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With the presentation of the fifth budget of the NarendraModi government now only a fortnight away, the policy option at the highest level of the Government has zeroed in on giving a big stress on the removal of farm distress in the 2018-19 budget proposals.Prime Minister NarendraModi who is masterminding the direction of the last full budget of his present NDA regime before the Lok Sabha elections in April/May 2019, has given strict instructions to the officials that the speedy removal of the farm distress and the immediate measures to generate jobs for the youth have to be the two pillars of the 2018-19 budget strategy.In the process, the Government will organize more public investments without waiting for the domestic private investment to pick up.

Atheists have no business poking their nose in the affairs of god and his flock of whatever religious denomination. But a couple of the agnostic have done just that – they have mounted an attack on Kendriya Vidyalayas for starting the day by singing the Sanskrit hymn Asato Ma Sadgamya and ending the day with another Sanskrit prayer.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector has been at the epicentre of national debate. India, by allowing 100 percent FDI in single brand retail, has sent out a strong signal that reforms is picking up. Consumers are happy as they will now have access to well-established foreign brands. Global investors are happy as the Indian government is showing it is serious about bringing back an investor-friendly environment. For example, India has massively improved its ranking in terms of Ease of Doing Business, Global Competitive Index, and Logistic Performance Index. Couple this with reforms in single brand retail, and one would soon see brand likes IKEA, Walmart, Apple, Tesco etc. coming and setting up shops on their own. Earlier, 49 percent FDI was allowed in single brand retail, which means these foreign biggies had to tie-up with some Indian counterparts to open their stores in India. Also, there was a relaxation in domestic input content requirement (from the earlier 30 percent) for these foreign entities. Possibly, they couldn't have asked for more. What this would mean: A higher FDI inflow.

BHOPAL: Both Congress and BJP are treating two Vidhan Sabha bye-elections as semi-finals for the Vidhan Sabha elections, which are scheduled to be held at the end of this year.. The two seats – Kolaras and Mungawali – fell vacant due to the death of sitting members. Of the two, Mungawali was represented by Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, who was considered to be a Scindia loyalist. He was regarded as political secretary of Madhav Rao Scindia, who commanded great influence in MP politics. After Madhav Rao’s death in an air crash, Jyotiraditya Scindia filled the vacuum and Kalukehda continued to be loyal to the Scindia family. Thus Mungawali is a matter of personal prestige for Jyotiraditya Scindia. So, he is making all out effort to retain that seat.

India is facing a gigantic task of producing over 2.07 million medical doctors in the next 12 years if the country has to achieve a modest doctor-to-population ratio of 1:1,000 by 2030. Though, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the union health ministry, India has currently around seven doctors per 10,000 people, the actual number of practising doctors may be far less.

The eleven elections to the Lok Sabha in the last five decades have given enough evidence to indicate that personalities do not constitute the political minds of Indian voters. The mathematics of last victory as well as the wide spread discontent over the forty three months performance of the NaMo regime speak differently though political observers and media commentators see no alternative to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to even challenge him in the next election due in 15 months. Even the two apparent failures, the abortive attempt to divide the Muslim men and women through a new legislation to make oral divorce to Muslim women a crime and the failure in pacifying the Dalit sentiments against increase in their violent treatment by the young of upper strata in different parts are not counted in predicting his return to power in the next election.

On second thoughts, it was not mutiny. It was not a conspiracy. It was not rebellion. It was airing of grievances on differences with the Chief Justice of India. Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurein Joseph sought to correct administrative weaknesses plaguing the apex court and when nothing came of their efforts, when CJI Dipak Mishra did not relent, they were constrained to go public with an unprecedented press conference.

By opposing the Central Government’s efforts to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam on Supreme Court orders, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is merely doing what she does best --- pandering to the Muslim vote bank.

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) never had a smart face. The babujis in charge of managing its affairs applied 18th century logic to the age of artificial intelligence; so the match between what they did and what they intended to do was as grotesque as their organisation’s acronym. An addition of ‘P’ for project would make it sound similar to the Hindi word Udaip, which destractors would like to describe it as. UIDAI lost even its ugly face when it filed an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira, who exposed the security vulnerability of the Aadhaar ecosystem. The reporter revealed how it took her “just Rs 500, paid through Paytm, and 10 minutes in which an “agent” of the group running the racket created a “gateway” for her and gave a login ID and password. On entering any Aadhaar number, the gateway printed out all particulars related to the owner of the number, including the name, address, postal code, photo, phone number and email.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision of the Janata Dal(United) to part ways with the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) and join the CPI(M)-headed Left Democratic Frot(LDF) will drastically alter Kerala’s political profile.