Where is it held? Ramnagar lies about 15km away from Varanasi on the opposite bank of the River Ganges. The Ramlila takes place against the backdrop of the Ramnagar Fort which is lit up for the occasion. Who started it? It was started in 1830 by then ruler of Kashi, Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh. The current maharaja continues the tradition by riding in on an elephant at the head of a colourful procession to inaugurate the Ramlila. When is it held? Unlike most Ramlila performances, it is held over the course of one month. It begins on the day of…
Author: oiop
The needs of rural India have got less priority over the needs of urban areas since long, and it is time this is reversed, writes Bharat Dogra listing out the expectations from the new government and urging for a significant shift in policies that will transform our villages. As India’s rural areas are passing through many grim problems, the installation of a new government is being seen as an opportunity by them to provide relief from many serious problems. Top six priorities While rural India has many expectations from the new government, the below six issues should be prioritized. On…
Sunil Bhandare spells out some of the broad-based economic reforms the Modi government should focus on for reviving the country’s economy and fulfilling its aspiration of a new, unique and dynamic Indian model of development and governance. The honeymoon phase of the new government will soon be getting over. So far the most significant and composite policy pronouncement manifests only in its maiden budget. Evidently, this evoked mixed reactions. Many observers were seen to be more solicitous rather than genuine in their appreciation of its positive features. But many others argued forthrightly that the Modi government missed the opportunity of…
Kolkata recently paid tribute to the great actresses of the Kolkata stage who rose from their ashes of their inglorious past to carve a niche for themselves in Bengali theatre. Shoma A. Chatterji reports on the contribution of these ostracised women to the evolution of Bengali theatre and their story of positive displacement. Displacement” is not necessarily a word that has negative connotations of tragedy, poverty, unemployment, etc. In 19th century Bengal, when women began to play female roles on the public proscenium, they were all drawn from the red light areas of the city such as Sonagachi. Many among…
The wisdom of India`s traditional farming methods was recognized even by experts during the British rule, who spoke glowingly of the cultivation practices pursued by Indian farmers, all of which have been well documented. In our efforts to strengthen our agriculture and food production, we can learn much from the wisdom of traditional farming practices and systems. Even during the days of British rule, several British and European experts who had been called to study traditional Indian agriculture spoke glowingly of very rich traditions and scientific basis of the cultivation practices pursued by Indian farmers. In 1889, Dr. John Augustus…
V. Gangadhar takes a guess of what could be the agenda of the Modi government in the coming years. With Narendra Modi, firmly entrenched as Indian Prime Minister for another 10 years, what would be his agenda for the future? Here are some answers. Foreign Policy: The foreign policy for NaMo would be small and slow to win the race. A beginning has been made with visits to Bhutan and Nepal, our small neighbours. It is pointed out that the Modi visit evoked tremendous interest in these countries because Modi is the first-ever foreign dignitary to visit them. Many residents…
The 2014 -15 union budget offers up old and new schemes but fails to address macroeconomic and social causes of exploitation and subordination of women, writes Dr.Vibhuti Patel. The Union Budget 2014-15 will largely benefit neo-middle class, and offer comfort to middle and upper class women as consumers. Poor women will be crushed due to macro-economic policies that will fuel inflation, land alienation and user fees for education and health facilities. This time even women’s groups have not raised their voice against gender noninclusive aspects of the Union Budget. After the terms Gender Budgeting and Gender Mainstreaming were officially introduced…
US-China-India trilateral web has immense potential to be a game changer for good in global affairs. If the three nations harmonise their divergent perspectives and pull together, the global economy can be put on the track of quick recovery and sustained growth, writes B. Ramesh Babu. The demise of the Soviet Union and collapse of communism triggered transformational changes in the strategic, economic and ideological context of global affairs. All the major powers of the world responded by restructuring and re-tooling their bilateral equations with one another irrespective of inherited linkages or past ideological inclinations. Naturally, India had gone through…
Stating that the NFU policy has worked well so far for India Dr. P.M.Kamath says, it would do well for the Modi government to embrace the concept of a global treaty on NFU of nuclear weapons to maintain the bipartisan nuclear doctrine. India declared herself as a Nuclear Weapons State soon after the May 1998 nuclear tests and also came out with a nuclear doctrine. The heart of the doctrine is a commitment by India not to use the nuclear weapons as the weapons of offence but purely of defence. This was proposed to be achieved through a declared policy…
The state of the entire education in India is alarmingly bad. The successive policies of the government have been only aggravating the negatives, says Anand Teltumbde , adding that the entire rural India where still seventy percent Indians live, is completely cut off from quality education. Historically education has been the exclusive preserve of the minuscule upper caste elites in India. It is only during the colonial times doors of education were opened to masses. This exclusionary ethos remained subdued during the colonial times but resurged after 1947. The Constitution had given prime importance to education, spelling out a uniquely…