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During the 72 years of the independent India, no government ever governed or administered the country, vertically dividing it on the class line, as is being witnessed in the era of Modi. Through his actions Modi has virtually split India and its polity on capitalist and socialist lines.

Should the governors and elected chief ministers confront each other even at the time of facing a pandemic? Do we need activist governors or are they mere ornamental and figureheads? Do we need the governors at all or should the post be abolished? Once again there is a focus on the governors and chief ministers with disturbing confrontations between the two constitutional offices.

BHOPAL: While lockdown-3 has been enforced, Madhya Pradesh is facing four important problems. They are: one, Bhopal and Indore continue to be most seriously affected towns not only of the state but also they happen to be among worst affected few towns in the country. Second, on question about the opening of liquor shops, the state is facing a unique problem. While the government wants to open the shops, the shop owners say they are not prepared to obey government orders and would continue to keep their shops closed. Third problem relates to the payment of railway fare for the transport of migrant labourers. The controversy arose when it became known that the first group of workers which came from Nashik, paid three to four hundred rupees as part of their fare. Fourth, continuing controversy between BJP and Congress over several issues of political importance.

May 3, 2020, marks the celebration of the 27th World Press Freedom Day. It was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference.

The Indian response to the Covid-19 pandemic is dictated by a phalanx of largely faceless bureaucrats operating under the overall supervision of Home Minister Amit Shah. The finger on the ‘Enter’ tab, however, is always that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So, even if Modi distances himself from the lockdown – as some have alleged after the second extension to the lockdown – he will not be able to escape accountability for lapses and failures.

It was indeed shocking to know that on the day the world was celebrating the May Day, a senior national leader of the saffron parivar smelt of a conspiracy in the workers demand, made just the day after imposition of lockdown, to arrange for their return to their respective villages and native places.

Even as the BJP feels relieved that the protests against the citizenship law ended after the onset of the coronavirus menace, the party continues to perform a delicate balancing act between its innate communalism and opportunistic assertions of being secular. But the claims are apparently of diminishing utility.

The pressure on lockdown-hit central public sector enterprises (PSEs) to finance the government’s growing expenditure on fighting Covid-19 pandemic resulting in large budget deficit is mounting. This is despite the fact that most PSEs are highly financially stressed following the global as well as local economic downturn since last February. The massive fall in crude oil prices with the demand for the commodity suddenly hitting the bottom over the last three months, normally fund-flush oil producers and refiners are in deep distress. The crude oil market crash has spelt havoc on ONGC Limited. ONGC’s average price realisation of USD 22 per barrel in April was not enough to cover even its operating cost. According to Crisil Ratings, Indian oil refiners may make inventory loss of over Rs 25,000 crore in the January-March quarter alone because of a 70 percent fall in crude prices. The gross refining margins are likely to plunge further in the first quarter (April-June) of this financial year due to demand destruction. The oil PSEs are highly worried.

HANOI—Helicopters hovering over rice paddies, burning villages, and the sound of gunfire are the images many older Americans conjure when they hear the word Vietnam. Hollywood provides grist for our imagination about this country. For younger people, if they think of Vietnam at all, their images are those of a poor, developing country or elderly women wearing their nón lá (the traditional conical hat) and bicycling through the countryside.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus, China lost the aura of global supply chain. Eventually, it will lose its grip on ASEAN, which holds a bigger stake in RCEP (ASEAN 10 +6). China deployed economic splurges, in combination with soft and hard power to rein in power in the region. It used trade muscle to make the region over-dependent on it for export led economic growth. It launched BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) to reconnect the region to reduce geographical proximity and increase control in the region.