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The mounting debts of three of the countries state-owned enterprises — two in telecommunications and one in civil aviation — are a matter of great concern. There have been several plans since 2017 on how to reduce the government’s financial liability in these enterprises. Two public sector telecom companies — BSNL and MTNL — appear to be in a debt trap. Their future business prospect looks rather dim due to lack of 4G spectrum. They have few new customers. Many of the existing customers are changing to private sector Vodafone, Reliance Jio and Airtel. Yet, the fact is: BSNL and MTNL have the lowest debt among all telecom operators. BSNL, which has a debt of Rs 14,000 crore, has sought 4G spectrum across India through equity infusion of Rs 7,000 crore. The total cost of the spectrum will be Rs 14,000 crore. Both firms have asked for a VRS for employees similar to the Gujarat model. The VRS scheme for BSNL and MTNL will have a respective revenue impact of Rs 6,365 crore and Rs 2,120 crore.

The opposition parties could not manage to create a PM out of their ranks. It is a pity that they can’t even have a Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

If Narendra Modi had asked Amit Shah his preference for a ministry when the two had conferred for over five hours over the list for the new council of ministers, the BJP president would have undoubtedly asked for home.

What do the stars foretell, as Shakespeare was fond of his lead actors saying this in various forms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first port of call after his second swearing in will be Maldives. He is expected to make a two-day visit to capital Male on June 7 and 8. There is a possibility of his making a short trip to Sri Lanka as well either on his way to or on way back home from Maldives.

The Congress is facing its worst crisis in its long history, having been limited to mere 52 seats in the Lok Sabha (though still a gain of a few seats from their previous 44 seats in 2014). The party president, Rahul Gandhi, has rightly owned the responsibility of the defeat and is adamant on resigning. Attempts are being made by senior leaders and the party cadre to persuade him not to quit, but he is not yielding. The only concession he has made is to continue for three months and asked party leaders to find someone in the meanwhile.

The General Election results show that Modi is particularly popular among the Hindu youths with their ideas of a hero of medieval romance. They wanted an authoritative commanding personality as their leader primarily for political dominance. Though the level of joblessness had become worst in the last 45 years, they did not find any fault in him or in his policies in spite of his failure in delivering his 5-year old promise of ‘work with dignity for every hand’. Rather, they believed that only a strong leader like Modi can overcome this crisis.

If 2014 was about tricks ‘n treats, 2019 exorcised Narendra Modi from any promises. There will be tricks played on the Indian public, but he has this time gotten away, is neither beholden to keep promises made in 2013-14 nor has he made any in 2019 unless ‘Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai’ is an election promise. The point is Modi has willy-nilly sheared all links with the unfulfilled promises of 2014 and cannot be made to walk the plank in 2024 for failures on any bread and butter front.

The appointment of BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, V. Muralidharan, as a minister of state in the new Modi Ministry is a step in the right direction.

Breaking the legacy of Mauritius, Singapore topped in the foreign direct investment (FDI) race in India. In 2018-19, FDI flow from Singapore was US $ 16,228 million, as compared to US $ 8,084 million from Mauritius. It was third time that Singapore edged out Mauritius in FDI race in India. Nevertheless, in 2018-19 the significance of Singapore’s outnumbering Mauritius in FDI race was that it was on the binge for a sparkling growth, in contrast to FDI shrinking from Mauritius. In 2013-14 and 2015-16 when Singapore edged out Mauritius, it accounted for 24.6 percent and 34.3 percent share respectively of the total FDI flow in India. In 2018-19, its share went up further high when it accounted for 36 per cent of total FDI flow in the country.