Return of Democracy in Nepal                 The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal has been witnessing large scale violence at the hands of Maoist rebels ever since King Gyanendra ascended the throne.  They have been demanding an elected Constituent Assembly.  Initially the movement did not aim at ending monarchy or at clipping the wings of the King.  But with the passage of time, as the stands were hardened, the Maoist rebels were joined...

The Sardar Sarovar Dam and The Narmada Bachao Andolan                 The Sardar Sarovar Dam over the Narmada river has been dogged with controversies ever since its inception.  While the dam is said to be life-line of Gujarat and of great advantage to the adjoining states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, activists of Narmada Bachao Andolan under the leadership of Medha Patakar has been opposing it.  Their opposition is based on...

Value Added Tax (VAT)   VAT means Valued Added Tax. It is a new idea in Indian Taxation system.  It is expected to bring much needed reforms in the Indian taxation.  It is a different system for the collection of tax.  Under VAT system, tax is charged at each point of sale of goods with input tax credit for the tax paid at the earlier stage.  For example, under this system,...

Pope John Paul II Dies   The Christian world was shocked to hear the passing away of Pope John Paul II is the Vatican on April 2, 2005.  This brought to an end the third longest papacy in history.  Hundreds of churches in the Italian capital began ringing the death-knell upon hearing the news of the death of Pope John Paul II.                 Pope John Paul was known to be a...

Center—State Relations in India     The handling of political situations in Goa, Jharkhand and Bihar by the UPA government and the removal of governors appointed during the NDA rule once again raised the issue of Centre-State Relations in the country.  It is really unfortunate that political expediency rather than constitutional guarantees should govern the whims and actions of the party in power at the centre.  This gives rise to avoidable...

The Tsunami Disaster  and After     According to the dictionary, the word tsunami stands for an extremely large wave in the sea, caused by an earthquake.  Such mighty waves caused by earthquakes are not very common but these have been seen in different oceans at different periods.  Whenever such a wave appears, it causes an all round havoc in all the areas that come across the path of these high...

The Threat of Bio-Terrorism   Terrorism displayed its most hideous face on September 11, 2001 when Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda militants attacked the W.T.C. building in USA and killed more than 5000 innocent US citizens.  An angry US nation decided to his back and root out terrorism from anywhere and everywhere in the world.  The US planes attacked Afghanistan from where Laden was operating.  The Taliban regime, made up of...

Dr. Manmohan Singh—The  Ex-Prime Minister of India     Dr. Manmohan Singh, the ex- Prime Minister of India, is a real man of the masses.  From Lamp Post to PM’s Post is the story of his life.  Nobody could ever imagine that the young boy who had used to pour over his lessons for long hours in the light of a street lamp post would one day become the Prime Minister...