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What is unique of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress vice president? What does he have which no one else in the Congress possesses? Why is it that politicians with a long innings of public life find him irresistible and are always ready to show or shout their respect for him? Could it be because he too decided to accept the poison of power like Nilakantha who drank the poison that came out while gods and asuras were churning the ocean in search of amrita? More about poison later but why are the Congress politicians so enamoured by the leadership of Rahul Gandhi?

Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as Congress vice-president after the party’s two-day chintan shivir in Jaipur was an organisational non-event. He was already functioning as the party’s Number Two, and there wasn’t an iota of doubt that he would succeed his mother in conformity with the dynastic principle. The true significance of his new appointment is political and twofold.

The Reserve Bank of India has after a 9-month interval, cut the key policy lending rate (repo) from 8 to 7.75 per cent, with immediate effect, nudging its monetary policy stance to arrest the loss of growth momentum in the economy, on the back of a moderation in inflation conditions in the second half of the current fiscal year. The reverse repo, marginal standing facility and bank rates would correspondingly stand reduced to 6.75, 8.75 and 8.75 per cent respectively.

Social scientist and psychologist Ashis Nandy is in trouble again. By suggesting that the backward castes, Dalits and Adivasis tend to be more corrupt than other communities, he has predictably stirred a hornet’s nest with the Dalit czarina, Mayawati, calling for his arrest under the SC/ST Act.

Times come when it is imperative for every government to introspect and take corrective steps to stem the rot in its functioning. Punjab’s Akali-BJP government which is set to complete first year of its second tenure on March 6 also needs to introspect as a number of controversies have hit its performance in both governance and political arenas sullying its image.

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress circles are worried more about the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s plans to launch their “final struggle” to achieve a separate State in Darjeeling hills, than a possible revival of the Left opposition in West Bengal.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is resuming operations in Myanmar, with an assistance package for social and economic development that is designed to build a solid foundation for further reforms to alleviate poverty and foster growth.