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BHOPAL: Voters of eight constituencies of Madhya Pradesh will choose their representatives to Lok Sabha on May 12. This will be the third phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh. The eight constituencies are Bhopal, Bhind, Guna, Gwalior, Morena, Rajgarh, Sagar and Vidisha.

After the end of the first five phases of polling in the elections to the 17th Lok Sabha, the trends are giving a definite pointer to the emergence of a hung new house in which no national party will have majority to form the government on its own. So far, polling has been held to 425 seats and the indications suggest that the BJP has got a big jolt in the Hindi heartland of the country and this has eroded the great advantage which the saffron party got in 2014 in securing a whopping 282 seats out of 543.The BJP as also NDA will fall short substantially of the majority figure of 272, but the extent of this shortfall is of crucial importance in deciding the fate of the next government.

Cuba’s government has hit back at President Donald Trump’s latest threat to implement a “full and complete” blockade after accusing the Caribbean island of “controlling Venezuela.”

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

On May 6, the Panel of Judges appointed by Justice S.A. Bobde of the Supreme Court exonerated Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of all allegations of sexual harassment levelled by an ex-employee of the Supreme Court and found ‘no substance’ in the woman’s complaint. The Committee comprised of Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice Indu Malhotra and Justice Indira Bannerjee, submitted its report to Supreme Court. However, astonishingly, the Committee did not give a copy of the report to the Complainant, citing an old case of Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India (2003) 5 SCC 494, wherein it was held that report of Committee constituted as part of the In-House Procedure, is not liable to be made public. But the same Committee thought it fit to give a copy of the report to the Chief Justice, against whom allegations of sexual harassment was made. Thus, curtains came down on the first part of the bizarre Kafkaesque drama that unfolded before the public in the last two weeks.

The BJP finds itself under a great duress in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha Election 2019. The five rounds of voting held in 425 constituencies so far, presents a political whirlpool that may suck the BJP and the NDA under its leadership. Saving the NDA from drowning has become a daunting task for Modi-Shah duo in the next two phases of election. Though the BJP seems to have emerged as the largest political party with a prospect of winning 132 seats, the gap from majority of 272 seats is too wide to be bridged in the next phases.

The political-cum-election narrative is shifting, has already shifted, With Wayanad behind and Amethi behind and five phases of the elections behind, opposing parties are in the home run and that means a final push. Rahul Gandhi’s fate is locked in ballot boxes north and south of the country. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s is still in limbo with Varanasi going to polls in the last phase.

India is an oil-import dependent nation. Over 90 percent of the oil requirement is met via import. India is the third biggest importer of crude oil in the world. Despite these factors, India is not feared to undergo oil convulsion with USA withdrawing waiver from the sanction on Iran oil from May.

Six Democratic presidential hopefuls, vying for workers’ support in the 2020 primaries, pushed hard for workers’ rights at an all-day forum in Las Vegas last month.

Every journey, filled with twists, sharp turns, peaks, and cliff edges, eventually comes to an end. How quickly depends on those involved. For Brexit, the end may come as early as Tuesday, following years of debate, virulent politics, and a divided public.