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A pall of gloom is hanging about India’s economic future ever since the GDP estimates about the first quarter of the current fiscal were laid bare a week back. There is a virtual competition among forecasters about the extent of estimated contraction of the Indian economy. Some banks say is it a 7 per cent, some say no over 10 per cent and yet others even better. Does it really warrant such downbeat mood?

The meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India and China, S. Jaishankar and Wang Yi, in Moscow on Thursday proved as infructuous as the previous one between defence Ministers Rajnath Singh and Wei Fenghe on September 4. China is in no mood to vacate the Indian territories it has newly occupied and restore the status quo ante May 5. India also does not want to resort to force to drive out the Chinese because it will mean a local war that may well spin out of control and become a full-fledged India-China war.

The five point formula agreed at the two hour talks between the two foreign ministers of India and China on Thursday night in Moscow amidst heightening tensions in Ladakh border, has come as a ray of hope in working on some arrangement to avert any bloody confrontation between the opposing troops of the two neighbours in the mountainous region. The most positive aspect is that the mentioned points of action are very practical and they can be implemented in practice provided the two governments move with trust and, the lack of which is at the root of the aggravation of the tensions on the border.

The 28-year-old Rhea Chakraborty, actress-girlfriend of the late Sushant Singh Rajput, has been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on charges of drugs consumption, for allegedly buying cannabis for Rajput. Cannabis, or marijuana, also known as weed in common parlance, is a mild psychoactive drug widely used for medicinal purposes, with a gigantic informal market of recreational use. While cannabis is legal in many countries, its status in India is mixed. The production and sale of cannabis resin and flowers banned under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, a law which in itself needs considerable reworking. However, NDPS Act allows for the use of leaves and seeds for medicinal purposes, for horticulture and under traditional alternative medicine like Ayurveda, as part of the Hindu religious offering bhang. The arrest of Rhea Chakraborty for simply procuring cannabis for private consumption, is therefore, not just a gross overreaction by the state but stinks of a political framing.

Corporations cashing in on Covid-19 are set to make tens of billions more in profits this year while millions of people fall into poverty worldwide, Oxfam has revealed.

On September 1, 2020, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Arun Mishra finally sought to set at rest the controversy surrounding payment of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues by telecom companies.

LUCKNOW: AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with her aggressive posturing and fighting spirit, has succeeded in making her party the main opposition in Uttar Pradesh. Her ground level work during the pandemic has reaped dividends in raising the party morale as well as the poll prospects in the next Assembly elections due in 2022.

Are you not getting enough of cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, volleyball, baseball, hockey and other favourite sports of yours? You can now try the online fantasy versions of these, and that too for free!

In the space of a few days, there have been two developments concerning the pandemic and the economy which are alarming. India became the country with the second largest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, overtaking Brazil. Preceding this came the news that in the first quarter (April-June) GDP had contracted by 24 per cent. This is the worst fall among 25 major economies of the world.

New Delhi: In a far-reaching decision Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday announced that shooters of all categories – elite, developmental and Khelo India – will be given ammunition and targets from Karni Singh Shooting Range (KSSR) and other accredited academies so that they can continue to train at their home range.