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The world economy, India included, has relatively smoothly absorbed the initial shocks from UK referendum of June 23 to exit the European Union – other than a weakening pound. In part, this was helped by readiness of major central banks to intervene with needed liquidity, which has supported confidence in market resilience, according to IMF.

Will the attempts by India's ruling bhagva coterie to saffronise the country’s constitutional institutions and federal democracy through autocratic and dictatorial trends succeed? If one goes by last week’s two developments, the answer will be in the negative.

Sheila Dikshit will face her second humiliation in just over two years. After the Congress’s crushing defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections in February last year when the party couldn’t win a single seat, the former Delhi chief minister is now heading for another grievous political blow in UP in 2017.

One would hope that the Modi Government would step back from its self-righteous posturings in governance, challenged as it is on all fronts - political, economic, a truculent neighbourhood, and alarming rise in terrorism across regions. All this in the midst of a global economic turbulence and a new bout of inflation at home further dampening growth outlook.

BHOPAL: Inspired by the example of Bhutan, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced the creation of a department of happiness in the state government which will work for bringing happiness to the 7.2 crore people in the state. A hardcore saffronite, Chouhan said that his objective was to bring total happiness in the minds of the people of the state covering mind, soul and intellect and it will contribute to spiritual and philosophical enrichment. The cabinet decision taken on July 16 is a historic one in the sense that MP is the only state in the country to set up such a government department.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government, which got off to a good start by taking bold and people-friendly decisions, is in the dock over the Right To Information (RTI) issue and the controversial moves of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s legal adviser, M K Damodaran.

The union government’s decision to accept the seventh pay commission awards for central government employees and pensioners is most welcome. Though no one is too sure about the exact number of people to be benefitted by the salary hike in the absence of a single reliable roster for the purpose, it is said that the recommendations will benefit over 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners, of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh pensioners are from the defence forces. It has been roughly calculated that the pay commission award will mean a financial burden on the union government of over Rs.1,02,000 crore. The amount is hardly much as it accounts for only a little over five per cent of the union government’s total annual budget.

The BJP is facing really bad times in terms of its response to cooperative federalism. The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing the chief ministers at the meeting of the Inter-State Council, the saffron party got its second setback on Saturday when the rebel Congress MLAs of Arunachal Pradesh assembly went back to their parent party and supported the newly elected CLP leader Pema Khandu to form the Congress ministry in the state. All the bravado of the BJP came to a naught and the Party which was depending on the support of the rebel MLAs for forming its own government again, looked miserable.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ailing public sector units (PSUs) in Kerala are set to receive a shot in the arm from the new Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government.

The land-locked Himalayan state, Nepal, is into the throes of a constitutional crisis following the withdrawal of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) from the ruling coalition ministry with the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) –nominee Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the helm. CPN (M-C) has joined hands with the Nepali Congress (NC) in having filed a no-confidence motion against the Oli government, looking forward to the success of the motion and subsequent formation of a new coalition. The United Democratic Madhesi Front, which has been adopting a wait-and-watch tactic, has also signed the no-confidence motion , responding to the request from the NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN(M-C) supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The debate on the motion is scheduled to begin on July 21.