorded a high voter turnout of around 75 per cent.
The polls, seen as a semi-final before the 2011 Assembly
elections, were held in 81 civic bodies and in the 141-ward
Kolkata Municipal Corporation involving an electorate
of 85 lakh. More
Updated on May 31, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
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- BJP should clarify stand on
caste based census: Vaidya More
- Questions to Headley around
post 26/11 stay More
- 8 of top-10 cos lose nearly
Rs 44,000 cr in m-cap in a month
More
- Sharma-Kohli seal emphatic
win for India More
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| E D I T O R I
A L |
| Corruption eating
vitals of India |
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NEWSPAPERS in India are these days full of reports
about corruption in high places. If it was Indian
Premier League, now called Paisa League last fortnight,
this time it is the union telecommunication minister.
And, neither the prime minister nor the all powerful
Congress President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi can do anything.
He is alleged to have made billions in the sale
of mobile phone spectrum. Union Telecom Minister
A. Raja has retained his job despite being under
scanner by two top government agencies. The income
tax department and the CBI have been on his trail
for over six months.
More
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| FOCUS |
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The SAARC fiasco
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Gobind Thukral
 ALL the eight countries of south Asia that met at
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) meeting in Bhutan recently are poor by all
known standards. They face serious issues concerning
development and their bilateral relations are not
too happy. Although all have democratically elected
governments, yet violence not only within each
country, but in the relations with each other
dominates the discourse. More |
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China and India continue marching toward
Asia’s Century
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Dr Sawraj Singh
 TWO
important recent events show that China and India
are marching forward to Asia’s century. The SARC
summit in Thimpu Bhutan and the Shanghai Expo are
big steps towards Asia’s becoming leading region of
the World in the twenty-first century. India and
China are the two largest countries of Asia.
Therefore, both have a role to play in changing the
present western dominated unipolar world to a new
world order which will be multipolar.
More
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Russia and China unite to lead the emerging Multi
Polar World
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 Dr Sawraj Singh
RUSSIA just celebrated the 65th anniversary
of its victory over the Nazi Germany. This was the
most spectacular celebration with unparallel
grandeur. Russia not only wanted to send a message
that it has come back as one of the most important
players on the World scene but also who are its
friends.
More
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| FEATURES |
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Punjab BJP in deep crisis
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Gobind Thukral
Punjab BJP is in deep crisis these days. It may
tell its national president Nitin Gadkari that all
is well in the Punjab unit and the party is growing
by leaps and bounds. It can sing many songs that its
partnership with the Akali Dal is an asset and has
helped the BJP gain fresh ground or that its
membership has increased and it has established
foothold in new rural areas. More
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Water water everywhere but not a drop to
drink
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Vinod Anand
 IN the April 2010 issue of the world-wide National
Geographic magazine, the Editor Chris Johns has very
rightly said that “as a chemical compound, nothing
could be simpler than water: two atoms of hydrogen
joined to one of oxygen. From a human point of view,
simplicity fades. Though water covers our world,
more than 97 percent is salty.
More
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The Taliban scourge
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Ishtiaq Ahmed
WHEN General Musharraf dissociated himself from
the extremists, the links with Al Qaeda were
ruptured but an institutional decision was taken
by the military top brass to continue secret low
profile support of the Taliban. The more recent
delinking in recent months has cost the military
and the ISI dearly.
More
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| LAW & JUSTICE |
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Supreme Court of India diverting to the right path
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 Joginder Singh Toor
ARE we moving from the days, when whim of the
employer was the supreme lax. Are we also
abandoning the growing tendency and the law which
refused to enforce contract of employment and
showed inability to compel an employer to
re-employ the retrenched one. More
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| COMMENT |
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Citizen
scientists on the trail of disappearing bees
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 Enrique Gili
SAN DIEGO, California (IPS/IFEJ) - It's the
world's worst-kept secret: bees are in a state of
crisis. One of nature's most benign pollinators is
dying in record numbers, much to the alarm of
beekeepers and gardeners. Spurred
by the mystifying phenomenon known as Colony
Collapse Disorder (CCD), Gretchen Lebuhn, a San
Francisco State University biologist, has enlisted
the help of thousands of backyard naturalists. More
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