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Since he came to power after winning the presidential election of January 8, Maithripala Sirisena has been trying to correct the pronouncedly pro-Chinese tilt given to Sri Lanka’s foreign policy by his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa and to strike a balance in the relations between his country and India and China. In pursuance of this policy, he visited India in mid-February and invited Prime Minister Modi to Sri Lanka.

CHANDIGARH: After the Modi government’s honeymoon period prematurely ended within six months of its assuming office on May 26, 2014, now signs of anti-incumbency have started emerging. Different sections of people are protesting against the government’s failure to fulfil its election promises. Thousands of farmers are holding demonstrations against the government’s land acquisition policy. The promised reforms are in a state of limbo. One can hear dissenting voices in the ruling NDA against centralisation of power by the Modi-Amit Shah duo.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The campaign within the Congress against Finance Minister and Kerala Congress(M) chief, K. M. Mani who is in the eye of the bar bribery scam storm, has gathered momentum with more and more Congress leaders joining the chorus of criticism against him.

How the world has changed for the BJP. Who would have thought that a BJP chief minister, Goa’s Laxmikant Parsekar, would speak out against the ban on beef in Maharashtra and Haryana because the meat was a part of the cuisine of minorities?

India, of late, has woken up to realize the importance of oceans, more particularly the one in its vicinity. Better late than never, the Prime Minister Modi has made a humble beginning for integrating with countries in the Indian Ocean rim. While security in the region remain a major concern, another recipe for integration is the call for cooperation in the development of Blue Economy.

Aam Aadmi Party is a child of struggle with thrust on anti-corruption movement headed by Anna Hazare. The desire to have a strong Lokpal had brought together diverse individuals whose ideological compatibility is always questionable. Then, Anna was an ageing rebel from rural Maharashtra, Arvind Kejriwal a dynamic NGO activist, Kiran Bedi a famous police officer, Prashant Bhushan a crusading public lawyer, and Yogendra Yadav an academic.

Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley may feel gratified his moderately reformist budget, which fell below raised expectations, has had a smooth run through an increasingly uncomfortable Parliament but his real challenges to uphold its claims and deliver on growth and jobs will now test his skills.

Defence of a country is vital, particularly when it is surrounded by countries claiming parts of its territory. The situation is aggravated when an immediate neighbour is engaged in a proxy war by facilitating infiltration of terrorists with the sole intention of carrying out its acts for destabilization in the destination country. India is faced with such a situation and the need to build up its defence is critical. The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting his annual Budget has acknowledged this saying “defence of every inch of our motherland comes before anything else.” But has he done sufficient justice in allocation of funds for the country’s defence?

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh government, which is already facing several political problems, has plunged into another crisis. This crisis has been caused due to large-scale damage to the standing rabi crops because of untimely heavy rains, and at some places even accompanied by hailstorms. Both rains and hailstorm led to widespread destruction of standing crops, mainly wheat and gram.

The Sino-Myanmar border, south of China’s Yunnan Province, has suddenly come alive. Beijing alleged on March 14 that a fighter aircraft of the Myanmar Air Force had ‘bombed’ a village in Yunnan, killing five and injuring eight. Myanmar emphatically denied the allegation. Its military said that no warplanes had carried out any strike in Chinese territory. But this had no effect on the Chinese. A spokesperson of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) announced that ‘a large contingent’ of fighter planes had been sent to the region.