[srikar2097]

Changes ahead you’d better believe in
- 24th January, 2008

The tone of the article is critical, unbiased, not impressed so far about the way Obama is dealing (or saying), gives no idea about his economic inclination (whether he capitalist or a socialist) if anything he seems less inclined towards capitalism. The style is analytical, factual, tries to predict does not try to suggest a solution but merely the challenges that Obama has to face.

The article is focusing mainly about the tough times that Obama will have face now that the historic election is over and he's in office. The way to improve the economy would be to increase the income of the top 1%, which would be the top companies and banks (I'm guessing that the way to do this is by bailing them out by doling out big dollars). Although this is traditionally a Republican way of dealing with things in the current situation according to the author Obama has no choice but to support the corporate.

The author for a while tries to draw parallels from when FDR's took to office (during the Great Depression). But as today there are no (or very less) vibrancy in the political arena, it would be easier for Obama to toe the Corporate line. I feel a ting of regret on the author's part that Democrats and Republicans are trying to stifle "Labour". Then the author mentions about the tax-evasions from the companies to support his claim that US is very much (more than any other country) dependent on Corporate sway.

Then he states various "Bubbles" that are bursting at the same time and that things are only going to get worse. Then out of no-where is takes a swing at Indian government policies for being too neo-liberal with that example about insurance sector (another hint for his distaste of capitalism). Finally he ends with a not too hopeful tone.

[srikar2097]

Understanding Pakistan’s response to Mumbai - 26th January, 2008

The tone of the passage is pro-democracy, against feudal law, a tone of resignation, is attempting to clarify the point that Pakistan is not in a state of denial but is acting as it has acted for the past 4 decades when it comes to terrorism. The style is factual, analytical. Very informative passage.

The passage tries to reason out Pakistan's lackluster attitude to curb terrorism in its quarters. In search of this answer the author travels to the past Pakistan right to it's inception and tries to examine the incidents which lead its control to be shared by religious clerics and military (of course, unofficially). The passage is very informative and showcases the inability of Pakistan's leaders to appropriately control their domains.

The author does not try to find a solution nor suggests one. He is merely trying to analyze the attitude of political leaders within pakistan to jihadi outfits. The quote by Parvez Musharraf briefly sums it up - "These outfits are not causing harm in pakistan, they are waging jihad outside". Such indifference can hardly be cured.

The author ends on a resigned tone (as if nothing much good can come out of all the pressure India is trying to put on Pakistan) on the possibility of any swift action by Pakistan. The author in fact seems to accept the fact that this behavior (harboring and aiding jihadi outfits) is ingrained in Pakistan polity and populace and that's that.

[srikar2097]

Promise and pitfalls of Obama’s South Asia policy - 27th January, 2008

The tone of the article is speculative, broad-minded and is trying to look for the root cause rather than a quick fix solutions. The style is analytical, predictive, hopeful and assertive. Although a fictional article it's grounded on facts and is well reasoned out.

The passage is in light of the new appointment of american diplomat Richard holbrooke as a special representative for afghan and pakistan. There is a brief passage where praise for Mr.Richard is lavishly used. He has been nominated 7 times for Nobel Peace Prize for his work done in the Balkan's. So now that he's been assigned to this highly rife prone region the author is in a state of excited anticipation. The article mentions that in dealing with these 2 regions one has to include India and kashmir in the fray. For without these the problems cannot be completely solved. The article tries to analyze the problems that Mr.Richard might face and the ways in which he ( and the U.S. administration should deal with them). He also tries to reason out the reasons why US has been turning a blind eye towards Pakistan's military ties with terrorist outfits (read taliban and al-queda etc.). While speculating all this he tries to see how these changes could affect India and what diplomatic stand india should take.

Finally the article ends on a hopeful tone and spells out that the "core issue" is no longer kashmir but "pakistan" itself. With the flourishing of various terrorist outfits under the auspices of ISI and military, Pakistan issue is the key to the whole region's peace. Author places some amount of trust that Mr.Richard will be able to do some good en-route to his 8th Nobel nomination (and his win perhaps).

[srikar2097]

By the way there was a very good article linking the fundamental principles of Democracy to progress and eradication of social problems by Chief Justice Markandey - read here.

