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The tenth anniversary of inking of the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement – known as the 123 Agreement – quietly went away without even a formal celebration. The reasons are obvious and somewhat destined to have happened. A biting critique of the deal, ‘A Decade After the Nuclear Deal’, in a paper published in the India Forum, by M V Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and Director, Liu Institute for Global Issues, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Canada, and co-authored by Prerna Gupta, PhD student in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the same university — termed the history of nuclear power growth as that of triple compromise of economics, safety and democracy at the cost of independent nuclear policy which for over four decades has been attuned to the independent foreign policy.

If it’s an idea born in the head of a movie screenwriter, the germ given substance and spine with fertile imagination, the plot thickening as twists and turns are added to keep the viewer glued to the screen, the film will be a blockbuster. A horror flick with elements of the thriller and drama in it.

At last, the recent appeal made to the Supreme Court by the distinguished organisation Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) , urging a more humane and legal approach to the complex issue of illegal foreigners in Assam , comes as a sorely missed voice of reason. If anything, such a rudimentary message to ensure even the minimal requirements of justice for some of the worst persecuted prisoners of the world has been long overdue.

Why has the RSS fallen silent? The last one heard from it was an advice to the BJP to focus on local issues instead of harping all the time on national security. After that brief intervention, the Nagpur patriarchs have chosen to keep their own counsel, ignoring the hurly-burly of the electoral scene.

Perhaps, the Election Commission of India has not been under such scrutiny as it is today. The polarized campaign in the ongoing general elections has put the spotlight firmly on the referee — the EC. As an impartial watchdog, it is the responsibility of the Commission to provide level playing field to the political parties. There is a perception that it is not addressing the Opposition complaints in this regard against the ruling party.

An unbiased constituency-wise review of polling in each of the five completed rounds in Uttar Pradesh indicates that the BJP might lose 6 out of 8 in the first round, 4 out of 8 in the second, 6 out of 10 in the third round, 10 out of 13 in the fourth and 5 out of 14 in the just concluded fifth round on May 6. In all, BJP might not be able to win 31 seats out of 53 seats for which polling is over. At this rate, it can be safely predicted that the loss of seats for BJP in UP alone would easily cross the 40 mark out of 73 seats in its kitty presently (BJP 71 and 2 won by its ally Apna Dal in 2014).

When we think about organizing precarious “gig” workers, the task seems biblical. Low pay and no benefits that accrue to gig workers are worsened by the uncertainty of a position where you can only work to deliver something specifically demanded by consumers and at a premium you are often powerless to control.

There is a wide difference in approach and attitude of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi between the two elections, of 2014 and 2019. Easily perceptible is not only absence of verve and enthusiasm but also the missing catalyst which has turned his approach from positive to negative. In the last election, he campaigned to convert India into a super economic power to bring economic utopia to every home. His promise reflected his determination to shun the traditional politics of building vote banks with promises of charity. Instead he promised work and dignity to every life. Even promise to bring back the Indian black wealth hoarded outside held a promise of common economic betterment.

With the dismantling of family physician system of medical practice and evolution of nursing homes to private owned hospitals and their corporatization, medical profession has taken a big leap towards commercialization wherein the poor and marginalized sections of society have been left out of the healthcare and profiteering and corruption rule the roost notwithstanding the Ayusman Bharat. Besides, practices of inflating the narrative on disease conditions when a patient is admitted, extending stays,ICU admissions, the new low of corrupt medical practices can be seen in the form of ascribing disease to make patients out of healthy persons and, in many instances, declaring them lifelong patients. Laboratories and diagnostic centres, involved in cut practice and kickbacks, are ready to conduct ‘sink tests’.

April 30 this year saw a failed right-wing coup attempt in Venezuela, which was heavily backed by the Trump administration and its allies, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who tweeted 30 messages expressing his desire to see Venezuela’s elected president deposed.