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It may appear to be odd that India’s nearly 150-million 60-plus-year old population, generally politically active though not always quite vocal, is among the country’s most neglected by the society and the government. There is no worthwhile social security for the aged. A small section live on their income from savings, a large part of which is routinely spent on doctors and medicines that come under no insurance cover. A still smaller section tries to live on their pensions. They are mostly retired public servants and teachers. Industrial pensions are small and generally fixed. The minimum pension for a retired industrial worker, fixed by the government, is farcically low at only Rs.1,000 per month. The census analysis puts the life expectancy, for those above 60 years, of an average remaining length of about 18 years (16.9 years for males and 19.0 for females) and for those at 70, it is less than 12 years (10.9 years for males and 12.3 for females). The crime against the old, often by their next-of-kins, and others, including servants, thieves and tenants, is continuously rising, mainly because of the social neglect.

BHOPAL: Even before his ministry is in place chief minister Kamal Nath has taken several important decisions. Besides waiving farmers’ loans, a massive bureaucratic shake up has been effected. Out of 52 district Collectors 24 have been given marching orders and many of them are believed to include officers suspected of rendering help to BJP candidates. The affected officials include 48 IAS officers.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the Mexican General who led the siege of the Alamo in the 1830s, got hit by a cannon shell on his ankle, leading to the amputation of a leg, which he ordered buried with full military honours. He seems to be the inspiration of child-bearing women wanting to breach the male bastion of Sabarimala! The Alamo finally fell, but Texas remained with the Americans. There ought to be lesson in that for the barred women but they don’t seem to lack in determined guts a la Santa Anna!

Authoritarian regimes tend to think they are for ever. And they create draconian rules to drive their agendas, but without realising that they could some day be at the receiving end of their own evil when they change places, which is unavoidable in any democratic set-up.

NDA Union Government in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a gazette notification authorizing ten Central Security and Intelligence Agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource (computing device). The notification issued on December 20, 2018, under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009 framed under the IT Act, 2000, as amended in 2008. Any service provider not cooperating with any of the Central Agencies will invite imprisonment of seven years or fine or both.

In what seems a replay of recent German and Italian elections, an openly authoritarian and racist party made major electoral gains in Spain’s most populous province, Andalusia, helping to dethrone the Socialist Party that had dominated the southern region for 36 years. Vox (Voice)—a party that stands for “Spain First,” restrictions on women’s rights, ending abortion, stopping immigration, and dismantling the country’s regional governments—won almost 11 percent of the vote.

Keeping NATO-allies blindsided, US President Donald John Trump announced withdrawal 7,000 out of 14,000 troops from Afghanistan – one of the decisions disagreeing with which Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis put in his papers. However, the chief executive office at Kabul heaved a sigh of relief and appreciated the US initiative in successfully in persuading Taliban militants to hold face-to-face talks with the government, having taken place in Qatar capital Doha. A spokesperson Feraidoon Khozon said, “We are still optimistic and hopeful that Taliban will meet Afghanistan’s negotiating team. Our regional and US friends are trying to pave the ground and encourage Taliban to hold face to face talks with government’s team,” although Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated bluntly that the Taliban negotiators would not meet the government’s delegation while the latter seems prepared to extend negotiations with the US Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation Amb Zalmay Khalilzad for a second round of the on-going peace process.

The issue of cheap drugs and their quality has always been a cause of concern. With more than 40 percent of our population living below poverty line, if a patient needs medicines he or she has to pay more than half of her/his earning. As per the trends in catastrophic health expenditure in India: 1993 to 2014, published in the Bulletin of WHO 2018, out of pocket expenditure on health in India is catastrophic. The catastrophic health expenditure is defined as ‘out-of-pocket payments on health equalling or exceeding 10 percent of total household expenditure and 40 percent of the household’s capacity to pay’. The proportion of households experiencing catastrophic health expenditure increased in the last 20 years, and the increase was greater for the poor than the rich.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath is a canny political strategist. He knows that he has no time to loose as 2019 Lok Sabha elections are not far away. The alacrity with which CM has announced the new government’s two decisions—farm loan wavers and limiting government incentives to Industries that employ 70 per cent locals — has stunned the BJP.

So, if it was not a fake encounter, then it was a genuine encounter. Or, maybe, Sohrabuddin, Tulsi Prajapati and Kauser Bi just upped and set up an encounter with the police and were shot to ribbons. The CBI court, hearing the case, acquitted the last remaining 22 accused and washed its hands off the mess created by investigating agencies involved. But that is not what the CBI Court judge should be worried about. The Modi government most probably knew of the exact wordings of the verdict to come considering that his computer most probably was being snooped upon!