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It is an irony, or a joke if you will, that the release of the Paradise Papers, exposing the offshore holdings of political leaders and their financiers as well as household-name companies that slash taxes through transactions conducted in secret, has coincided with the anniversary of demonetization, another grandiose project that raised expectations of Himalayan proportions but achieved results that are of no real consequence.

On the first anniversary of demonization, it has been demonised. Politicians and commentators pointed out a litany of woes that afflicted India and its poor from the decision to cancel 85% of circulating currency bills. It has been held guilty by high-minded economists for the subsequent slow down of the India economy – to a mere 5.7% in the last as a culmination of the process of deceleration. It has been found useless as most of the cancelled currency had come back into the system through banks.

Nearly 30 years ago, the “death of communism” was announced following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the much-quoted words of the right-wing commentator Francis Fukuyama, it was “the end of history,” marked “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” Now it appears that, maybe after all, just like the great anti-imperialist writer Mark Twain, reports of communism’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Corruption thrives whether it is the rule of the Congress or the BJP. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah have been claiming that in three-and-half years of the BJP rule, not a single case of corruption has come to the fore.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is well and truly the moment of truth for the Congress in Kerala. The party is literally gasping for political life with the submission in the Assembly of the Solar Judicial Commission Report.

KOLKATA: Its state-wide 12-day political campaign may have been a partial success only, but the Left Front in Bengal feels confident enough to announce fresh programmes targeting the state government over the next two months.

The dense smog, which has engulfed large part of north India, including Punjab, Haryana, western UP, parts of Rajasthan and NCR Delhi is a matter of serious concern. It is a result of polluting material mixed with vapours. The pollutants mainly come from vehicular emissions, industrial effluents and smoke coming out of burning of paddy straw in the fields. With fall in atmospheric temperature these get suspended near to the ground level. Low wind speed and no rain have aggravated the problem.

West Bengal’s geopolitical situation has a distinct advantage which makes it possible for it to become the gateway to East and South East Asia. Its geographical proximity to eight states of North East and four nations (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar) opens up ample opportunities to become the grandstand for Act Asia policy. Its land proximity to North East can act as a potential axis to North East – Myanmar connectivity, which emerged as a new dimension of Indo–Pacific outreach after Myanmar attained full democracy in November 2016.

LUCKNOW: After consolidating his hold over the party and making an impressive dent into Mayawati’s BSP, former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is making all-out efforts to capture the maximum number of seats in the local body elections later this month.

November 8 marked the one-year anniversary of the great Indian demonetization move. India's demonetization move should not be looked in isolation. One can find instances of demonetization elsewhere as well. In October 2014, Singapore got rid of its1000 dollar note; in 2011 Canada stopped issuing 1000 dollar notes, and in 2013 Sweden did the same with the1000-Krona note, all as a way to stop financial crimes. Economists Larry Summers and Kenneth Rogoff also suggested doing away with high denomination 100 dollar notes to prevent money laundering and tax evasion.