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The Communist Party of India(CPI), the second most important Left Party in the country after the CPI(M) has given a call for widest possible mobilization of all secular, political and mass organizations to counter the neo liberal and the fascistic offensive of the Modi government and the RSS. In a no holds barred approach to the BJP and the Modi Government, the CPI has taken the position that the BJP has to be defeated at all costs in the state assembly elections as also in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and this requires the formulat6ion of a flexible electoral tactics taking into account the respective political situation and strength of the respective secular parties in the states., which include the Congress.

The song ‘Manikya Malaraya Poovi’ of Oru Adaar Love, which went viral because Priya Prakash Varrier, the overnight Internet sensation, raised a couple of eyebrows with a wink, has landed in a police station in Hyderabad because it contains an ‘objectionable’ reference to Prophet Muhammad’s wife. In Mumbai, the Raza Academy wrote to the police commissioner, protesting against the song and its singular connotation. Railing to protect the image of dead human beings is a religious prerogative, and Muslims carry that privilege to extreme lengths.

Will the CPI-M be able to retain its twenty-five years of uninterrupted rule in Tripura or will the BJP upset all calculations and prove every electoral arithmetic wrong by dislodging Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and his party? The answer will be diametrically opposite depending on whether the person questioned is pro-red or pro-saffron. But one thing nobody will deny: Tripura has never seen so much money flowing during elections. Resource-wise, the CPI-M is no match for the BJP.

Asauddin Owaisi is delusional speaking with the Cosmos. The only Member of Parliament who likes to be called Barrister-at-Law is not loathe to step over laws he deems don’t help take forward his religious agenda, which again is more political.

There are things we want to talk about but cannot talk about. That does not apply to Mani Shankar Aiyar and Mehbooba Mufti, the two Valentines of Pakistan. Both have been talking way out of the boundaries of India. In Aiyar’s case, literally. Aiyar and Mufti belong to a group of people who have been dancing with the devil. The music will have to stop someday, but when?

The apex bank, while unveiling the sixth bi-monthly annual monetary policy statement for the current fiscal on February 7 in Mumbai, justified its neutral policy stance for the present, contending that crude oil prices have firmed up sharply since August 2017, driven by both demand and supply factors. Neutral policy provides the flexibility to move either direction if the situation warrants a gear change in the meanwhile. Even as the country’s merchandise exports bounced back in November-December 2017 to the immense relief of the authorities, who were agonising over the overall economic growth slowdown, RBI pertinently pointed out that merchandise import growth too accelerated sequentially with over one-third of the growth emanating from petroleum (crude and products) due largely to high global prices.

It will be unwise to dismiss BJP M.P VinayKatiyar’s warning about converting the Taj Mahal to “our temple”, the Tejo mandir, as the hate rant of a well-known rabble-rouser.

India witnessed 822 communal incidents (riots) across the country in the calendar year 2017 compared to 703 such incidents during 2016 and 751 in 2015. During 2017, 111 persons were killed and 2384 people injured as against 84 people killed and 2321 injured in preceding year 2016, and 97 killed in 2015 and 2264 injured in that year. According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), country wide situation by and large is under control and the Union Government together with States and Union Territories is keeping a watchful eye on the situation. However, sources in the MHA, which did not want to be named, maintain the rise in communal incidents is alluded to increasing social tensions on account of growing minorities and dalit bashings, hate campaign and targeted violence against them.

Another Valentine’s Day and love will take a beating – a beating of hearts, that is. News will, however, veer to beatings at the hands of the moral police, as it has already.

The PinarayiVijayan-led Left Democratic Front(LDF) Government came to power with a firm commitment to eradicate corruption from public life. As part of the anti-corruption campaign, it had also promised to strengthen the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau(VACB).