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While US-China trade war botched global trade, it opened a new gate for India’s export expansion to China. Hitherto, China never blinked in India’s radar for export destinations, despite the huge trade deficit with that country. Under MIES scheme in Exim policy – a specific market oriented export promotion measure – China never figured in the scheme.

The open letter sent by 83 retired bureaucrats of the country demanding the resignation of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his role in dealing with the killing of the police officer in Bulandshahr violence on December 3, is a reflection of the agony and anguish of the former ruling elite of India who are stunned by the criminalization of the society and polity by the ruling politicians and the instigation by the state government itself for the anti-minority bias of the officials in charge of law and order.

Since the current NDA Union Government came to power in May 2014, there has been a systematic frontal attacks on the autonomy and independence of the national public institutions of Parliament, judiciary, Election Commission, education including Central Board of Secondary School Examinations, Reserve Bank of India, the national central bank, armed forces, investigative agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation, elected legislature and the free press. Every such institution that has been upholding a healthy and vibrant democracy, needing to be protected and cared for by the government of the day in order to dispense neutral decisions in the interest of every citizen of India, has been undermined to weaken democratic system of rule of law based governance, with the rise of the assertive majoritarian government.

On the matter of triple talaq, BJP president Amit Shah offers the standard argument, heard a thousand times before from all sorts of people, which is that there are 20+ Islamic countries which have done away with instant talaq, so why should India not follow suit? The counter-question then boils down to if Islamic countries have taken that decision, why should a Hindutva regime, which the Modi government cannot escape comparison from, ape Islamic nations? Triple talaq is now a bill in Parliament and these days a bill doesn’t necessarily end in law, they are introduced more to reveal which party stands where on which issue.

There is only one person who should get the sack this Christmas — and that’s Theresa May. She might have survived the wrath of the grey suit brigade for now, but she cannot escape the reality that is staring her in the face. Her leadership is doomed and her deal is in flames.

2018 has seen many working-class people around the world standing up for their rights and pushing back against injustice and inequality. Some of these fights have made the mainstream news in western countries, but many have not. As we reflect on the year that is ending, let’s not forget the struggles of working-class people and the successes of collective action and solidarity. Around the world, people have had enough of corporate greed and government inaction to combat inequality.

Political crisis will have a prelude in any country in the form of economic crisis. This fact is underscored by the political and economic developments in India too. The fuming crisis in the economy, was recently manifested by the resignation of Urjit Patel, the governor of Reserve Bank of India. Even though it was announced on ‘personal grounds’, everyone knows that it was not personal.

On 14th December, 2018, the Supreme Court of India, in a three-judge bench decision headed by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, dismissed the bunch of petitions questioning the Rafale defence deal, and seeking a court-monitored investigation. Though the court primarily dismissed the petitions on the ground of jurisdiction, it did get into certain issues of procedure followed in the Rafale deal, the pricing issue and the choice of off-set partner. Before the judgment is analysed, it is important to understand that the court had not issued notice to the Union of India in this case, but had asked them to submit details of pricing of the aircraft in a ‘sealed cover’, and the note submitted by the government on the procurement process was undated and unsigned. In fact, this practice of the court asking the government to submit information in sealed cover has been much criticised by legal scholars and jurists for being anti-democratic and against the basic principle of having ‘open courts’. After Judge Loya’s case, this was the second time that the court was hearing arguments on merits without requiring the government to submit their response in an affidavit.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat is asked a question and he answers it honestly, maybe aware that his views on allowing women in combat roles in the Army will draw not only flak but also ridicule. And within hours of the General speaking his mind, as he was expected to, he’s the butt of sexist slurs and downright arraignment in the court of Social Media; where, by the way, people yap and yak, most of them without application of the mind, punning and gunning away at will. The world will attest that Social Media Warriors are the most obnoxious lot on Good Earth.

BHOPAL: Kamal Nath’s oath taking ceremony was unusual in many ways. Besides the presence of leaders of several parties that are likely to be partners in the future Mahagathbandhan, representatives of various faiths were given place on the main rostrum. Perhaps the most striking feature was the respect extended to three former BJP chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kailash Joshi and Babulal Gaur. Kamal Nath, before taking oath, went to Chouhan and greeted him. Also, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia greeted the crowd holding their hands together. On the dais Digvijaya Singh escorted Babulal Gaur to his seat, holding his hand.