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G-20, which was set up with the global aspiration for economic security after two major financial crisis, Asian currency turmoil in 1997 and Lehman shock in 2008, seems to have lost its genie. The 11th G-20 Summit at Hangzhou city in China ended in a paradoxical situation. While a broad agreement was reached for coordinated approach towards macroeconomic policies, little headway was made in the concrete proposals.

As the nation commemorated its 70th Independence this year, the one instrument and venerable institution that has withstood the vicissitudes of fortune from within and without the political system is the Indian Parliament. It was therefore a no surprise that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on being elected to the 16th Lok Sabha after a three-time stint as Chief Minister of Gujarat genuflected on the ground before entering the historic and hoary sanctorum which he described as the temple of democracy. It is now the mid-point of Modi’s meaningful move to Delhi with a catchy motto of Sabka Vikas that a dispassionate assessment about Parliament is not only due but also germane. This is all the more so in the wake of the Modi Sarkar’s alleged bias against diversity and dissent.

The cold war between the two brothers of Bihar, Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar has been the major impediment in the formation of the Left and Secular alliance in Bihar to challenge and stop the Modi Juggernaut in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It is unfortunate that the prospect of formation of the Left and secular alliance is caught into the vortex of the social justice. Notwithstanding the prevailing ground realities that only a combined political move can challenge the BJP and stop the Modi juggernaut, the two leaders are not making serious effort to bring the left and secular forces on a single platform.

It seems the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal (TMC) has gone into the celebration mode a bit too early , over the Supreme Court(SC) judgment on land acquisition at Singur .

G20 Summit held on September 4 and 5 was about everything but economics. Held as it was in the background of geo-political incidents and terror, the Hangzhou meet of the world’s largest economies saw discussions and queries about the future of Britain and implications of its exit from European Union. The underlying tensions over the South China Sea, where one littoral state is claiming its exclusive suzerainty over the entire expanse of the international sea, could not be suppressed. No less poignant was the issue of terror.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s “tears of joy” on hearing the Supreme Court’s Singur verdict returning the acquired land to the peasants may have been diluted by the realization that the judgment will not facilitate more investments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not be aware that one of India’s most strategic industries made a big financial and face loss, last year, mainly because of certain wrong policies of the commerce and power ministries in the last few years that allowed private sector power companies freely import heavy duty turbines, boilers, transformers and even turn-key projects, mostly from China. All those items are made in India. The Indian public sector company boasts best international quality standards and has a reasonably good export base. The innocent actions by the two ministries, apparently under pressure from some private sector electricity generators, have shaken the very confidence of India’s most diversified as also the top-of-the-order power equipment manufacturer, built by the government as an important adjunct to the country’s energy security and national security. Now, Merrill Lynch has downgraded the company’s long-term rating for bank loan facilities.

At long last, an end to Kerala’s long-standing demand for speedy development of railway infrastructure in the state is in sight.

Another G20 meeting is set to kick off this weekend at Hangzhou in China. Since the first one in 2008 in Washington, immediately in the aftermath of the global financial melt down, these have become just another occasion for the leaders to meet. The Group of 20 (G20) is the collection of the twenty largest economies of the world. They also happen to be the most assertive powers. If the first two or three were important for steering the global economy out of the deep financial crisis and the recession that followed, the latter ones have become a ritual.

Narendra Modi has completed nearby half of his five-year term as Prime Minister. Various news channels and newspapers have commissioned surveys to find out his popularity rating, achievements and failures. Off to a dazzling start when he took over in May, 2014, Modi’s popular support graph has now dipped sharply but he still continues to be more acceptable leader compared to Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha and Nitish Kumar.