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International Monetary Fund, one of the two Bretton Woods Institutions to meet economic challenges in the aftermath of Global recessions of 1930’s and the Second World War is certainly at cross roads. It is now neither fully equipped nor has the financial muscle to deal effectively and fully any future global crisis. But at the same time one cannot ignore or do away with IMF as the World needs a lender of last resort to handle financial crisis of the 21st century as the multi-lateral institution did with a great amount of success in the 20th century.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is a re-run of last year’s nightmare for Kerala. The State has, once again, been battered by torrential rains and the resultant flood fury. A stunned state administration is struggling to cope with the annual visitation of heavy downpour and flood devastation.

The move of the BJP led NDA government to scrap the special status of Jammu & Kashmir by modifying Article 370, according to me, is a historic decision. The reason is — it integrates Jammu & Kashmir for the first time with the State of India completely. Earlier, the state, which will be now divided into two Union territories — Jammu & Kashmir with a legislature and Ladakh without a legislature, had its own flag and its own constitution — meaning that there was no direct application of laws passed by the Indian parliament until and unless approved by the Legislature of Jammu & Kashmir. Although, Jammu & Kashmir’s constitution clearly mentioned that it was an integral part of India — but the truth is Article 370 did come in the way.

On 5th August, 2019, the Government of India introduced a slew of measures, unilaterally and undemocratically, which, in effect, revoked the ‘special status’ granted to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, by virtue of Article 370 of the Constitution. In fact, Article 370 has been a much abused provision of the Constitution, especially by the current government aficionados and supporters. Before we understand the import of what changes have been streamrolled, it is important to understand the historical background of Article 370.

Weekly Round-Up of Major Decisions of the Courts in India as also Legal Policy Developments

When Congress MP Shashi Tharoor complained about his party being ‘rudderless’ after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as the party president, it was taken as another manifestation of his penchant for the using the ‘right’ words. Tharoor himself has claimed that he chooses his words “because they are the best ones for the idea” he wanted to convey.

Over 1,000 members of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the fastest growing and largest socialist organization in the United States, convened their 2019 National Convention in Atlanta over the weekend. Their goal: To forge a path forward for 2020 and beyond. DSA has seen dramatic growth since Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, growing from a few thousand members then to over 56,000 now.

Undoubtedly the time when the bill scrapping Article 370 and declaring the state of Jammu and Kashmir as Union Territory was introduced in the parliament has been really a momentous occasion in the Parliamentary democracy.

The Unnao gangrape case is classic example of the politician-police-criminal nexus, and it is no surprise that it happened in Yogi’s Uttar Pradesh, which has seen a 26 per cent rise in rape cases and a 33 per cent increase in crime against women; it also stands third in the list for child rape, after Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Yogi Government, despite its tall claims of action on molesters after constituting anti-Romeo squads, has failed to protect girls and women. One can see the brazen thwarting of law and order in UP, as the Unnao gang rape victim battles for life on a ventilator. The girl went missing on 4th June 2017. A missing report was filed but clearly the police was conniving in the case, and so there were no efforts to trace the girl. Maybe, the police was aware of her whereabouts, since the rapist MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who belongs to the same village, notorious for his criminal antecedents, has made the police department an appendage of his political-criminal nexus.

Once there was a state in the Union of India named Jammu & Kashmir. It remained so after its accession in 1947 until August 5, 2019 when the state was abolished after a presidential order revoking Article 370 of the constitution of India, reducing it to mere a territory held by the Union, and a significant area carved out to make another territory named Ladakh. It was done by applying brute force in the state silencing the voice of its citizens and by the majority in the parliament without discussion on the matter. Opinions are divided. Some say the action and the manner in which it was done was immoral, unethical, unwise, and unjustified while majority of non-Kashmiri Indians hailed the action bold and historic. Kashmiris termed the fateful event as ‘black day’. We, both Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri Indians, will have to face the consequences whatever may come.