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In a landmark decision, the Delhi High Court decriminalised begging in Delhi, and struck down many provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 (‘BPBA’), as extended to the National Capital Territory of Delhi in 1960. In a decision given by the Acting Chief Justice, Gita Mittal, and Justice C. Hari Shankar, and authored by Justice Mittal, the Delhi High Court held that the Act, in so far as it criminalised begging per se, was unconstitutional and deserved to be struck down.

BHOPAL: While Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is continuing his “Ashrivad Yatra”, which according to BJP and a section of media is getting good response, there have been incidents that questioned his government’s performance, if not his personal reputation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of his rare “interviews” last week had ridiculed the idea of any Grand Alliance of the Opposition parties to challenge him in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls calling it a political adventurism. “It is a failed idea that has never succeeded. History tells us that such adventurism failed in 1979, 1990 and 1996. People want a strong and decisive government.”

Perchance I were the Prime Minister of India, or failing in that ambitious aim, I were entrusted with the responsibility of conceptualising the speech of the Prime Minister of India this Independence Day, what should it have been.

Incorrigible optimists in Pakistan, albeit very few in numbers, are disappointed with the US decision to suspend military and educational training of 66 Pakistani officers under the ‘International Military Education and Training program’, thanks to the obstinacy of President Donald Trump. This is the first awkward bouncer to new Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi in the foreign policy arena as if reminding that his glorious cricketing career is irrelevant. But the sanguinary reality that the pitch for the new innings for the PM was queered by the blackened history scripted jointly by the US and Pakistan during the era of President Jimmy Carter and Pakistan’s most hated dictator President Zia-ul Haq, when they successfully plotted the infiltration of Talibans into Afghanistan six months before the ‘invasion’ of Soviet army.

“Okay. One meeting? Or two? One for the papers and one for the TV?”
“One, I think. The TV people like to be in the same discussions with the newspaper guys. Makes them feel like journalists.”
“What about radio?” Daniel asked.
“@*#k radio.”

Why has the vandalism of the Kanwariyas and not the violence of the gau rakshaks made the government aware of the near-anarchic conditions in the country, as a petitioner to the Supreme Court has alleged?

Parliament might have had its best monsoon session in the last 18 years going by the hours of operations of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and the number of bills passed, yet nothing could explain why it failed to move and pass the critical anti-trafficking and consumer protection bills. The Executive should probably explain why it did not show enough interest to see the two extremely socially important bills through to become law after the mandatory President’s consent.

‘Mission Uproot Mamata’ got going Saturday. BJP President Amit Shah arrived in Mamata-land past high noon, well past the hour to make a fight at ‘OK Corral’. But Mayo Road, where Shah addressed BJP’s Paribortan-types, was choc-a-bloc, shoulders rubbing shoulders. Mamata’s TMC decided not to spoil the show for Shah. What’s a rally when all of Bengal’s pally to Mamata!

Got to get worse before it gets better! That’s the short history of the war against Triple-T, the obnoxious divorce handout which Indian Muslim husbands hold over the heads of defenceless Muslim wives. Is it possible that these male hobos will be hoisted with their own combined petard?