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BHOPAL: Defeat of the BJP in elections to three local bodies has given opportunity to dissidents in the ruling party to launch attack on the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Party Chief Nand Kumar Chouhan.

The Congress is playing a ‘bahu-beti‘ game in the poll bound Uttar Pradesh. Will this click when the electorate is tired of dynastic politics and looking for new faces? Only time will tell but certainly it may not harm the party. If any, it is likely to bring some dividends.

LUCKNOW: Impressive road show and unprecedented welcome of newly appointed UPCC President Raj Babbar and CM face Mrs Sheila Dikshit in the state capital on July 17 has boosted the morale of Congress leaders and workers.

China is hosting the G-20 Summit at Hangzhou on September 4 and 5, 2016 amidst widespread opposition by the G-20 members against its stand on the recent verdict by the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration nullifying China’s “nine dash line” territorial claim over much of the South China Sea. This is a very embarrassing position for China as the Chinese President is expected to focus on the theme of the G-20 summit “ Building An Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy” but the wide differences between China and the majority of the G-20 members will be apparent at the Summit since the issue is of international importance and some Asian members, especially Philippines, will surely raise the issue unless a prior understanding is reached before the summit to avoid the issue.

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.