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It seems the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal (TMC) has gone into the celebration mode a bit too early , over the Supreme Court(SC) judgment on land acquisition at Singur .

G20 Summit held on September 4 and 5 was about everything but economics. Held as it was in the background of geo-political incidents and terror, the Hangzhou meet of the world’s largest economies saw discussions and queries about the future of Britain and implications of its exit from European Union. The underlying tensions over the South China Sea, where one littoral state is claiming its exclusive suzerainty over the entire expanse of the international sea, could not be suppressed. No less poignant was the issue of terror.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s “tears of joy” on hearing the Supreme Court’s Singur verdict returning the acquired land to the peasants may have been diluted by the realization that the judgment will not facilitate more investments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not be aware that one of India’s most strategic industries made a big financial and face loss, last year, mainly because of certain wrong policies of the commerce and power ministries in the last few years that allowed private sector power companies freely import heavy duty turbines, boilers, transformers and even turn-key projects, mostly from China. All those items are made in India. The Indian public sector company boasts best international quality standards and has a reasonably good export base. The innocent actions by the two ministries, apparently under pressure from some private sector electricity generators, have shaken the very confidence of India’s most diversified as also the top-of-the-order power equipment manufacturer, built by the government as an important adjunct to the country’s energy security and national security. Now, Merrill Lynch has downgraded the company’s long-term rating for bank loan facilities.

At long last, an end to Kerala’s long-standing demand for speedy development of railway infrastructure in the state is in sight.

Another G20 meeting is set to kick off this weekend at Hangzhou in China. Since the first one in 2008 in Washington, immediately in the aftermath of the global financial melt down, these have become just another occasion for the leaders to meet. The Group of 20 (G20) is the collection of the twenty largest economies of the world. They also happen to be the most assertive powers. If the first two or three were important for steering the global economy out of the deep financial crisis and the recession that followed, the latter ones have become a ritual.

Narendra Modi has completed nearby half of his five-year term as Prime Minister. Various news channels and newspapers have commissioned surveys to find out his popularity rating, achievements and failures. Off to a dazzling start when he took over in May, 2014, Modi’s popular support graph has now dipped sharply but he still continues to be more acceptable leader compared to Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha and Nitish Kumar.

The importance of Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw’s recent visit to Delhi and his formal meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes far beyond the signing of a number of MoUs on Indo-Myanmar cooperation in various fields but should be seen in its wider context.

The US Presidential elections are scheduled on November 9 this year but the socialist Democratic Party leader Bernie Sanders has not waited till the elections are over and the new President is elected between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. He has announced as promised his immediate agenda through his organization” Our Revolution” which is the continuation of the electoral battle run by the Vermont Congressman against the establishment candidate Hillary Clinton for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Bernie has endorsed Clinton for Presidential nomination on the basis of the results in the primaries but he agreed only after Hillary and the Democratic Party establishment agreed to incorporate the majority of his demands in the programme of the future Democratic Party President.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi proposes to undertake a Maha Pada Yatra for 30 days from September 6 with a view to swing the fortunes of the party in the ensuing Uttar Pradesh elections. It will cover a total 223 assembly and 55 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. This follows the enthusiastic response in Varanasi on August 2 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi did a road show. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will be the trio who are expected to deliver UP this time.