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BHOPAL: Both the major parties, Congress and BJP, are suspecting that attempts may be made to disrupt the counting tomorrow. Surprisingly, no less a person than Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan has asked party men to remain alert. Expressing confidence that BJP will be able to form the government in Madhya Pradesh for the fourth time, the chief minister urged BJP workers to be vigilant, saying Congress may create hurdles during counting.

The BJP has a running grudge that the exit polls have been consistently under-projecting its tally in all elections since 2014. It is worth recalling the exit polls had forecast a BJP government in the 2015 assembly elections, but when the actual counting began the Mahagathbandhan won. The psephologists had written off the RJD, Cong and Nitish’s JD(U) at that time.

If the world’s top ranking economies by per capita GDP and expenditure, education level, financial inclusion and digital penetration are not keen to go cashless in the face of resistance from their citizens, India’s bid to build a cashless society may be described as highly impractical or even a wistful thought with potential to lead to a nation-wide economic chaos. It is true that the latest data on payment behaviour from China has been an eye-opener even for many highly advanced countries. However, India is not China. The two countries don’t share the same political and economic systems. Even then, going by the available data, China still made payments for 37 per cent of all its purchases in cash in 2016 while 43 per cent of spending was via money card or credit card. Mobile payments made up 20 per cent of all transactions. This is despite the fact that China is the world’s largest producer-user of mobile phones. India’s current digital movement banks heavily on mobile phones, imported mostly from China, Korea and Taiwan.

Evening of December 7, post-5 pm, BJP stood for ‘Bhag Ja Party’, with most of the exit polls predicting a hammering at the hustings. There were glum BJP faces and put-up brave BJP faces on television. At 11 pm, when the anchors signed off for the night, those faces heaved a sigh and left to mourn in private, maybe pray that December 11 lays low the exit polls and delivers to the juggernaut what it set out to do in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. As far as Telangana and Mizoram go there wasn’t even a prayer left, according to the pollsters.

A long-standing dream of the people of North Malabar will become a reality with the inauguration on December 9, 2018 of the Kannur International Airport (KIA).

Shiv Sena, which shares power in Maharashtra and at the Centre as a junior partner of BJP, has jumped into the chorus of raising the demand for Lord Ram's Temple in Ayodhya — even more vociferously than the BJP — which rose to significance owing to the Temple politics back in the 90s. The Supreme Court's verdict that the bench to hear the case related to Ayodhya dispute would be decided in January next year — still not sure when the actual hearing will start — with more possibilities that it will not be solved before 2019 — has provided the BJP — battling against rising anti-incumbency — the opportunity to exploit the situation in its favour.

Extraordinary circumstances must produce extraordinary responses because ordinary approaches cannot deal with such situations. The disclosure by Justice Kurian Joseph within days of his retirement from the Supreme Court is a sequence in the unprecedented turn of events that began with the ‘call of duty’ press conference by Justice Chelameswar and his senior colleagues in June this year. That the illustrious members of the press conference team included current CJI Ranjan Gogoi adds to the seriousness of the event that will remain etched as a milestone in the history of Indian judiciary. Chelameswar himself retired soon after and has now settled down to a contented post-retirement life in his native Andhra village and has indicated that he would disclose more about the circumstances that prompted the senior judges to speak out against the then CJI Dipak Misra at an appropriate time.

History of economic thought is abounding with numerous examples of trade related conflicts among nations. But almost all such conflicts are short-lived. In the case of ongoing US-China trade war, everything may not move in a pre-determined linear fashion. At the outset of the trade war International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde had said in March, “No one emerges victorious from a trade war”.

A lot of debate has been generated not only in the medical circles but also the civil society whether healthcare is a business or a profession. Anything that is termed as business is for profit only and could therefore be ruthless, apathetic and self-centred. The business has to compete in the market and follow the rules thereof and lacks empathy and compassion. About four decades back healthcare was a profession where one would earn by serving. But the scenario has undergone much change now and medical profession too has started following the rules of market. There are several reports of overcharging and unnecessary interventions by some health providers. The infamous case of Fortis hospital charging exorbitantly from a child who had died of dengue fever is not too old to be forgotten.

The marathon electioneering in five states has come to an end and now there is a lull before big bang when the results are declared on December 11; Parliament’s winter session incidentally also begins on that day. Both the national parties—Congress and the BJP—have put all their might in campaigning in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram—as these polls will indicate a trend having bearing on Lok Sabha election in April-May, 2019.