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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman seems to have a tough task before her if she has to fulfil the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while presenting a fresh budget for 2019-20. The prime minister has clearly told a group of economists and sectors experts about his intention to undertake fresh reform measures to boost growth and make the Indian economy competitive. This would require a radically different trend in the government’s budgeting exercise which is traditionally loaded on non-developmental expenditure and high debt servicing costs.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In politics, as in life, what matters the most is perception. CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, whose elder son, Binoy Kodiyeri, is facing charges of rape and cheating made by a Mumbai-based woman, seems to have lost the battle of perception, which is that he should have resigned his post in the wake of the revelations.

Facebook’s proposed Libra coin has raised the prospects of cryptocurrency becoming mainstream. The burst of enthusiasm has manifested itself in the value of Bitcoin, which has jumped to an 18-month high, spurred by investor worries about geopolitical tension over Iran and the aggravating trade war between China and the US.

With the world is becoming increasingly multipolar and with a US President like Trump who is resorting to unilateralism and aggressiveness in diplomacy, it is quite natural that meets such as G20 are bound to be acrimonious affairs. This is exactly what happened at Osaka, Japan, the venue of G20 summit that ended on 28 June.

Namami Gange, Aviral Dhara, Nirmal Dhara, and Swachchha Kinara (Obeisance to the Ganges, Continuing Stream, Clean Stream, and Clean Banks) are only a few of the attractive slogans that have been in use for last five years. Such slogans highlight the ability of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use enticing words capable of hiding the horrible reality of the situation. Though the huge gap between his words and deeds is sufficient to expose his dichotomy, people do not perceive it as his failure. Namami Gange programme is a case in point. Ganga remains unclean, and Yamuna which is part of Namami Gange is worst polluted in Delhi under his nose. He cannot blame people for that because Yamuna is polluted at his seat of power due to untreated industrial and municipal waste.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies may be self serving but has strong logic. Will it work in present political scenario? Many opposition leaders are bitterly opposed to this idea and boycotted all-party meeting convened by PM to discuss his proposal. They see such a change as quasi-presidential system in which Modi’s popularity will overwhelm local issues, giving BJP a huge unwarranted advantage.

BHOPAL: The ugly incident of assault by BJP legislator Akash Vijayvargiya on Indore Municipal Corporation official was still hitting headlines a report has come from Satna district according to which a BJP Municipal committee president has physically attacked Chief Municipal Officer. According to yet another report Damoh district president of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Vivek Agarwal threatened to beat Nagar Palika accountant Anil Gupta with a cricket bat.

The left has a chance to “change the balance of power in this country forever” if it comes together to fight for Jeremy Corbyn’s socialist vision, Derby North MP Chris Williamson told the Morning Star today.

On July 19, 2019, the day dawned normally for the people of Rae Bareli. In the busy national highway that passes through this small town in the constituency of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, people were going about their daily routines normally. Unexpectedly, there was a sudden commotion. Thousands of people suddenly marching through this small town shouting slogans disturbed its morning serenity. It turned out to be a protest rally by the workers of the Modern Coach Factory belonging to the Indian Railways.

WASHINGTON: A coalition of pro-worker House Democrats, led by veteran Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., opened talks on June 25 with President Donald Trump’s trade negotiator about writing strong and specific worker rights straight into Trump’s “new NAFTA,” rather than just into U.S. legislation to implement the controversial “free trade” pact.