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The game of political hunting, which is typically characterised in India by cases, raids, seizures, and arrests, which generally do not lead to conviction, but enable the government to pin its adversaries down for years without trial in cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), seems to be reaching its climax. The latest chargesheet alleging money laundering has been filed by ED against the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi the leader of the main opposition Congress, which has triggered a nationwide massive agitation of Congress rank and file outside ED offices on Wednesday April 16 across states terming action against Gandhis as ‘political vendetta’.

The euphoria surrounding the enactment of ten Tamil Nadu legislations without presidential assent may be short-lived. What initially seemed like a landmark assertion of state rights has now been complicated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s subsequent decision to form a three-member panel under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Justice Kurian Joseph to study state autonomy. While the initial legislative move was celebrated as a bold stand against the overreach of the Centre and the governor’s discretionary powers, the decision to constitute a panel risks neutralising the very momentum that had been gained. In fact, it not only threatens to blunt the significance of the legislative assertion but also opens the door to a reimagining—perhaps even a restoration—of the governor’s role in ways that were recently curtailed.

India’s stock markets recovered smartly on Tuesday, emerging from the turmoil post Trump tariffs. The unprecedented tariffs declared by Donald Trump had roiled the global financial markets from which the major global centres have yet to recover. On Wednesday till the time of writing, the Indian stock markets had marginal fall taking into account the day before its bouncing back, but the signs were apparent that the Indian market is no panic mode. There is a feeling of restraint and control.

With Rahul Gandhi tightening his proverbial grip on the political neck of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the latter in his desperation has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to pounce upon Rahul and Sonia Gandhi and implicate them afresh in the long-drawn National Herald case. The case was filed in 2012, but incidentally since then the ED has not succeeded in collecting evidence to legally indict them.

LUCKNOW: Is BJP unhappy with former chief minister and BSP national president Mayawati’s decision relating to induction of her nephew Akash Anand back in party fold? The manner in which security cover of Y plus of Akash Anand was removed within 24 hours of Mayawati's decision to take him back in party is an indication.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court’s order fixing a time-frame for the President and the Governors to act in the case of bills passed by the State Legislatures in Tamil Nadu’s case has given Kerala a booster shot.

Two recent interim orders of the Supreme Court have pushed the lives of people living with rare diseases to the edge. These two orders were passed in two separate special leave petitions (‘SLP’) filed by the Union challenging the High Court orders of Delhi and Kerala which advanced access to treatment for rare diseases. These interim orders virtually blocked any possibility of affordable treatment to many people living with rare disease (‘PLRD’) who need treatments that are available at a high cost such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (‘SMA’), Cystic fibrosis (‘CF’), Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (‘DMD’) etc.

With quota within quota notification for Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation in Telangana, a new phase of Dalit politics in India has just begun. The gazette notification has made Telangana, the first State in India to implement sub-categorization of Scheduled Caste reservation which coincided with Dr B R Ambedkar’s 135th birth anniversary.

Sermons like “One shouldn’t play games with religion. Dharma means devotion, affection, humanity, peace, amity, culture, harmony, and unity” are taught to the school children. It is just reverse in the real life. In realpolitik these amiable words have no relevance. These were the words articulated by West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee just after the Murshidabad communal violence that shook the confidence and conscience of the people of Bengal last week.

Today, as we remember Babasaheb Ambedkar on his 135th birth anniversary, there is a certain crisis of identity that the Indian judiciary seems to be confronting. On this exact day, a month ago, members of the fire department allegedly discovered piles of burnt currency in the residence of a Delhi High Court judge. Since then, the executive has prominently reframed a conversation on judicial accountability towards that of judicial appointments.