Past & Politics

Commonly known as the "Velvet Divorce', the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into Czech Republic and Slovakia which came into force from 1st January 1993 is one of the lesser talked disintegrations in the last decade of the 20th century overshadowed by the dissolution of the USSR and Yugoslavia. The state of Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918 as a result of the Pittsburgh Agreement that dissolved the Austrian empire and comprising the two nations. However with the passage of time Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the Czechoslovak President pushed for greater unity against the Slovak wishes. After being freed from the Nazi Control post the Second World War, it became a Communist satellite state with Unitarian features. In 1968, the new Constitutional Law of Federation, tried to revive the Federal structure as devised in the Pittsburgh Agreement, however this was abandoned by Gustáv Husák who inspite of being Slovak by descent returned most of the power to Prague sowing the seeds of seperatis...

The Jammu and Kashmir District Development Council Polls were the first major electoral exercise since the abrogation of Article 370 on 5th of August last year held in 8 phases beginning on 28th November and ending on 19th December. These DDCs are designed to undertake developmental objectives through direct funding from the Centre and each chairperson will share a status equivalent to that of a Junior Minister.  The J and K DDC polls were held in 8 phases beginning on the 28th November and ending on the 19th December using ballot papers. It was the first electoral exercise post abrogation of Article 370. The polls were perceived by the Centre as a sort of a referendum on the abrogation of Article 370 and the actions taken thereafter which the Opposition regional parties like the National Conference, J & K PDP dismissed it to be undemocratic and uncostitutional. The main opposition leaders were detained and kept under house arrest and the internet connections were s...

Recently, eminent political commentator and renowned historian, Dr Ramchandra Guha drew parallels between the Indian National Congress and the British Liberal Party. He opined that although both parties have a great historical past which they can boast of, however their political future is as bright as India's hopes to be a 5 trillion dollar economy in a post Covid world. According to him the Congress like the Liberal Party will win a handful ammount of seats but they are now permanently incapacitated to form a government. Dr Guha mentions if the Gandhis at all care about the the perilous conditions of democracy in the Indian Republic, they should not only go from Congress but also retire from Politics. The main reason for the debacle of the Congress  as many say is attributed to the Gandhis clinging to the central posts in the party undemocratically. Although, this is nothing new and has been in practice since the late 1960s, the Gandhis then were competent and admired...

News from Kerela shatters the BJP's hopes to make a significant dent in the South-western state traditionally voting for the Left and Congress. The LDF gained ground in the rural areas winning/leading in 10 of 14 District Panchayats, 110 of 152 Block Panchayats and 514 of 941 Gram Panchayats. Their tally has improved over the UDF losses who are at a promising second with 4,42 and 376 respectively with the NDA at distant third. The UDF's performance in the Urban areas is however impressive. Whilst it managed to win in 45 municipalities, the LDF is at 35 of the total 86 municipalities. In the 6 Corporations both the LDF and the UDF is tied at 3 each.  The Kerela Local-Self Government Polls occured in three phases on the 8th, 10th &14th  of                                                 December The Congress led UDF is trying to woo 4 indep...

Described as 'Pakistan's 9/11', the Peshawar School Massacre is one of those horrific occurences of the 21st century which makes the most fearless tremble with terror and shake the most heartless to his core. Seven Gunmen belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan group, all of them foreign nationals orchestrated an attack at the Army Public School, near Peshawar Cantonment on 16th December 2014. The attack was targeted as a revenge against the Pakistani military operation in its North-Western part of Waziristan against military groups of Central Asia in June 2014. The attacks commenced at 10:30 am when these terrorist climbed the walls wearing explosive belts. They entered the school auditorium and mercilessly opened fire on the children gathered there for a tutorial on first-aid. When many of them attempted to escape through the two exits, they were shot down in the garden. One of the survivors confessed that they were forced to witness how the terrorists shot...