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The recent cabinet reshuffle by the Prime Minster Narendra Modi handed the believers a big surprise. It was a deviation from the erstwhile Modi mantra– “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” – to the now in-practice “Maximum Government, Maximum Governance” – in the footsteps of former PM, Dr Manmohan Singh. It was a shift from the smallest government, of 45 council of ministers in 2014, to 77 ministers in 2016, even bigger than Manmohan Singh-led government.

Irom Chanu Sharmila, the iconic anti-AFSPA activist from Manipur, has created history. She was on hunger strike for 16 years, demanding scrapping of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). She sprang a surprise by announcing last Tuesday (July 26) that she would end her fast, contest elections and, if everything goes in accordance with her plan, she would marry her Goan-British boyfriend.

BHOPAL: Strange things are happening in Madhya Pradesh. Can one imagine a situation in which a Minister joins a group of legislators, which sought to gherao another minister? This unprecedented episode took place right on the floor of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hallmark of a genuine politician is the ability to exercise restraint in word and deed in the face of extreme provocation. The responsibility to do so is all the greater if the leaders belong to the ruling party. The CPI(M) leaders in the State seem to be failing to measure up to this standard if their recent statements are any guide.

Why is the South Indian superstar Rajinikanth such a big draw for politics as well as films? Come every election - Assembly or Lok Sabha - there is suspense about whether the matinee idol would jump into politics. He is still one of the biggest political draws in Tamil Nadu, though he has not openly been identified with any political party. Since 1996 when the Congress wooed him promising to make him to make him the chief ministerial face, almost all the parties have been knocking at his door. Declining this offer, ultimately Rajini supported the Moopanar (Tamizhaga Maanila Congress) -Karunanidhi (DMK) duo stating, 'If Jayalalithaa is voted back to power, even God cannot save Tamil Nadu.'

With global economic recovery ambling in a wobbly way, backlash against globalization and a potential retreat into protectionist fortress by country after country are looming large, casting a pall of gloom over the prospects of acche din for all.

The CPI(M) polit bureau member Brinda Karat was narrating the half truth when she said that the public thrashing of Dalits in Gujarat has the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “support to criminal activities” of cow protection committees. True enough, this was more than a criminal activity; it was in the chain of the organised violence by the Hindutva forces.

Some days ago, Bangladesh sent 10,000 tonnes of rice to quake-devastated Nepal by road, through the Siliguri-Phulbari-Banglabandha route. The cargo was not large enough to merit national media attention. But the event did signal the effective launch of the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Transport Agreement.

What is the solution of the Kashmir ‘problem’ which has remained unresolved for over six decades making it the subcontinent’s most costly dispute?

The cow is letting the BJP down. Although it has long been the saffron brotherhood’s revered animal, it has never been in so much in focus earlier. Instead, the subject of cow slaughter was only a part of a package whose main emphasis was on the Ram temple, the uniform civil code and Article 370 which gives a special constitutional status to Kashmir. A ban on cow slaughter was bracketed with issues like banning conversions by Christian missionaries.