View Articles

It is possible to detect a sense of paranoia and insecurity in the BJP’s defence of the indefensible in the Sushma Swaraj-Vasundhara Raje-Lalit Modi affair.

It is no surprise that India is now ranked at the top for investment among 110 countries in the World. It was ranked sixth in 2014 and it moved five places this year to dethrone Hong Kong, which occupied the best ranked destination for investment in that year. It is no surprise because it is only India, which is growing rapidly and expected to clock near 8 per cent economic growth this financial year at a time when other emerging economies are slowing down and advanced economies in Europe and Japan are on a depression mode.

The BJP’s problems are getting worse day after day. First External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj landed in trouble; one wonders what made her to accede to Lalit Modi’s request for travel documents without consulting either her own ministry or Finance Ministry or our High Commissioner in London? After all, the allegations against Lalit Modi were not of insignificant nature. He was accused of violations against both the Foreign Exchange Management Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s Finance Minister, K. M. Mani is all smiles these days; there is jubilation in his party, Kerala Congress(M), too. The reason: Vigilance Director, Vinson M. Paul has decided not to file a charge-sheet against Mani in the bar bribery case. The Congress victory at the crucial Aruvikkara byelection to the Kerala assembly, has also added to his comfort level.

BHOPAL: The disclosure that several persons facing charges of involvement in the mega education and recruitment scam Vyapam in Madhya Pradesh have died in mysterious circumstances, has shaken the conscience of Madhya Pradesh.

Russia hosts a landmark summit of the five-nation BRICS at Ufa on July 8, for the formal launch of the New Development Bank (NDB), based in Shanghai, to give a boost to financing of infrastructure in developing countries. This, along with the 100-billion dollar AIIB, already signed up by 57 founding members in Beijing, for infrastructure investments in Asia, may presage the evolution of a new and more balanced global financial system.

The combined Opposition proposes to target the Modi government in the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament. It can be predicted even before the three-week session begins on July 21 that it will be a washout. It could be another session where the government may be facing an aggressive opposition after the budget session where it attacked the Modi government over the issue of Ordinance on Land Bill and acute agrarian crises. Unfortunately, even if the Congress led opposition wants to tone down its stand, it cannot afford to do so as it is perceived that disruption is the hallmark of the opposition. After all this was just what the BJP had done to the Congress-led UPA for the past ten years. It is only that the players have reversed their roles with a nuanced repositioning.

The United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) has lauded India for leading regional foreign direct investment (FDI) as inflows to South Asia was up by 16 per cent to $41 billion in 2014, the year in which the policy paralysis of the Indian economy got broken with the inauguration of the new government in May 2014 under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government headed by Mr. Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. UNCTAD which tracks global investment flows over the years has exuded confidence that FDI inflows to India are likely to maintain an uptrend this year as economic recovery gains ground. What is more significant is that in terms of the sectoral composition of FDI inflows, manufacturing is likely to gain grit and strength, as policy efforts to revitalize the industrial sector are sustained, including, for instance, the “Make in India” initiative launched in mid-2014 amid fanfare and great expectations to rev up the manufacturing sector of the domestic economy.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik is in continuous conflict with the Samajwadi Party led government in the state and especially with the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. With the assembly elections scheduled for early 2017, the relations between the Governor and the CM have got political dimensions with the SP leadership claiming that Naik is acting at the behest of the BJP leaders and he is undermining his Constitutional authority.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an electoral battle that was billed as one that would alter the dynamics of Kerala politics, the Congress scored a stunning victory in Aruvikkara by-election frustrating the determined attempt of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) to end the jinx of by-election defeats.