AMULYA GANGULI Blaming factionalism for the Congress's recent electoral setbacks, as Sonia Gandhi has done, can be regarded as a somewhat facile explanation, considering that internal rifts have been a part of the party's genes dating back a century to the clashes between Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, between ...

RAMESH KUMAR SHARMA  The people of Indian origin gracefully covered the itinerary at their footholds It is not enough to state that Indian sojourners in search of jobs arrived African, Pacific, South American and Caribbean countries; Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. The more important thing is to know ...

AMULYA GANGULI For once, the Congress seems to have been able to get its act together on the presidential poll with its two possible candidates, Hamid Ansari and Pranab Mukherjee, running ahead of the rest of the pack. However, the party itself can hardly be credited with this achievement. Instead, it is ...

 BRIJ KHANDELWAL Even as trade unions the world over are celebrating May Day with rallies, holidays and discussions, questions are being asked about the role of labour outfits in the changed liberal and globalised scenario. "Trade unions everywhere are losing their revolutionary character and are seen degenerating into litigation committees, striking ...

 RAVI M KHANNA Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is taking a huge risk in trying to hype up public opinion, within Pakistan and on an international level, in favour of resolving the Siachen glacier problem with India. The Siachen glacier suddenly made the news headlines earlier this month when Zardari came ...

MAYANK CHHAYA A callow prime minister, a global superstar, shadowy international arms dealers, crafty middlemen and nosy journalists were the dramatis personae of a real life political thriller that played out in New Delhi, Stockholm, London and New York over a quarter century ago. Of all the names crowding India's biggest ...

AMULYA GANGULI Elections in India for even the panchayats and civic bodies are seen as political barometers. Although they are supposed to reflect local concerns, no party can afford to ignore their outcome, not least because they are all fought on political lines. The high turnout for these contests, as for ...

The surprising—and continuing—influence of Swami Vivekananda, the pied piper of the global yoga movement By the late 1960s, the most famous writer in America had become a recluse, having forsaken his dazzling career. Nevertheless, J.D. Salinger often came to Manhattan, staying at his parents' sprawling apartment on Park Avenue and 91st ...

NARESH ARORA 'BHARATIYA'  Have Pakistan and India moved closer to peace and prosperity in the region after the recent visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to India? There have been speculative comments the world over. Zardari’s statement to the press in India on his arrival was clear that his was not ...

AMULYA GANGULI The dreaded 'c'-word has rarely been uttered in connection with the Indian Army because it is supposed to have inherited in full measure the professional traditions of its colonial mentors about the military being subservient to the civil authorities. Hence, the idea of a coup d'etat has always ...