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Every major international airline from almost every part of the world wants to expand operation in India, The country is witnessing the world’s biggest air traffic growth at over 23 per cent since the end of 2015. In January, this year, the domestic air traffic grew to an all-time record of 25 per cent. Some of the Gulf countries are even lobbying with the government for permission to operate on India’s domestic space making such unusual demand as allowing operational rights in highly security sensitive north eastern parts of the country. Unfortunately, airlines from India are struck with limited routes and limited passenger ferries to and fro the country. And, the domestic air traffic business is being increasingly cornered by foreign-linked airlines operating in and out of India on the sly mostly through joint equity ventures with local private promoters. India’s so-called local airlines such as Jet Airways, Indigo, Vistara and Air Asia are effectively foreign controlled irrespective of their official equity holding structure. Some are even operating out of foreign hubs. Vested interest groups are constantly lobbying with the government for privatisation of India’s own national flag carrier, Air India, which, thanks to the government’s civil aviation policy, has long lost its dominant market position to other foreign-linked locally-registered airlines such as Indigo and Jet Airways.

At long last, we’re talking about policy. It took the leaking of Labour’s manifesto late on Wednesday evening to get there — an event which many believe was a work of tactical genius from inside Jeremy Corbyn’s office. I am reliably informed it was not, and a river of leaks from party headquarters has characterised the last two years, but nonetheless the results were positive. The leak allowed headlines to be hogged by radical Labour policies like abolishing tuition fees, strengthening trade unions and nationalising the Big Six energy firms and the railways.

One wonders if Aam Admi Party is heading towards liquidation? The party, which came to power in Delhi with a bang, has been scattering. Is APP supremo and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who sore by clean politics, really corrupt or false charges have been made against him? Charges are made by those who were removed by Kejriwal from the ministry or suspended from the party on charges of poor performance and corruption. Former minister, Kapil Mishra has alleged that CM had accepted Rs. 2 crore from Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain in his presence. After Mishra was suspended from the party, he leveled fresh charges, alleging that a Rs. 50 crore land deed had been arranged for the family of Kejriwal’s brother-in-law.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Sonrise’ has caused problems for many a political party and politician. The latest victim has been the Samajwadi Party and its founder, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Late last month, the National Board of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, organized by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) including khadi/coir with all States and Union Territories’ Ministers and Secretaries met in the Capital. With a welter of as many as fifteen items on the agenda, the most significant discussion pertained to the far-reaching recommendations of the one-man Committee headed by the former Cabinet Secretary. Mr. Prabhat Kumar.

In the last few days, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been very active talking to a number of opposition leaders about the need for a common opposition candidate for the Presidential nomination. The election for the new President is due in July this year and the BJP has already contacted and garnered support from some of the non-NDA parties including YSR Congress. Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the largest opposition party, has to take immediate measures to consolidate the unity of the anti- BJP parties who are already supporting her move. Simultaneously, she has to initiate moves to ensure that some of the non-BJP parties who have been maintaining distance from the Congress led opposition, are persuaded to join the opposition camp to defeat the candidate of the BJP led NDA.

James Comey was unceremoniously fired on May 9 from his job as director of the FBI. A lot of talk on cable TV and on the Internet last night compared the Trump termination of Comey to Nixon’s historic Saturday Night Massacre, the night Nixon fired one person in the Justice Department after another until he could find someone who would dump Archibald Cox, the prosecutor who was relentlessly investigating the president himself.

The month long campaign launched against the RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to marginalise him in Bihar as well as in national politics and frustrate his attempt to bring together the democratic and secular forces on a single platform to oppose the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a weird turn with the CBI putting in operation its plan to discredit him ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

During the Trinamool Congress rule, West Bengal and Kolkata police forces have evolved an unorthodox method in the sphere of criminal investigation. The Khagragarh bomb explosion in October 2014 was the first example of this, followed by a similar ‘official probe’ into another major blast at Pingla, Midnapore six months later.

The endgame of five year planning begins with Three Year Action Agenda (TYAG) from 2017-18, a short term economic programme. This has been drawn from the perspective of 7 year economic strategy under the umbrella of 15 year vision. The newly appointed NITI Aayog – a powerful think tank of India, replacing Planning Commission –pitched for a pragmatic approach with short term policy to reshape the country’s growth amidst the global uncertainty.