[srikar2097]

Higher education needs a better deal
- 28th January, 2009

The tone is critical, unfavouring the current govt. way of dealing with higher education in India. The style is analytical, critical, suggestive.

The passage deals with the state of higher education in India. The author's main focus in deriving this is to hinge on the latest speech by Manmohan Singh at Indian Science Congress (ISC) and some of the actions by the government in the recent past. The passage also suggests some ways in which higher education could be bettered.

Primarily these are the things that the author mentions (flow of the passage)-
1) First he criticizes the current government's way of dealing with higher education and research.
2) Wants a university or College department to have better staffing and better pay scales.
3) Next he blames UGC for granting too many "Deemed University" status. All the way accusing that this only leads to a dilution of quality (although supply- side constraints are lax).
4) Next he suggested a remedial action - to setup a panel (with top academicians) to review higher educational institutions that have been accorded deemed university status in the last 5 years.
5) Next he states the promises made by Manmohan Singh to the ISC and compares it to what's needed and declares them inadequate.
6) He brings out the bad state (or way of dealings) with higher education by mentioning the pay hikes in Defense departments and in DRDO the money showered recently.
7) Finally ends on a note of distress and ends on a grave note that if not dealt with could lead to further problems.

[srikar2097]

Gas war: it is advantage Russia
- 31st January, 2009

The tone of the passage is unbiased, direct (as opposed to beating around the bush), mostly factual with very less predictions. The style is factual, analytic.

The passage deals with the dispute between the current dispute between Russia & Ukraine. The dispute circles around the supply of gas to Ukraine and to Europe (through Ukraine). The flow of the passage is smooth. In discussing this the author mentions various other parameters which has played a role in this dispute. Mentioned factors are President of Ukraine (Viktor), US influence in prodding Viktor to take this (military) stand against Russia. The passage does will to unearth the minor hidden motives in doing so.

The passage also mentions that ultimately Ukraine was a looser in deal and that this incident has prodded Russia to look for alternative ways to supply gas to Europe (read Nord Stream) and that the europe stance in this issue was not so one-sided as was though to be (if anything is to be learnt from the last encounter). Passage ends on a note that although Russia supplies 40% of it's gas needs to Europe; Europe would need more in the future (500bcm by 2020). And how US ploy to thwart Russia's strengthening position as a major power player in Europe backfired and that it only furthered its cause.

[srikar2097]

Swat: lessons from a militant takeover
- 21st January, 2009

The tone of the article is anti-terrorism, reprimanding, antagonistic (towards terrorism). The style is factual, analytical, causal, some deductive liberties have been taken.

The article primarily deals with an area in Pakistan - Swat (north-west pakistan), where apparently Taliban has "settled" down and is running a government of its own (with it's convoluted interpretation of Islam and it's own laws). Author uses facts to push through the impact this takeover has had to the people in this region and what are the impacts on India & Afghanistan (by this autonomous presence). For the sake of remaining unbiased, the author mentions that the Pakistan govt. has used army to bring this area back under normal rule but there are enough indications which lead us to believe that it was all hokum. The author also mentions that the politicians are afraid of Taliban and are actually openly supporting them (maybe for fear of their life). At the end of it, it seems that the entire thing is a mockery in pakistan and that the internal stand on this issue is a 'blame game'. And externally Pakistan is in a state of denial.

The author spells out the lesson to learn (for pakistan) here is that they should not have created something which they cannot control.

[sreyu_2k]

Bumped into this thread today. A great thread. Hats off 2 u srikar. The editorial section is one of the most important section and half the things look alien to me. After reading your posts, I am very much able to understand the theme of the passages.

[sjasjit]

Hey I want to read the editorials for past two months. On the site of hindu, I have to go to paper of each day n extract editorials from it. Can I get archive of editorials only somewhere. Would be a gr8 help.

[srikar2097]

Originally Posted by sjasjit

Hey I want to read the editorials for past two months. On the site of hindu, I have to go to paper of each day n extract editorials from it. Can I get archive of editorials only somewhere. Would be a gr8 help.

There is an archive section at the Hindu Website. In any case there is a link to view the previous day's editorial on the current day's editorial. You can recursively follow this link to view the last 2 months (or more) of articles.

If you want to save manual labor I suggest you write a simple web-crawler to do the before mentioned task for you...