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India has shown to the world that it is able manage sanitation and waste disposal programme on a large scale. The test for this was in large traffic and crowd management plan and cleanliness drive at the recently concluded vast conclave of religious gathering, Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in the country’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh.

The Attorney General of the Government of India K K Venugopal’s comments in the Supreme Court in the course of the hearing on the Rafale petition on March 6 pose a grave threat to the freedom of the press in the country at this moment when the hyper nationalism promoted by the ruling party and the government establishment, has already crippled the independent functioning of major part of the corporate led media in the name of national security.

India can neither afford to stave off, nor be immune to Trump’s protectionism. Flagged up by “America First” as the guiding principle, last year Trump administration waged tariff war and this year, it lofted GSP (Generalized Preference Scheme) war against developing nations, including India.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia is asked the question, “Are you (BJP) milking this (pre-emptive strikes)?” and he goes on a tangent: “I don’t think anybody in India doubts the armed forces. Our brave Indian Air Force pilots crossed a red line for the first time…” Hey, you’re digressing. ‘Is the BJP using the strikes to win the elections?’ is the question. Gaurav Bhatia will not answer, he’s a robot keyed not to answer such quibbles.

‘Rafale’ is now more of a metonymy than a fighter-jet, like the Watergate scandal that cooked American President Richard Nixon’s goose. Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces somewhat a similar situation though nowhere as conclusive. Strikingly, if nothing else, there is a similarity: The Watergate scandal broke after a break-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington; ‘Rafale-gate’ now has a ‘burglar’ in the mix though in Rafale’s case, it’s the Government of India which alleges break-in.

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

Almost four years after the shocking killing of M.M. Kalburgi, Kannada scholar and rationalist on 30th August, 2015, the Supreme Court directed the Special Investigation Team (‘SIT’) investigating the murder of journalist and activist, Gauri Lankesh, in September, 2017 to investigate the murder of Kalburgi also, owing to striking ‘similarities’ between the two cases. The Court further directed that the monitoring of the investigation would be done by the Karnataka High Court in its Dharwad Bench. Significantly, the Apex Court in December, 2018 had remarked that if there was a link between the killings of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar, M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, then one agency should investigate them, instead of multiple agencies.

The Brexit negotiations having stumbled in Brussels after late-night talks with EU officials the British politics is passing through a bind. Both the treasury and opposition leaders are unable to comprehend what political line they should follow in the matter of Brexit. At a time when complete confusion grips the British politics, a labour parliamentarian Yvette Cooper has come up with the suggestion to delay Brexit if Prime Minister Theresa May cannot get her deal through Parliament by a specified date. Interestingly this idea of Cooper has received the support of 15 ministers, including three cabinet ministers.

The recent India-Pakistan military exchanges post-Pulwama attack on the CRPF jawans has led to a significant shift in the way India would deal with terrorist attacks from across the border. The pre-emptive strike by India to demolish the terrorist camps in a place like Balakot has been swift and has caught Pakistan on the wrong foot. In the exchanges that followed, Pakistan surprisingly decided to return India’s fighter pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman unconditionally and urging India to settle differences with peace talks. Two things stand out in this whole saga. Experts have analyzed these and other associated developments from various perspectives. However, two issues which are yet to be understood with clarity are: a) the timing of the Pulwama attack and b) the unexpected and so-called extension of the olive branch of noblesse proportions from Pakistan.

More the war danger deepens in South Asia, more the anti-war peace activism also grows in proportion. Today, such a peace activism has come to the fore as the foremost arena of democratic activism in India as well as internationally. This inevitably brings up the question as to what the role of the labour movement is in this peace activism.