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The Bengal chief minister Mamta Bannerji betrays her hidden ambitions for a higher slot in Indian politics with her every move to build a third front. She knows that coalitions around two national entities, one led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and other by the Congress would not allow her to lead them. She tried to consolidate forces in 2012 to oppose the Congress candidate Pranav Mukherjee for the election of the President but her move collapsed as no one wanted to be led by a person with obstinate but mercurial temperament.

Union Government’s order in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) amending the Central Press Accreditation Rules to curb the growing menace of fake news by holding accreditation card as a Sword of Damocles over the accredited journalists and those seeking fresh or renewal of their accreditation should they indulge in fake news reporting or those seeking accreditation depending upon clearance after scrutiny by the Press Council of India (PCI) in the case of print media journalists and National Broadcasters Association (NBA) in the case of electronic (broadcast) media journalists has since been cancelled.

Shahid Afridi is now ‘Shaheed Afridi’ and along with other Pakistanis out of favour in Dubai. His cricketing career over, the man with the heavy bat is batting for terrorism and terrorists. Maybe he wants to be a politician, walk in the footsteps of marriage-machine Imran Khan. This even as top Dubai Police official Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan wondered why Pakistanis are “smugglers” and “disrupters” while Indians are “disciplined?”

Arun Shourie was proof of ‘journalism of courage’, the ‘fearless’. One of those who when asked to ‘bend’ did not ‘crawl’. They did not make movies on him but he was the closest to a ‘hero’ to many a young journalist when 24/7 television journalism was yet to come and there were no gabbling celeb journalists. Then, sometime after 1995, he became a ‘politician’ – not ‘didheerna’, like they say of ‘suddenly’ in Tamil, but taking his own sweet time.

Five decades have passed since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. In that city this week, thousands gathered to commemorate the civil rights icon’s life. From symposia hosted by the National Civil Rights Museum to rallies under the auspices of the new Poor People’s Campaign, Memphis was filled with activities marking the King legacy.

In West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) never loses any opportunity to urge the Central Government to observe existing norms and niceties of governance within a federal political structure. However, there are also occasions when the Bengal Government would do well to follow its own frequently lectured prescriptions to other States and authorities, on sensitive issues.

The marriage of deceit and intrigue is on the verge of cessation. Publically both the partners, JD(U) and the BJP have been claiming to enjoy a successful and happy connubial, the reality is they have ceased to be a perfect bed partner. The major partner BJP has been systematically resorting to arm twisting and giving a bad name to JD(U).

The restiveness among the BJP’s former and present allies has spread from the Shiv Sena, which was the first to say that it would not align with the BJP in 2019, to Telugu Desam and Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Jitan Ram Manjhi to Nitish Kumar and perhaps even Ramvilas Paswan.

Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani proposes and the PMO disposes! But not to her liking. Late on April 2, Irani directed that journalists who “create and publish fake news” will face six months’ suspension for the first violation; one year for a second and will be permanently iced after the third. On April 3, the PMO held that the PIB and NBA are supreme and that the “punishment regime’ suggested by Irani stands discredited, her order withdrawn.

One of the main problems of Indian agriculture is disguised unemployment. That is, farming by nature is seasonal and hence it does not provide job as well as income throughout the year. It is precisely for this reason every farmer needed to engage himself in some allied activities so that he can augment his income besides ensuring he has some occupation spread over the year. Auxiliary income is essential to address the livelihood concerns of our farmers, who are doing yeomen service by shouldering the responsibility of feeding the 1.3 billion people in the country day-in; day-out.