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The Rafale Deal has finally torpedoed the four and half year old NDA government headed by Narendra Modi. After the last hearing on the PIL on Rafale Deal on November 14 and the close appraisal of the proceedings in the Court, the legal experts have come to believe that there is no way for the Modi Government to get away unscathed this time. The learned judges led by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi have reserved the verdict and in all probability, it will be out in December, but there is unanimity that the Prime Minister’s decision making process will be under question and various gaps and irregularities in processing the deal revealed in the official submission to the Supreme Court, are sure to lead to strictures against the decision making process. In sum, there is no way, the Modi government can get a clean chit on Rafale deal.

It may sound rather odd that India’s high rate of economic growth has practically no net contribution to the country’s job market. The net domestic headcount of full-time employees may be actually shrinking though the economy is growing above seven percent. It is a paradox which few economic researchers are ready to explain. If the latest report of the Teamlease Employment Outlook is to be taken seriously, India's net employment outlook is likely to decrease by 3 per cent to 92 per cent in the two quarters (October 2018 – March 2019) as compared to 95 per cent for the preceding half-year. The Teamlease report is based on a survey of 750 employers and 2500 employees of small, medium and large companies across 19 sectors and 14 cities to gauge the hiring sentiments in the country.

In the ‘app’ world that we live in, we’ve to part with personal info. In Ayyappa country, the police control the very thoughts and behaviour of the Ayyappa devotee. And, if the Ayyappa bhakta, who is used to chanting the Ayyappa name, is within earshot of a policeman, he is liable to either arrest or told to head back home without completing his pilgrimage.

BUSINESS chiefs’ attempt to shore up Theresa May’s fragile grip on power by speaking out in favour of her deal with Brussels should sharpen the left’s understanding of the class character of the dilemma facing the British Establishment. So too should the chorus of voices from the EU itself demanding that we drop all reservations about the 600-odd page document and sign on the dotted line or face the wrath of the gods.

When one heard finance minister Arun Jaitley defending demonetisation, which even its originator has since disowned, one feels pity for him because he was merely doing a mercenary job as he had very little to do with the ill-fated decision. But when one finds S Gurumurthy, the newly-inducted independent member of the RBI board of directors, claiming that the Indian economy would have collapsed but for demonetisation, one feels pity for every Indian.

Local issues have been dominating the poll rhetoric in the five poll-bound states, but the results will have major national implications for both the Congress and the BJP. Inability to win, at least, two major states by the Congress could seriously handicap its preparations for 2019 Lok Sabha election. But multiple wins in the head-on fights with the BJP could give it the critical momentum. For the BJP it is important to retain, at least, two of the three major Hindi speaking states. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is not happily placed and in Chhattisgarh one has to keep one’s fingers crossed.

Local issues have been dominating the poll rhetoric in the five poll-bound states, but the results will have major national implications for both the Congress and the BJP. Inability to win, at least, two major states by the Congress could seriously handicap its preparations for 2019 Lok Sabha election. But multiple wins in the head-on fights with the BJP could give it the critical momentum. For the BJP it is important to retain, at least, two of the three major Hindi speaking states. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is not happily placed and in Chhattisgarh one has to keep one’s fingers crossed.

Rights activist Trupti Desai might as well be a hanger at the Kochi Nedumbaserry Airport. She’s been hanging there at the airport like a terminal patient in ‘recovery’ since Friday 4.45 am and cannot get out because the climate outside is not fair weather for her to make a glorious entry into the forbidden Swami Ayyappa Temple in tiger-country Sabarimala.

Never before has any trade block felt heat as RCEP warrants. Trade blocks are always created to reduce trade costs by removing tariff and reducing logistic costs. But in the case of RCEP the reverse seems to be true. High tariff imposed by Trump administration made China hurry up the deal.

BHOPAL: Rebels are continuing to pose serious challenge to BJP as they have refused to withdraw nominations despite the efforts by the top national and state leaders of the party. According to estimates, more than 62 rebels are still in the field after the date of withdrawal. The most significant aspect of the crisis caused by the rebels is that most of them belong to the RSS.