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The second hearing by the Supreme Court of the case against the so-called “Urban Naxals” will not only determine whether they pose a genuine threat or whether the police charges against them are an attempt by the government to create a smokescreen of terror to buttress its electoral position.

A two rupee fall in its exchange value with US$ — say, from Rs. 69 to Rs. 71 for a $ — may cost the country an additional external payment burden of nearly Rs.1,50,000 crore, in Rupee terms, on account of this year’s total import alone on a c.i.f basis. Going by the current trend, India’s import during 2018-19 is expected to top the $500-billion mark. Rupee may sink further to Rs 71 or more for a USD. Overall, the total Rupee-USD exchange burden may be even higher if one also takes into account the net difference between the inflows and outflows of foreign currencies. Rupee’s exchange value over the next six months will depend on the trade deficit trend, net FDI inflow and US$ outflow from secondary market operations by foreign portfolio investors (FPI), foreign debt servicing cost and profit repatriation by multinational companies (MNCs) among others. The domestic market has to bear the cost of Rupee downturn or US$ upturn.

For the last several years dense smog engulfs large part of north India, including Punjab, Haryana, western UP, parts of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and NCR Delhi. This happens during the months of October and November when summer has ended and winter is about to set in. During the summer season the air tends to go up in the atmosphere. But during October and November because of fall in temperature the particles do not rise, but get suspended and mix with the vapours. Source of these particles are mainly vehicular emissions, industrial effluents and smoke coming out of burning of paddy straw in the fields. Low wind speed during this period and dry weather aggravate the problem.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s portfolio must be redesignated as minister for defence of Modi. This is what he does mostly these days either because he has not fully got over his sabbatical mood or he has nothing much else to do in the finance ministry. He shamelessly defended demonetisation even on a day when the Reserve Bank published its most damning report on the patently ill-conceived move. Even Modi does not refer to demonetisation these days, probably because there is nothing that he can talk positively about it. His most recent major reference to demonetisation was on the first anniversary of the ‘monumental blunder’ last year, when he “bowed to the people of the country for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the government to eradicate corruption and black money." Some small mercy to them. He could not have forgotten his promise to the people to “hang” him if he failed. So, he has left the task of defending ‘note bandi’ to Jaitley, whose performance in the finance ministry was any way nothing to set store by.

Things have slipped so far out of New Delhi’s hands in four and a half years, Srinagar has become the frontier. It’s as if the LoC has shrunk and today cuts through Lal Chowk. A change of Governors made no difference. Terror has taken on a new face but the Press continues to call gun-toting Kashmiris ‘militants’ as if it militates against liberal-progressive sensibilities to call the spade a spade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was first to break the rule of not raking up domestic matters abroad and criticizing opposition parties. His narrative of demonizing Congress, beginning with his 2014 address to Indian diaspora in New York’s Madison square garden, drew the battle lines for a bitter confrontation. Attacks against domestic rivals in foreign countries do not sketch a happy portrait of India abroad. Former External affairs Minister Yashwant Singh, a BJP rebel, is possibly a sane voice who appealed to all leaders “to refrain from discussing our internal issues abroad. The Prime Minister broke the rule first. Others need not follow his example”.

Signs of desperation for the majoritarian Modi government, as the country moves closer to the May 2019 Lok Sabha poll, are becoming manifest at both political and economic levels. The abrupt manner of taking into police custody a group of civil rights activists, noted scholars among them, across the nation on August 28, without due processes has been widely condemned. It has drawn adverse notice in sections of global media and the highest court of the land.

BHOPAL: During Election Commission’s three day visit to Bhopal several political parties expressed apprehension that the ruling party might pack polling booths with government employees having affiliation with the RSS. It may be mentioned here that Madhya Pradesh government had permitted state government servants to participate in RSS activities. This was done through an executive order issued in 2006. Government servants’ participation in the RSS activities was banned before that.

“Boxing the compass” is an old nautical term for locating the points on a magnetic compass in order to set a course. With the erratic winds blowing out of Washington these days, countries all over Asia and the Middle East are boxing the compass and re-evaluating traditional foes and old alliances.

Treating a patient involves history taking, examination of the patient and diagnostic investigations as per the need before forming an opinion about the illness of the patient and the differential diagnosis. Only then can a doctor prescribe the treatment, medical or surgical as the case may be. There are set protocols for this methodology and for specific diseases. These protocols may change from time to time. This change is effected after thorough deliberations among the academics of a particular subject. Telemedicine is still in a developing stage to meet the above criteria. Many a times patients seek telephonic advice from the doctor. This is generally discouraged because of the possibility of missing several issues. But these days one finds increasing advertisements on various types of media highlighting their achievements and encouraging patients to get treatment from them.