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Marriages are made in heaven, divorces in courts. A heavenly marriage was divorced in the Supreme Court by Tatas and Mistry family early this week.

Accountability is a sine qua non – an essential condition – to good democratic governance. And the condition for the survival of our democracy is commitment towards our Constitution, the edifice on which stands the country. Today we have been witness to total reversal of the same. There have been attempts to destroy the credibility of the Parliament itself, to destroy its character as a consultative institution, as a platform for debate, and to reject or pass any bill brought to it by the government. The bills must be discussed within limits of time, including the amendments. Then comes the division, of opinions, of negation or assertion. The speaker is bound to allow this. It was the three agrarian bills that the government was keen to pass. But the demand of division of members’ opinion was not accepted.

Six months have passed since the announcement of lockdown on March 24. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stood on that date at 564, 10th death was reported from Mumbai, and 37 patients were discharged from hospitals so far. Modi government opted for complete lockdown to break the chain of transmission of the infection and prevent the outbreak from moving to the next stage. Now, six months after on September 24 at 8 AM, India reported 57,32,518 confirmed cases, 91,149 deaths, and 46,74,987 recoveries so far. India is now in the process of unlocking. The data shows that the objectives of lockdown have miserably failed, rising infection points towards lapses in precautionary measures, and deaths expose the clinical mismanagement. “Rethink on the strategy” is the PM’s advice to the CMs of the seven worst affected states, an important advice that he himself needs to work on.

The reality that the courts will decide whether or not the ballots of millions of voters will be counted this November 3 is evident. Donald Trump and the entire Republican Party are laying the groundwork now to hold onto power by whatever means necessary—the will of voters be damned.

When an acclaimed troll with a weekly column in a foreign newspaper – which comes in handy to troll others and justify the act of trolling – writes a book on the beastliness of trolls, it’s time to call for a stop to the shenanigans. But it doesn’t help because ‘Mama Troll’ is on the right side of Twitter and Facebook and beyond reprobation and punishment.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arrest of three activists of Al Qaeda from Ernakulam district represents a severe wake-up call for Kerala, which is in the news again albeit for the wrong reasons.

With Prime Minister, Narendra Modi determined to use the parliament to serve his and his corporate friends’ interest by resorting to the tactics of not allowing the opposition to have its say in the proceedings of the house and denying them their right to question the government, a major section of the opposition parties are contemplating to opt for some major moves against the ruling regime.

The harrowing experiences shared by the Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, make everyone shiver and think how can human being stoop so low as to develop bombs to kill their fellow beings in such large number in such a brutal manner? The testimonies by them about the devastation caused in the two cities and the socio economic problems, in addition to the health issues, faced by them are nothing but a nightmarish experience to listen.

The ongoing investigations into the sensational case of gold smuggling through the diplomatic channel provide a live example of the nexus between gold, drugs, dirty money and havala. All preliminary findings point to a ‘standard operating procedure’ followed across the world by the underworld, as highlighted in what has been called the FinCEN files, just published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

New Delhi: Seasoned campaigner Nikki Pradhan feels that the present group of experienced midfielders in the Women's Hockey Team holds the key for the success in big tournaments.