Suchergebnisse

A spate of books, both popular and academic, had been highlighting the India's imminent economic success. Indeed, India seemed on the verge of genuine great-power status, due in no small part to liberalization of the country's economy. Market reforms in the 1990s had soon led to an average growth of about 8% annually. Then, starting about three years ago, this remarkable transformation slowed to a relative standstill almost as quickly as it had begun, and the search for scapegoats began. But if India's leaders insist on hewing to these lowest-common-denominator politics, the country will prove unable to address endemic problems of rural and urban poverty, it will not succeed in sustaining steady economic growth, and it will be unable to be counted on to shoulder the burdens of various forms of global collective action on issues ranging from trade to climate change. India's problem is not Modi -- it is decades of political and intellectual deterioration that made his election possible. Adapted from the source document.

Few of America's bilateral ties have been as fraught as those with Pakistan. Since 1958, when the two countries forged a military pact, the relationship has been based on dubious premises, false expectations, periodic quarrels, and episodic tensions. Apart from a small community of scholars and policy makers, few are aware that it was Pakistan, not the United States, which had avidly courted the other. Deft Pakistani diplomacy, almost immediately after the creation of the state, persuaded the naive administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower that Pakistan could swiftly emerge as a staunch anticommunist ally. British officials, still smarting from the end of their empire in India and keen on retaining influence in the region, disingenuously encouraged this belief. Adapted from the source document.

A book by an American journalist takes into account the Indian nationalist's foibles and flaws as well as his historic contributions to political theory.

The self-styled Gandhian social activist Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare catalyzed a national anticorruption movement with his hunger strike to induce the Indian Parliament to pass a particular piece of anticorruption legislation known as the Jan Lokpal (or Citizen's Ombudsman's) Bill. The presence of freedom-of-information laws, effective anticorruption agencies, and a working and independent judicial system can promote transparency and accountability. These may in turn help to restore a modicum of faith that India's democracy, rather than being a playground for corruption, can be counted on to work for and not against the interests of India's citizens. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract:
The self-styled Gandhian social activist Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare catalyzed a national anticorruption movement with his hunger strike to induce the Indian Parliament to pass a particular piece of anticorruption legislation known as the Jan Lokpal (or Citizen's Ombudsman's) Bill. The presence of freedom-of-information laws, effective anticorruption agencies, and a working and independent judicial system can promote transparency and accountability. These may in turn help to restore a modicum of faith that India's democracy, rather than being a playground for corruption, can be counted on to work for and not against the interests of India's citizens.

A new book documents a tragic episode during World War II, when Winston Churchill could not be bothered to prevent starvation that killed nearly 4 million Indians.