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English Daily National Herald established in Lucknow on December 9, 1938 with Jawaharlal Nehru as its first editor had carried on its masthead “FREEDOM IS IN PERIL, DEFEND IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT”. Had the legendary cartoonist Jimmy Friell been alive today, he would have re-captioned his cartoon “INDIA’S DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMY ARE IN PERIL, DEFEND THEM WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT”.

Buying gold and jewellery during Diwali is supposed to be auspicious as it is believed to bring luck for an entire year ahead. So jewellers line up their best deals and promotions in the run-up to the festival season. A leading jeweller, accounting for some of the highest sales turnovers both in India and outside, has deemed that the best lure for gold during this Diwali is not any fanciful offer of discounts or goodies that go with seasonal purchases but a government notification exempting gold and jewellery purchases of values exceeding Rs 50,000 from the requirement of PAN card, Aadhaar or other proofs of identity and anti-money laundering provisions.

When French President Emmanuel Macron secured his sweeping victory of the Élysée Palace in May and a majority in parliament in June, it was said that only the unions had a chance of checking his power. So this week’s show of unity and strength by public-sector unions—after months of squabbling—will have him worried.

Is the idea of holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously possible? Presuming it is possible, will it be practical and will all opposition parties support it? The RSS-BJP combine that sets the agenda for governance of the country has floated the idea of simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and 29 states and seven union territories. Their contention is that simultaneous elections will save money and time and the elected representatives—MPs and MLAs—will be able to devote more time and energy for the task of governance.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Will the Congress High Command summon the nerve to undertake a thorough cleansing of its Kerala unit in the wake of the serious crisis which has overtaken the party?

The shocking stories of infants dying in hospitals in our country even after 70 years of Independence should ideally have shaken the ‘collective conscience’ of the society. These deaths are reflective of the pathetic state of affairs of healthcare in the country. The tragedy is that we have been quite tolerant and have accepted it to be a fate accompli. Worse is that, instead of debating the ways to improve the state of affairs, those responsible for such state of affairs are busy in a blame game.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s comment “anti-national forces can't appreciate economic trends” betrays the acute compulsion of survival in the BJP. It also signifies a desperate attempt to distance himself from the remarks of his senior leader Yashwant Sinha. The use of the term anti-national for Sinha is indeed shocking.

Dubai has scored another world first, by becoming the first city to adopt the blockchain technology that powers the cryptocurrency for some of its official transactions. In a first of its kind global initiative, the Dubai Land Department, the government arm responsible for the registration and regulation of real estate in the emirate, is now processing and implementing all real estate transactions on a blockchain. Ultimately, all Dubai properties will be recorded on a blockchain within two to three years.

Going by the government standard, the success of the prime minister’s exalted agenda Swachh Bharat Mission has been quite commendable. The Establishment has been putting out its best to make the programme a landmark. Since the mission involves a huge investment, the officials have been ebullient and not tired of claiming success.

After more than forty months of the NDA rule led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the eco-politics of the country is at a crossroads. The Modi bubble is steadily bursting. All sections of the population are aggrieved — from the poorest section in the rural areas to the major sections of the industrialists who have no tie ups with the BJP leadership. The BJP leadership is still is dreaming to come back to power once again in 2019 Lok Sabha elections depending on the organizational power of the party, the RSS muscle power and the disunity in the opposition ranks. An anti-BJP consolidation in the polity of the country which the BJP leadership, especially the Prime Minister fears most.