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So addicted has India’s power elite become to being treated as the proud representative of a rising great power embarked on an unstoppable march forward that it finds India’s declining global stature and influence in recent months simply incomprehensible.

Of all the parties, the Congress’ capacity to shoot itself in the foot is unparalleled. In 1989, it squandered a massive parliamentary lead through two foolish acts in the run-up to the general election. One was to negate a Supreme Court judgment in favour of a divorced Muslim woman in a crass attempt to appease Muslim fundamentalists. And the other was to open the doors of the Babri masjid, which were under lock and key since 1949, in order to please the Hindu fundamentalists. While trying to keep the bigots of the two communities in good humour, the party fell between two stools.

One of the latest welfare schemes to fall foul of 'Aapka Aadhaar'* is a prematric scholarship scheme for students from SC/ST/OBC communities. The scheme, administered by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, was launched with the intention of reducing the educational gap between backward and non-backward classes in India. That in stating its great concern for these students, the Ministry conveniently forgot to distinguish 'literacy' from 'education', and squarely located literate/educated women's participation solely within the domestic sphere, is a battle for another day.

The new land acquisition act, renamed The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, sounds more the essence of social reforms than a document for investment friendly policy. It recalls the labour laws, which pronounced more on protection to the workers than protecting the entrepreneurs from investment risks. The new land acquisition law is on similar heels to protect farmers’ interests than encouraging the entrepreneurs to set up their factories.

To fight the Trinamool Congress now or to wait for a better day — for the CPI(M) in West Bengal, that is a burning question.

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has asked the state governments to send their proposals for the implementation of the restructured Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) and PM’ New 15-Point Programme in the Minority Concentration Blocks (MCBs) at the earliest.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Lok Sabha elections only a few months away, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front(LDF) in Kerala is sitting pretty, thanks to the disunity in the rival United Democratic Front(UDF) headed by the Congress, whose image has been badly sullied by the solar and gold smuggling scams.

The alarming rate at which numbers of children of political leaders are swelling suggests a dangerous trend; dynastic politics is indeed playing a dominant role in the electoral process. The dynasties are no longer confined to the Gandhi family or Abdullahs in Kashmir, the Chautalas in Harnaya, the Patnaiks in Odisha, Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu and Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. They have been mushrooming in every part of the country.

NEW DELHI: Indian diplomacy is at a test of a challenge as a tug of war between India's diplomatic establishment and Tamil Nadu politicians continues over whether Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should attend next month's summit of Commonwealth Summit in Colombo.

New Delhi: India is deeply disappointed as the Maldives Elections Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq called off his country's presidential poll just an hour ahead of voting Saturday, citing technical wrangling over the electoral list by two candidates and lack of support from police.