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It is indeed a sad commentary on the state of India- Bangladesh bilateral relations that even after more than four decades, no mutually acceptable solution to the land boundary issue has been found. The anti India elements in Bangladesh are making use of this issue to their advantage.

Even after the three decades of disastrous gas tragedy, neither the state government nor the central governments have the answer to the question of safe disposal of the chemical waste of union carbide. Victims who were demanding for conviction of the culprits are still forced to live with the hazardous impact of chemical waste. Various research by government and non government agencies have proved that the dumped industrial waste have polluted the soil and underground water of the area around the plant. Faulty assurances were given to the victims in the name of its disposal. Children in the area are aware of solar evaporation pond made to dump the waste of Union Carbide but they are ignorant that it is hazardous to them. Though immediate impacts of coming in contact with the soil are not visible but it is capable of acting as a soil poison. The waste is so dangerous that it had already polluted the underground water in the 5 kms of range.

If anyone is passing sleepless nights in the country, it is the Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik. Caught in the cobweb of several alleged scams and scandals – from CoalGate to MineGate to land scandal to relief scam to ponzi scam – the Naveen government has been trying to distance itself on each occasion from each of the problem. Trying to prove innocence and come out clean, Naveen has opted the course of suspending his allegedly involved party men and removing ministers.

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is working hard to make development as main agenda for Mission 2017 to take on BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Defying pressures from Government, businesses and markets, Dr Raghuram Rajan, Governor of RBI, has retained the current monetary policy stance with repo at 8 per cent, holding a rate cut “premature”, amid uncertainty about the evolution of disinflationary impulses as well as the “success” of government’s efforts to hit fiscal deficit targets (4.1 per cent of GDP) in the current year.

A distinguishing mark of the Narendra Modi government is the determined and methodical manner in which it is diluting, even scuttling, India’s already weak environmental regulation system in the name of promoting “fast-track clearances” and rapid industrial development. This is liable to further accelerate environmental destruction and degradation, deprive tribal populations of their rights and access to natural resources, and lead to arbitrary acquisition of land.

If the former Congress M.P, Mani Shankar Aiyar, is to be believed, the party is waiting, first, for Narendra Modi’s Godhra “moment” or a communal outbreak, and then for “our Belchi moment”. The two incidents, separated by a quarter of a century, apparently constitute the parameters within which the Congress’s policies are being formulated.

The steep fall in international oil prices is the biggest positive on the economic horizon, however uncertain its durability, to become a windfall for the Modi Government to postulate a turnaround in fiscal balancing, controlled inflation, comforting external position and growth recovery.

The Asia Pacific region has emerged as a global epicentre for trade and economy, politics and diplomacy and has thus raised concerns for security. Recognising its importance, super power the United States, has termed the region as “pivot” and has expressed its intention to “rebalance” in this theatre. The emerging power, China too has made substantial forays. Now it is the turn for India as another emerging economy to play its role in the region.

BHOPAL: On November 29, 2014, Shivraj Singh Chauhan has entered tenth year as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Such a long tenure for a Chief Minister itself is a record in Madhya Pradesh. Only Digvijay Singh has the distinction of completing a decade as the Chief Minister. Leave aside ten years, only two Chief Ministers remained in office for the full five year term. They were Dr. K.N. Katju who was made Chief Minister by Jawaharlal Nehru after the sudden death of Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla in 1956. Shukla was the first Chief Minister of the new Madhya Pradesh. He could complete only two months and died in Delhi after severe heart attack. The second leader, who could complete five years, was Arjun Singh. Barring these two, no other Chief Minister could complete five year term. Chauhan is the fifth BJP leader who reached the top post.