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The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often seeking non conventional solutions to conventional issues and problems but unfortunately for the country, he is presiding over the structure that refuses to grow out of the conservative solutions. The subordinates manning the structure are unable to read what he intends. For nearly 40 decades, India has been spending half of its total import bill on imports of hydrocarbon fuels to meet its energy needs. Not only fuels consume considerable foreign exchange but they also entail huge costs involved in preservation of environmental purity.

After bombing Syria on the pretext of avenging chemical attack on the rebels, Trump also severed its personal relations with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Strange enough before making this decision Trump did not wait to weigh the pros and cons of his arbitrary decision. Certainly having a good relation with Russia would have helped Trump in a better way. Trump would have been credited with retrieving some of US glory and hegemony lost in the wake of Russia taking initiative on war against the terrorists and ISIS in Syria.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A debilitating body blow to the forces of communalism; and a morale-boosting victory for the secular parties. That is the unmistakable message delivered by the Malappuram by-election result.

With the dust settling down on demonetisation, several serious analysis have started appearing on whether it has served the purpose for which this major and unprecedented economic exercise was undertaken. As former RBI Governor Y V Reddy puts it, there has perhaps been no other policy decision that has affected the lives of a billion people directly and all at once. It is difficult to find a parallel in terms of the range of economic activities that have been hit by an economic policy decision. The end result seems to be none too encouraging.

A fraudulent political exercise under a self-confessed anarchist is coming to an end. The writing on the wall on the withering away of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) was seen in the Punjab and Goa polls. Now, the prognosis has been virtually confirmed by its resounding defeat in New Delhi’s Rajouri Garden by-election where the AAP candidate lost his deposit. It is now fairly certain that defeat stares the party in the face in the forthcoming Delhi municipal polls.

LUCKNOW: BSP supremo Mayawati is now willing take support from Samajwadi Party and be part of the grand alliance to take on BJP after humiliating defeat in recent assembly elections.

At last, the eight-year old crisis is giving way to global output and trade gaining momentum while India’s policy-makers seem to be making little progress with easing constraints to investment and growth revival to lift a stagnating economy, let alone job creation to write about.

Will the Opposition be able to unite to take on the BJP in the 2019 polls? This is a million-dollar question as it has been elusive although the opposition wants to make the 2019 polls as one of Prime Minister Modi versus the rest. Disunity in the opposition suits the BJP.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has introduced a Central sector project, Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) Scheme with an outlay of Rs.195.83 for the next three years beginning current financial year 2017-18. The Scheme will be financed from the Nirbhaya Fund.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is gratifying to note that the unfortunate recurrence of the war of words between the CPI(M) and the CPI has been halted with the call for restraint by both the CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and his CPI counterpart Kanam Rajendran.