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NEW DELHI : Of the six exciting MoUs signed between India and Germany at Hannover Messe, the one on the Indian Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) with German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW) is perhaps the most promising.

Will the Modi government release the classified Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose documents and put an end to the debate that is going on? It is indeed good news that Prime Minister Modi has assured Netaji’s family that he will personally examine the case for the declassification of the secret Netaji files. The PM's assurance in Berlin this week has given new hope to those who have pushed for a declassification of Bose documents. It is also good news for others who have been demanding easy access to the declassified documents.

NEW DELHI: The Rockefeller Foundation launched today in India a programme to provide ‘smart power’ for rural development – a first of its kind by the US organization anywhere in the world. India has the world’s largest ‘un-electrified’ population, estimated at over 300 million. The program, spearheaded by a non-profit organization called Smart Power India, aims to bring electricity to 1,000 villages over the next three years to provide electricity to some one million people in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to carry forward his clean India campaign Swachh Bharat, the 2015-16 budget has stepped up allocation for this noble idea. But finance minister Arun Jaitley seems to have forgotten one important area in this regard while presenting his budget – that is measures to improving air quality in Indian cities, which is becoming worse with growing urbanization. Swatch Bharat campaign serves no purpose if measures to tackle poor air quality in cities does not become a major component of this clean India effort.

Alliances and mergers have been the favourite pastime jobs of the politicians. But the merger of the components and groups of the erstwhile Janata Party and floating a new unified Janata Party is different proposition in the prevailing context and situation.

Media, the fourth estate, in our system of rule of law based democratic governance, has almost vanished with its inability to function as a watchdog of the functioning of the government, institutions and businesses through free and fair reporting. Following globalization of Indian economy, vested interests in politics and businesses have captured the media houses to safeguard their interests. They dictate reporting and editorials so much so that media have lost its sheen. It’s like any business. There is no dividing line between management and editorial. It is also true that only media professionals can clean such distortions before the rot engulfs the nation entirely.

After 18 months of gruelling negotiations and several missed deadlines, Iran and the P-5+1 (the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia—and Germany) reached a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme at Lausanne in Switzerland, which is a potential game-changer in the West Asia-North Africa region. The framework deal, to be fleshed out by June 30, has huge geopolitical significance and implications for the world, including India. It must be heartily welcomed.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A week is a long time in politics. That is the general saying. But ask former Government Chief Whip and Kerala Congress(M) vice-chairman, P. C. George, he will agree that even a day is enough to change political fortunes drastically!

As a leading emerging economy, India is assumed to outshine its peers, notably China, in growth at 7.5 per cent this year and in fiscal 2017, mainly from an expected pick-up in investments due to policy reforms and lower oil prices, as projected by IMF in its World Economic Outlook in April 2015.

In course of his globe-trotting diplomatic mission, Prime Minister Narendnra Modi is scheduled to visit China next month. Beijing has already queered the pitch for the forthcoming Indo-Chinese dialogue by raking up once again what it calls a ‘huge dispute’ over Arunachal Pradesh. China has also announced its plan to build a railway line – to be completed by 2020 – from Tibet to Nepal by digging a tunnel right under the Mount Everest. This has two implications. First, it will facilitate Chinese goods to enter India and flood Indian markets via Nepal. And second, it will also enable China to move troops right up to India’s border in Arunachal Pradesh at short notice.