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Power plant of Gujarat’s Adani group has emerged as the focal point of Adivasi anger in Jharkhand. The Government of Jharkhand wants thousands of farmers to give up their multi-crop fertile lands for a power plant that Adani Limited will set up. The plant which will sell its entire electricity produce to Bangladesh. On February 17, the state signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Adani Limited. It pledged to invest Rs 15,000 crore to set up the thermal power plant.

At a time when domestic airlines are becoming unhelpful in pushing forward the Government’s regional connectivity scheme (RCS), the NDA regime has found a way that is bound to create tension among the Indian carriers. The government is considering allowing operational and management control to non-airline foreign entities after they put in 100 percent FDI in a domestic airline.

BHOPAL: On an average, three farmers are committing suicide in Madhya Pradesh every day and the state has also the second highest deaths state wise in the country during pregnancy. With 625 deaths, MP is also fourth in student suicides I the country. What is worrying is that Madhya Pradesh records most suicides due to mental disorders - 1227 deaths. Apart, MP is second in the country for accidental deaths while Bhopal tops among megacities for crimes, rise in rapes and vehicle thefts.

India will be participating in the coming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a full member in the middle of 2017 after the completion of the procedural full membership formalities. This new role of India offers the Modi Government big opportunities to play a dominant role in the affairs of the Eurasian region, especially focusing on the expansion of the economic and trade collaboration among the member countries.SCO had originally six members- apart from China and Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are member countries.

Whither Punjab?

The question arises in the backdrop of the unabated downslide in state’s governance and economy, which gained some momentum during 2016. With less than two months to go for 2017 assembly elections, uncertainties continue to mar Punjab politics.

Bangladesh has acquired a new importance in India’s foreign policy in the context of China’s determined efforts at spreading its influence in India’s neighbourhood. The recent acquisition of two Chinese submarines by Bangladesh made the expected impact in South Block.

NEW DELHI: The Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has hailed the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, on misuse of religion, caste and language to gain votes in the elections and is of the view that the judgment should put an end to the long litigation used by some vested interests on the issue.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Habits die hard. That being the reality, the CPI(M) heading the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government in Kerala is back at playing the big brother and lecturing the allies!

There are winds of change in Tamil Nadu politics with both the Dravidian parties – the AIADMK and the DMK opting for a leadership change as the old leadership is fading away. While the DMK has its second - generation leaders in place, the AIADMK has none in the aftermath of the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa last month. So it is clinging to her long time companion Sasikala Natarajan in an emotional moment. Whether Sasikala could transfer that moment into a political moment is yet to be seen.

Government economists may disagree, the country’s GDP growth in 2016-17 may show a big drop by nearly one per cent, mainly due to the current cash shortage that has badly hit the small and medium scale industry. The year-end measures announced by the prime minister, including three to four per cent interest relief for low cost housing, full interest relief for loans for Ravi crop for 60 days and credit guarantee for small traders, followed by big lending rate cuts made by the State Bank of India and a few other nationalized banks may help improve the performance in housing sector, the farm sector and small industry to an extent, but they are unlikely to bring much relief to the economy as a whole for the current year and the next financial year.