The Hindu : Front Page : Commemorating 60 years of Independence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Commemorating 60 years of Independence

India can have it both ways: an ancient civilisation that is a confluence of many streams of humanity; and a relatively young independent nation. Its biggest achievement as an independent modern country is its vibrant political democracy. Its biggest deficit is its inability over six decades to overcome the largest mass of poverty and deprivations in the world.

At 60 independent, secular, and pluralistic India finds itself, by any objective yardstick, stronger than it was at 50. It faces major challenges as well as opportunities in the political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, technological, creative, and external affairs realms. ‘Rising India’ is a work in progress. To get a representative sense of how we view ourselves, we invited an exceptional range of participants in, and observers of, this work in progress to give us their assessments and perspectives.

The response is presented in today’s Special Supplement, Independent India at 60, in two sections. The first, 24-page, section is a collection of reflective essays, articles, and images evaluating performance in various fields but focussing on the present and the future. The two editorial page contributions are part of this response to our invitation; they are being presented in the main newspaper for practical reasons. The second, 12-page, section is a sampling of the riches (relevant to the six decades) that the Archives of our 128-year-old newspaper hold.

More than 1.6 million copies of The Hindu’s August 15, 2007 commemorative offering are going out to readers; and it will be read online by tens of thousands more in India and abroad. We believe you will find this eminently wor th preserving, in hard copy or in digital form or both. We thank our advertisers for their understanding and support.

– Editor-in-Chief

Independent India at 60

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page