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The BJP intends to bring a law which will equate stone-pelting with lynching. Although the original idea about a fresh look at mob violence only concerned lynching, the government appears to be thinking of widening its ambit. Hence, a ministerial reference to the stone-pelters in case anyone dies as a result of their lawless acts.

Names of 40 lakh of 3.29 crore applicants are missing from the Supreme Court-mandated draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC). The draft was released Monday morning, the first update since 1951. Illegal migration from Bangladesh has been a steady flow. Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat warned of the security risks nearly a year ago.

After the April 2 showdown the dalit community is gearing up for a major face-off with the Narendra Modi government on August 9. The intensity and character of dalit assertion could be gauged from the fact that even the dalit faces of NDA and the Modi government have started cautioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

LUCKNOW: Apprehending tough challenge from a united opposition in UP, PM Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah have increased the frequency of their visits to this state. The leadership seems to have realised that Modi needs to spend more time in UP to reach out to the masses, without which it would be difficult for the party to retain the 73 Lok Sabha seats, including two of ally Apna Dal, won in 2014.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is in the capital for three days to hold series of consultations about the formation of a united opposition front to oust the BJP from power in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At the Martyr’s Day rally of Trinamool Congress in Kolkata on July 21, Mamata gave a call for the unity of all opposition parties against the BJP for the coming Lok Sabha elections and announced the holding of a mega rally in Kolkata at Brigade Parade Ground on January 19 next year for the ouster of the Modi government. She said that she would be inviting all the anti-BJP parties including the Congress and the CPI(M) at this rally to facilitate the process of solid opposition unity against the saffron forces.

To be honest, the government’s newly announced task force, set up under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha to identify various items and policy interventions to reduce dependence on import, should have come much earlier. Since 2015, the economy has been constantly under the pressure of import of luxuries, manufactured goods and assorted junkies. The situation worsened since the middle of last year after oil prices started moving up. India could do little with the surging oil import bill. India’s domestic oil production can barely meet 20 per cent of its annual demand.

A confession in Church could invite blackmail. As one woman found to her horror. She confessed to pre-marital sex with a priest to another priest. That libido in robes told the secret to two other ‘brothers’. And all three had a time blackmailing her to submit to the missionary position!

The conference of Sao Paulo Forum held in Havana from July 15 to17 has called for the immediate release of the hailed former Brazilian president Lula da Silva and resolved to begin a campaign against the political persecution of democratic movement and people’s leaders in Latin American region. The Forum participants felt that Latin America’s progressive cycle is still continuing and the Latin American left and other progressive forces have to unitedly fight to bring about the desired changes in the region.

BHOPAL: Reports in local newspapers indicate that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is getting massive response during his “Jan Ashrivad Yatra”. In one such picture hundreds of people are listening to Chouhan’s speech despite heavy rains.

Bihar used to be notorious for being the most politically violent state, but now sex-related violence has replaced political violence. Probably such violence is not a major crime in the eyes of the Bihar police and the chief minister, which is why every time Nitish Kumar faces the press, he boasts of a crime-free state.