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AUCKLAND: The New Zealand Government this week unveiled its bill for reform of abortion laws. Earlier the political leadership of the country was in favour of having a referendum on the issue of decriminalisation of the Abortion law, as it apprehended that some of the political and social forces might oppose the move but in a significant move the political leadership closed its rank to have the law amended.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apprehension on population explosion in his sixth Independence Day speech from the rampart of Red Fort raises eyebrows among the global viewers. They wonder why India decries the increase in population, while a major part of the developed nations plunged in ageing society. Countries like Japan, UK, Germany, France, USA, S. Korea and even developing nation like China are dipping in ghettoization by elders.

Gold prices in India had surged to record high of ₹38,470 for 10 grams earlier this week, registering an increase of Rs 475 in one go. The prices have somewhat retreated from those levels, but what makes the development noteworthy is that it may not have been totally unexpected.

In his monetary policy statement last week, the governor of the Reserve Bank had observed that the current slowdown appears to be cyclical. Maybe, but the slow down appears to have come full cycle. It began in the housing and automobile segments, which are capital heavy for the consumers. Now it is spreading to even the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, which is what is small change. Even stocks of soaps and sandals, biscuits and shampoos are rising. Why so? And apparently all of a sudden.

LONDON: The United Kingdom has banned transfer of sub tech to Russia in a bid to stop Moscow from 'destroying' the internet. The UK already maintains a stringent ‘sanctions regime’ against Russia, including a ban on various ‘dual use’ technologies it says may be used by Russia’s military.

The House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow’s vow to not to allow Boris Johnson to prorogue the parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit without the consent of MPs and his promise “will fight with every breath in my body” to stop it, has caused concern in the British political circle.

The vexed pension issue is making news again. The more prominently it figures in Modi Government’s scheme of things, the more contentious it gets. On August 9, 2019, the government announced Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana, a pension scheme for small and marginal farmers, an exact replica of the paltry scheme announced earlier for the unorganised labourers. If farmers in the age-group of 18 to 40 years start paying Rs.55 to Rs.200 for 42 to 20 years, at the age of 60 they would get Rs.3000 per month. This is passed off as an old-age security scheme for farmers. It has not dawned upon many supporters of the government that if a young farmer of 18 years starts paying Rs.55 a month from now on he/she can only get an amount after 42 years with which she/he can have not more than on square meal. That is monthly pension for you!

Capitalism is a crisis-ridden system. A crisis anywhere in the global capitalist system can become a world contagion. It is only a matter of time before a new one occurs, perhaps even more destructive than the 2007 financial crisis. Neoliberalism is the current set of economic policies defining globalization. The extreme right originated these policies to undo the New Deal and Great Society gains and reverse the falling rate of profit.

A unique feature of all environmental reports is that they are never received by the governments, for which these are essentially meant, in the same earnestness with which those reports are prepared. There is a complete disconnect between the two sides.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. So goes the Biblical saying. Kerala has just had another date with disaster, exactly a year after the century’s worst floods battered the State almost beyond recognition.