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August 5 will mark a year since Article 370 was effectively nullified, the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was divided into two separate units, and both units J&K and Ladakh were made union territories (UTs). In light of the current domestic and external situation, it is time to review the policy approach towards J&K.

India is ostensibly the largest democracy in the world. Nearly 73 years after independence and 72 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), India remains in the shadow of state imposed constraints on freedom, harking back to the 19-month interlude in 1975-76 that shook the country’s faith in its democratic foundations.

What had been only a suggestion by several prescient members of the capitalist establishment till now has become official policy, at least in Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that his government will undertake public investment to stimulate the economy, as FD Roosevelt had done under the New Deal in the 1930s in the US. In fact, Johnson specifically referred to Roosevelt’s New Deal, and expressed his intention of increasing taxes on the rich if necessary. Amusingly, he prefaced his speech by the remark “I am not a Communist”.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister may not seek but his state police deserve noble prize like award for inventing a gun that can discharge a shot fired at the back of the running away fugitive can pierce from the front in his haste and kill the fugitive. The state police fired at Vikas Dubey, a gangster of several criminal episodes in the neighbouring state Uttar Pradesh, as he was running away from custody after his arrest in the Mahakal temple in Ujjain. In fact he as nabbed by the temple guards after he shouted in the temple on his identifying himself as Vikas Dubey. The temple guards read newspapers and knew that Vikas Dubey had run away to escape the intense hunt by the up police after his gang members mercilessly killed eight policemen.

BHOPAL: “Really BJP is a party with a difference” is the general comment in the political circles of Madhya Pradesh. BJP has created history- It took 102 days to get a complete council of Ministers. For more than a month the state was administered by the Chief Minister alone despite clear-cut constitutional provision that Governor administers state with the advice of council of Ministers and council means more than one Minister.

Several women lawyers, from across the country, have written to NLU-D Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, the Chairperson of the ‘Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws’, expressing their serious concerns regarding the lack of diversity in the constitution of the committee. They highlight that the committee does not have representation of relevant stakeholders, for there are no women, Dalits, religious minorities, adivasis, LGBTQ persons, or persons with disabilities on the Committee.

Despite launching the “plan for jobs” the chancellor Rishi Sunak can not expect to check mass unemployment. His friends and economic advisers have been advising him to act far more decisively to prevent mass unemployment after unveiling a £30bn mini budget, but it does not appear that he would succeed in his mission.

It suits powerful domiciles that their sleazy secrets remain untold – hidden. And Kanpur ‘don’ Vikas Dubey had lots of beans to spill. The ‘eight-cop-killer’ was on the run for a week and then he surrendered shouting “I’m Vikas Dubey Kanpurwala.’ The next morning he’s is dead as a canned mackerel – shot dead by police while reportedly attempting to flee from police custody. He wouldn’t be telling anybody’s secrets to anybody!

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research has been and upright institution of our country and its opinions have been valued widely. But unfortunately like several other institutions in the country the credibility of ICMR has been eroded in the past few months. Initially it was the ICMR which was giving briefings on the status of the COVID in the country.

For the corporate sector, the phase is said to be ‘the golden era of privatisation’. The irony is not lost as the government has declared its decision on which side it would be, and that too openly and ‘unapologetically’ calling privatisation of public sector units as part of the policy of reforms. The government has surrendered its near total monopoly in the railways and invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private players for the operation of passenger train services on 109 Origin Destination (OD) pairs of routes through introduction of 151 modern trains.