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LUCKNOW: BJP is unnerved with the possibility of a grand alliance (mahagathbandhan) of opposition parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Indian Establishment is perpetually in a state of denial. Self-denial has almost become a state policy, except that it has not been written into the Constitution’s directive principles. One may argue that there is nothing wrong with complacency as long as it gives a sense of contentment and security. But when it is a false sense of security, it lands us in a dangerous situation. A good part of India’s problems actually stem from this self-denial mode that we have placed ourselves in. The first step towards solving any problem is recognizing that it exists. But we are adept at dealing with a problem not only by ignoring it but vehemently denying that anything like that exists at all.

Ever since, former governor Raghuram Rajan had underlined the need to clear up the air over sticky loans of India’s public sector banks, the issue has come out of the closet. Earlier, bad debts were usually swept under the carpet and not openly talked about. The banking secrecy laws were invoked and no actual references could be made. No names were disclosed of those who had taken loans and were not returning, whether wilfully or accidentally.

A week after the shock defeat of the Tories in the general elections, the British politics continues to undergo great churning. While the Prime Minister Theresa May is busy cobbling a majority with the ten members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the most discredited political Party in the United Kingdom, the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is going from strength to strength in the post-election period. The latest survey done by the pro-Tory The Telegraph newspapers projects a lead of five per cent in favour of the Labour as against the Tories if the elections are held now. The other surveys are projecting higher leads in favour of Labour Party thereby indicating that the popular mood is now favouring a change.

A few months earlier, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump would have had more in common than at present. They would have been of the same mind, for instance, in their castigation of Islamic terrorism. More than any other US president, Trump has been severely critical of the threat posed by the jehadis, which made one of his spokespersons name Pakistan as a country which might be placed on the list of those whose citizens were being forbidden to enter America.

A Parliamentary Committee on Demonetisation has submitted its report, which will be tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament . Accordingly, the report calls demonetisation a blunder. Not a single objective has been met, it reportedly says.

The death of Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang, the 77 year old leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) faction named after him, puts a question mark on the future of rebel movements in north-east India.

With barely a fortnight to go, the lingering question with a significant import on the efficient functioning of the domestic economy pertains to whether the much-ballyhooed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is wrapped and ready for rollout on the deadline of July 1 as devoutly desired by the Centre? This is particularly so today as still a couple of States/UTs including major producer State like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with the latter demanding the postponement for at least a month of this important indirect tax reform that potentially unifies a plethora of Centre/State/local levies to render ease of doing business within the country a bit smoother.

Rajnath Singh has seen the light, but will his party and the Parivar see it? “Our party is not telling anyone what to eat, what to wear,” the Union home minister has said in an interview. The reason, he explained, is the country’s “pluralism”, adding that “we understand the reality that there is cultural diversity”.

The Middle East crisis, which has seen the diplomatic isolation of Qatar last week, is expected to impact tourist traffic to Asia, particularly Indonesia, which is very popular destination among Middle East and European tourists. The country fears that this could lead to a drop in its foreign exchange earnings from tourism. Bali, the single largest tourist destination of Indonesia, has been receiving some 400,000 visitors via Qatar, of which 70% are tourists.