From the Editor

To have the honour and privilege to step into the position held for nearly 12 years by Dr C Rammanohar Reddy is daunting and challenging. To have received such a gracious welcome by so many members of the extended family of which I am now a part is extremely gratifying. At the same time, expectations have been raised which are not going to be easy to live up to. The Economic and Political Weekly and its website are much more than a scholarly journal which combines in themselves current commentaries, analyses and reports that form the staple of news-magazines. One of the EPW’s major strengths is its contextual interpretation of contemporary events and its ability to cut through the clutter and crassness of what passes off as “news” on television and the internet.

The EPW is a venerable institution which turns 50 later this year. It is unique in the world. No peer-reviewed research journal comes out as frequently as does the EPW. Nor do such publications/websites usually include articles of the kind that appear in dailies and weeklies. With your support and cooperation, we seek to strengthen this institution. The EPW hopes to attract more readers, including and especially young ones, many of whom prefer not to read on paper these days but on their computer screens or handheld devices. Some of you may have noticed that epw.in now carries pictures and videos. We seek your suggestions on how the website can be made more vibrant without diluting its quality or compromising on its content. We also intend working out translation and syndication arrangements to make available what is published in different languages. Again, your ideas in this regard will be most welcome.