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The “Dilli Chalo” march by the farmers is not merely a long-walk to urge the Narendra Modi government to meet their demands, primary being law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers. Instead, it personifies the biggest class conflict between the corporate sector embodying the capitalist economy bourgeoning under Narendra Modi’s right-wing government and the land-owning peasant class.

Amidst the standoff at the many border crossings that open up the doors to Delhi, Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Dallewal spoke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “rising graph” and the Congress defended him his right to air his political views and not be labelled “anti-national” for that. The Bharatiya Janata Party couldn’t be happier, so long as it related to Modi’s popularity. The 'Modi graph' remained in circulation for the better part of the day and night on February 15.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A protracted legal battle is in the offing between the Kerala Government and the Centre with Kerala’s talks with talks over the issues of fiscal federalism having failed to achieve a breakthrough.

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh witnessed about half a dozen dramatic developments during last three to four days. The developments included nominations to Rajya Sabha both by the BJP and Congress, sudden en-mass removal of about 46 Chairmen of Government corporations and Boards, emergent dinner party for Congress legislators by former chief minister Kamal Nath and exodus of several Congress leaders to join the BJP.

New Delhi: PV Sindhu led the charge as Indian women’s team blanked Hong Kong 3-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships for the first time in the history of the competition in Selangor, Malaysia, on Friday.

Congratulations to the Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India Dr. D Y Chandrachud for finally declaring the electoral bond scheme of the Narendra Modi government as ‘unconstitutional’, since the bonds are violative of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The State Bank of India, the issuer of the bonds on behalf of the union government, has been asked to stop the issuance of further bonds and to submit the list of the bonds issued and the purchasers from the day of its interim order issued on April 12, 2019 to the Election Commission.ECI is tasked with publishing the SBI list on its website by March 13 this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been distributing all sorts of “Modi’s Guarantees”, but perhaps without an iota of suspicion that farmers will come forward and demand “Legal Guarantees” for Minimum Support Price (MSP), and would not be satisfied with mere assurances, being committed to take their agitation to logical end. Two rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ representatives have already failed since launch of the Delhi Chalo agitation on February 12. Modi government does not want to give “legal guarantee” while farmers refused to settle for any less.

The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her interim budget speech announced the setting up of a high-powered committee “to study the challenges of fast population growth and demographic changes”. The announcement of such a committee in a budget speech was itself a curious one. If the government intended to frame a new population policy based on a committee to study population growth, it should have found a mention in the president’s address to parliament.

Suddenly, India is emerging as a favourable destination for western assemblers operating in manufacturing sector. Till now foreign investors were encouraged or asked to shift from China by Japan. Japan launched incentives for Japanese investors to shift from China. US-China conflict also discouraged the US investors from expanding their operations in China. The latest is the western assemblers are encouraging their Chinese supply chain units to shift to India.

It is a reflection of a keen conflict between black and white papers released by two prominent political parties, one that is the ruling one and then the other, in the opposition. One is the present, beginning from 2014 and the other, the immediate past. The Black Paper is from Congress, and in its 54 pages, the party has analysed the ‘Das Saalanyay Kaal’ focussing on issues like the crisis that pervades almost all dimensions of life where decay dominates. That includes horrific rise in unemployment, that impairs the health of living standards, leading to starvation, illness, and finally the end of life itself. Then there is subversion of institutions that had helped strengthen our composite culture, and also our scientific temper. Judiciary has also been at receiving end.