The Human Tragedy

It is a war without end, a no-win situation in which nobody can provide answers to some questions: How long will this go on? Which side will eventually prevail? What is the cost to the nation in money, matériel, men?

This was has no name. It is more an endless series of skirmishes than a sustained military confrontation. Yet, this war has been raging intermittently for 26 years in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

India aide says Pakistan missile triggered n-tests

New Delhi, May 13 (Reuters) – Pakistan’s test launch of its longest-range missile last month triggered this week’s series of underground nuclear tests by India, a senior Indian official said on Wednesday.  

In a briefing for Western news agencies hours after India stunned the world with two more underground nuclear blasts, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, set forth the rationale for the tests in unambiguous terms.  

“No more tests are planned,” he said.

L. K. Advani

INFORMATION & BROADCASTING MINISTER L.K. ADVANI 

‘I Am Not Happy with The Pattern of Newspaper Ownership’

Transindia: Mr. Advani, many people feel today that the Janata Government’s image is quite clean, and that it is innately decent, but that its performance has been quite poor. Would you comment on that?  

L.K. Advani: This impression is erroneous, though if people hold that impression, I wouldn’t blame them because we came into office in a situation in which the people expect- ed wonders from us.

Janata Party President Chandra Shekhar 

Transindia: Mr. Chandra Shekhar, do you think you have one of the most thankless jobs in the country today, what with having to build up a party composed of such varied components as the Janata is?
Chandra Shekhar: I agree that we have had to create a party from scratch. But I would not say that my job is thankless. There are certain advantages which one cannot ignore and there are many difficulties, too.

R. K. Narayan

The Man From Malgudi It took me some time to discover Rasipuram Krishna Swami Narayan’s house. Yadavagiri, the suburb of Mysore City, where Narayan stays, is an incredibly quiet area, with long, neat streets, tree-shaded bungalows lining them. It was late afternoon, and the neighborhood was just emerging from its siesta. “R. K. Narayan?” asked…

PROF. C.N. VAKIL 

The Government Is Helping Create A Privileged Class!’   Professor C.N. Vakil, eminent economist, formerly Director, School of Economics and Sociology, University of Bombay, and Director, Central Board, Reserve Bank of India:  “The Janata government was suddenly thrust into power, and there was hardly any coherence between the various constituents of the Party. So decisions were…

Governor’s Disgrace

Eighteen hours after Haryana Governor Ganapatrao Devji Tapase committed the most undemocratic faux pas in India’s political history, he was cowering on a sofa in the Chandigarh Raj Bhavan’s large reception hall. “This is Haryana!” yelled apoplectic Lok Dal MLAs, eyes blood-shot, neck veins bulging, pressing around the diminutive Tapase in a knee-touching, eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.…

BRAHMANANDA REDDY

CONGRESS PARTY PRESIDENT- BRAHMANANDA REDDY “We Will Return to Power Soon”  Transindia: Mr. Reddy, many people feel that the Congress Party has had a great past, but does not have a great future. Would you like to comment on that?   Brahmananda Reddy: That the Congress Party had a great and glorious past is accepted by…

India says China has surveillance base in Myanmar

3 May 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) – India’s defence minister said on Sunday China had built a sophisticated electronic surveillance base in Myanmar’s Coco Islands and was beefing up airfields in Tibet to take supersonic fighters. “China has installed sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment in the Coco…

Japanese says Indian bureaucracy very “inflexible” 

24 July 1997 Reuters News English  (c) 1997 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) – Japan is keen on expanding investment in India but finds its bureaucracy extremely inflexible, a senior Japanese official said on Thursday.  Nobuaki Tanaka, deputy director-general in Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said India accounts for a minuscule 0.25 percent of Japan’s…

INDIA’S POLITICAL INSTABILITY SEEN SLOWING GROWTH

22 November 1989  Reuters News English  (c) 1989 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, NOV 22, Reuter – Political instability likely to result from this week’s elections could dangerously slow India’s economic growth, economic analysts said.  They said the new government could also face a resource crisis brought on by plunging foreign exchange reserves, unbridled domestic demand…

INSTABILITY SEEN SLOWING GROWTH IN RESOURCE-STRAPPED INDIA

22 November 1989  Reuters News  English  (c) 1989 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, Reuter – Political instability likely to result from this week’s elections could slow India’s growth dangerously, analysts said on Wednesday.  They said the new government would also face a resource crisis brought on by plunging foreign exchange reserves, unbridled domestic demand and a…

WIDOW OF INDIRA GANDHI ASSASSIN SET TO ENTER INDIA PARLIAMENT

23 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited  CHAMKAUR SAHIB, India, Nov 23, Reuter – Long before Bimal Kaur Khalsa’s motorcade churns into dusty view across the Punjab countryside, the waiting crowds are chanting militant Sikh slogans.  Khalsa, widow of one of prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins, has come to symbolise the anger…

Exhausted Gandhi ends Campaign in mud opposition Jubilant

24 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited  LUDHIANA, India, Nov 24, Reuters – Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi wound up an exhausting election campaign on Friday, addressing a sparse crowd standing up to its ankles in mud.  Chief rival Vishwanath Pratap Singh ended his campaign jubilant.  “Congress will be routed,” Singh told…

Troops at battle stations as India’s Punjab goes to the polls

26 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited  CHANDIGARH, India, Nov 26, Reuters – India’s bloody general election entered its final stage on Sunday with an exit poll from earlier voting predicting that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi faces major losses.  The survey, conducted by the independent India Today magazine, forecast neither Gandhi nor…

INDIA WILL ASK IMF FOR MORE FUNDS – MINISTER

13 April 1992 Reuters News English (c) 1992 Reuters Limited  TOKYO, Reuters – India intends to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more contingency funds, although foreign reserves are at a very comfortable level, Finance Minister Manmohan Singh said.  Singh, who has spearheaded a series of sweeping reforms that have turned India’s socialist economic…

INTERVIEW-Pakistan says its missiles better than India’s

15 April 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Reuters) – Pakistan’s foreign minister on Tuesday warned India of massive retaliation if it tried to launch a pre-emptive strike on his country, arguing that Islamabad had a more advanced missile programme than New Delhi. Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri described as “irresponsible”…