View Articles

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The two dominant groups in Congress in Kerala continue to have a vice-like grip on the candidates list published after protracted negotiations vitiated by hard and no-holds-barred bargaining.

Data-cruncher Sam Pitroda made Chowkidar Narendra Modi’s after-Holi day, revived for no reason the ebbing Balakote-issue, insisting that terror attacks like Pulwama were run of the mill and that the veracity of the Balakote air-strikes are suspect, there not being “proof” of kill as widely reported in the international media. Being “Mahatma Gandhian” to the core, Pitroda sought to distance his views from that of Rahul Gandhi who looks on Pitroda as mentor and guide. Chowkidar Modi pounced at the opportunity to keep alive Balakote till as long as possible, which is till May 23, 2019, going by the election calendar.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal have emerged as the most important states that are heading towards the bitterest political battle during the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 the outcome of which is likely to decide the fate of government formation in India. Election is going to be held in these three politically most sensitive states in all the seven phases. Stakes of political parties are highest and therefore these represents highest security risks too. Security forces and administration will have very tough time in handling the law and order issues. Both the ruling and opposition alliances are hoping for considerable loss or gain for each other in these states sending 162 members in the Lok Sabha.

In pre-2014 Lok Sabha election, much was talked about Gujarat Model, which would likely to be replicated in Pan India , had BJP come in the power. The buzzword was synergized into Make in India initiative in the election manifesto. The success of Gujarat Model stimulated Modi to ploy a new dimension in the manufacturing dynamism in the country, with an eye on making the country a manufacturing hub in the world and eventually increase employment opportunities.

Binu Pandey is a single mother in Ghaziabad with two school-going children. A video footage of her crying in agony before her superior official in BSNL went viral on the Internet on 13 March 2019. She was in hand-to-mouth existence and had not been able to pay even the school fee for her children as BSNL had not paid the salary for February she was saying amidst her sobs. Recorded and released by some colleague, it stirred the social media and the government and the BSNL faced universal condemnation.

BERLIN: A week ago I walked over to Berlin’s central square, Alexanderplatz (nick-named “Alex”) to join in observing International Women’s Day. Berlin, alone among Germany’s 16 states, declared it a paid holiday, compensating for the fact that the city-state has fewer religious holidays than all the others. A third of the city was once part of the German Democratic Republic, which always marked the day; that may also have contributed to the decision. This was its first year.

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

In another high voltage hearing, the Supreme Court reserved its order on the issue of preliminary objections raised by the Central Government in the Rafale review proceedings. After the Supreme Court gave its verdict in December, 2018 dismissing the writ petitions filed by Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan seeking an independent investigation into the Rafale deal, citing lack of jurisdiction, much water has flown. In fact, the Supreme Court’s decision itself was full of incorrect facts and wrong information, especially when it noted that the Rafale pricing was allegedly published in the CAG report, which was shared with the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (‘PAC’). This was immediately caught as a lie, and the Government was forced to file a clarification in the Supreme Court that there was ‘typo’ and the CAG was looking into the issue.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP supremo Mayawati, who herself is a strong aspirant for the post of prime minister, has lately been critical of the Congress party. The grand old party has already been left out of the Grand Alliance of Uttar Pradesh comprising BSP, Samajwadi Party and Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal. Although, both BSP and SP left the two traditional boroughs of the Gandhi family — Amethi and Raebareli — to the Congress party. Mayawati has earlier cited Congress party's inability to transfer its votes to the allies as the reason for the party’s not being included in the Grand Alliance.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor faces a 10-year anti-incumbency in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, which sent him twice to Parliament, once as a raw politician with only a clutch of books and a long stint in the United Nations to talk about. His lack of command in Malayalam was thought as a handicap, but the Thiruvananthapuram electorate found his fresh looks and UN record a departure worthy of reward. 2014, he repeated the feat without breaking a sweat.