IAS

Karl Marx German philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx 5 March 2018 – 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx Important works – He published  The Communist Manifesto  and  Das Kapital Anti-capitalist works  that form the basis of ‘Marxism’ Author of  Das Kapital  and the leading spirit of the  International Workingmen’s Association  (known as the First International). Key takeaways from the editorial – Karl Marx’s writings had and still have tremendous influence on most important thinkers of the twentieth century. He is regarded as revolutionary prophet. Importance of reading Marx and his theories closely, with precision and patience  – The writer of the editorial believes that Karl Marx and his writing still matters. His ideas may help us to understand the economic and political inequality of our time. Is Marx evil? Even today, three decades after the fall of the Soviet empire, many still blame Marx fo...

Sanjay Rajoura is a stand-up artist and an atheist Much has been written and said about the assault on liberal arts under way in India since the new political era dawned. But the real assault is on science and rationality. And it has not been difficult to mount this attack. For long, India has as a nation proudly claimed to be a society of belief. And Indians like to assert that faith is a ‘way of life’ here. Terms such as modernity, rational thinking and scientific analysis are often frowned upon, and misdiagnosed as disrespect to Indian culture. Freshly minted spokesmodel In recent years, we have entered a new era. I call it the Era of Irrationality. The new Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, is the freshly minted spokesmodel of this bold, new era. There appears to be a relay race among people in public positions, each one making an astonishingly ridiculous claim and then passing on the baton. Mr. Deb’s claim that the Internet existed in the times of the M...

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a thorn in India-Pakistan relations Martand Jha is a Junior Research Fellow at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s ambitious project for increasing connectivity and economic cooperation within Eurasia. Since its announcement in 2013, the BRI has been positively received by many countries covered within its ambit. However, notwithstanding the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, China, one issue associated with the BRI will likely be considered an irritant for China: India’s position on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Last May, New Delhi sent a clear message to Beijing that it doesn’t support CPEC. India registered its protest by boycotting the high-profile Belt and Road Forum organised by China. Its principal objection was that CPEC passed through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Ea...

Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury Colonial movements in Africa are a matter of the past and so are ideological battles. A new and aspirational continent is emerging willing to take its place in the sun riding on political and economic stability, confident of dealing with both India and China simultaneously. Countries of the continent are looking for option besides China and India is slowly emerging as a reliable partner whose political interests are benign. In recent decades never had an Indian President made Africa his made maiden destination after being elected to office. But it was not just maiden visit – President Ram Nath Kovind returned to the same continent for this second and third trips abroad – across Eastern and Western Africa – unprecedented in recent decades. Summits alone cannot ensure close partnership between nations. What is imperative is follow up action to deliver on the promises and announcements at the Summits. The momentum generated by the Third Indo-African Summit whi...

Headline :  India Electrified? Details : Details:  India Electrified? Recently, the Union government had declared that all villages across India have been electrified. While all villages have been electrified, as much as 17% of the 18 crore rural households remain without power connections. Village Electrification:  “Electrified” means that a village has been connected to the grid. It does not imply that all households have access to electricity. According to a data, out of the 22.44 crore village households, 18.91 crore have been electrified (84.29%).     Current electrification scenario: Village Electrification - With electricity reaching Manipur Leisang village recently, every village in India is said have been successfully electrified. This hence completes the mission of the union government piloted “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana” (DDU-GJY). Significantly, more than 18,000 villages have been electrified since 2014. But thi...

Headline :  Local democracy at work Details : Details:  Local democracy at work It’s been 25 years since decentralised democratic governance was introduced in India by the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments, which came into force on  April 24 and June 1, 1993 , respectively. It’s time to look back at the performance of this act and what need to be done to make it more effective. Structural reforms by passing 73 rd  and 74 th  amendments: The  structural reforms that followed heralded an  inclusive, responsive, participatory democracy  which was tasked to deliver economic development and social justice   at the grass-roots level. These reforms did not mean de-concentration or delegation. They were not even variants of fiscal federalism, which is much-theorised by Western public finance pundits and generally endorsed by their Indian counterparts. The creation of lakhs of  “self-governing...