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Salman M has made it to the headlines recently as the 25-year-old student from Kerala facing life imprisonment following his refusal to stand up during the national anthem in a theatre. His arrest and subsequent denial of bail garnered a lot of controversy as he was charged with sedition for, reportedly, ‘sitting and disrespecting’ the national anthem. Beyond the bizarre and disturbing decision by the lower courts, this is a story that is being interpreted by many as an ominous omen of politicisation of the surge of nationalistic fervour throughout the country. Only time will tell us if it is but a discrete story of some overzealous lower court officials or an indication of an emerging trend, but suffice it to say that the issue deserves more than a sensational headline, it warrants a national conversation.

Recent unprovoked firing by Pakistan at the Line of Control and as well as at the international border shows the utter helplessness and desperation on its part. India has suspended the dialogue process as Pakistan opted to talk to Kashmiri separatists which the former said was against the spirit of the Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. Subsequently, Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing at the border with the intention to humiliate India and to aid infiltration of terrorists. Pakistan shelling has taken toll on civilian life.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Defence Minister Arun Jaitley may not be fully aware how the United States made India play a pawn under the UPA’s 10-year-long Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh regime in America’s psychological war against the People’s Republic of China, trying to contain the latter’s geo-political ambition and keep control of the vital South China Sea that handles $5.5-trillion-worth global cargo movement annually. The US is keen to set up a shipbuilding cum repair yard at Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay with India and Vietnam as key stakeholders, mainly for the use by its naval ships. Over 600,000 ocean going vessels, including naval ships, move through South China Sea per year. The proposed yard codenamed ‘X-52-5’ was earlier considered as financially non-viable.

BHOPAL: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan is over excited after the fourth Global Investors Summit organized at Indore. His excitement can be ascribed to two reasons. First, the Prime Minister came to join the Summit and he appreciated Mr Chauhan a lot for the development of the state. Second reason is the quantum of investment promised during the Summit which amounts to around 6.89 lakh crores. The investments were promised not only by the private sector entrepreneurs, but many central ministries taking part in the Summit promised the same.

Hindutva crossed another red line in Indian politics on October 3 when the state-owned Doordarshan news channel made a live broadcast, for the first time ever, of the Vijayadashami (Dussehra) address of a Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh chief.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s decline in the eyes of the middle class began within days of her assumption of office when she rushed to a police station to secure the release of several anti-socials who had been rounded up by the police on the charges of hooliganism.

BHOPAL: The three day Global Investors meet concluded last week with the promise of investment to the tune of Rs. 6.89 lakh crores in Madhya Pradesh. Addressing media after the conclusion of the fourth such summit, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the government has received 3,165 investment proposals worth Rs. 4.36 lakh crore from investors who registered on the official website.

A global economy, wobbling six years after the financial market crash of 2008, cannot need anything better than a firm commitment of the world's financiers to build a more robust, sustainable, balanced, job-rich economic order. Global unemployment is at its all-time peak, especially in Europe and large parts of developing world.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo. Mayawati is unnerved at the prospects of her party at the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh scheduled in May 2017. After the BSP’s disastrous results at the Lok Sabha elections in May this year, the BSP chief made another mistake by not fielding party candidates in the by elections to the state assembly in September this year. The big success of her arch rival Samajwadi Party in the bypoll, has made the future of the BSP more critical.

It is unbelievable but true that there are as many as 3,000 obsolete, redundant or repetitive laws in India. There are over 300 colonial-era enactments in force, which are absolutely redundant. Some of these British-era laws are even derogatory to a particular group and hence remind us of the days of slavery.