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An attempt is being made to destroy Jawaharlal Nehru University, one of the finest universities at a time when most public universities are not in best of health. Doubtless, JNU is India’s finest university. Its contribution to scholarship is well known and widely recognized; its importance to national intellectual life is undeniable. It has produced social scientists who are highly rated the world over. Its former students have been and are in the higher echelons of the government, bureaucracy, policy institutions and media. Many vice-chancellors, directors of research institutes and chairpersons of important academic are drawn from JNU.

Much is expected by way of strengthening the South Asian regional economy through the implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) seamless transport agreement, but its formal launch has been delayed.

The rail budget 2016-17, announced by the Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, in Parliament today (February 25, 2016), is high on rhetorics and low on ground reality with promises galore in view of acute financial crunch, as also on account of facts how the railways would mobilize resources of meeting massive challenges of high capital investments, as it is already under a debt trap and with ambitious challenges of its projected goals with the decennial increase in the pay and perks of railways work force under the Seventh Pay Commission awards having a potential of drowning the railways further deep under the debt trap. Another pertinent question relates to 15 percent rise in unit costs as well as service costs despite decreasing High Speed Diesel costs, benefits of which have not been given to the rail users in view of the professed policy of the Fuel Adjustment Cost (FAC).

The savvy accountant in the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has demonstrated adroitness in presenting his second major rail budget, after the one he unveiled last year laying out a visionary one for five years (2015-20). Last year budget laid the thrust on doubling and electrifying 10,000 km of railway tracks by 2020 entailing a massive outlay of Rs 8.5 lakh crore which was sought to be compassed mainly by roping in a variety of financial instruments other than the traditional route of budgetary support, internal resources generation and market borrowings through its own arm Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). In his more than an hour-long peroration, Prabhu promised that the railways would exploit “new sources of revenue so that every asset, tangible or non-tangible gets optimally monetized”.

Times could hardly be more unpropitious than at present for China to be at the helm of G-20 when Its own slowdown, tumbling asset market and volatile currency are adding to risks for even the weakened global growth getting derailed in 2016.

Haryana is boiling over the Jat quota agitation and it has an echo in Delhi and elsewhere with 19 lives lost apart from the economic damage of about Rs 200 crores. Agitation for caste- based quota is not new to India and many remember the 1990 Mandal agitation during the VP Singh regime.

BHOPAL: Yet another session of Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha began on February 23. Speculation is rife whether this session will be able to pay attention to various pressing problems of the people of the state or will end without transacting any business as happened in the past.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An outward show of optimism notwithstanding, all the Constituents of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) are rocked by seat-sharing problems.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a vent to his anguish while addressing farmers in Odisha. He spoke for the first time in 20 years of difficulties in governance. He even complained of efforts by vested interests and some NGOs to topple his government. It was apparent that he was disturbed by the recent events. He did mention that his attempts to root out corruption from politics and administration had aroused angers and attempts to topple his government. Media men immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was berating at opposition without naming anyone in particular. However his reference to aroused passions over his attempts to root out corruption is significant. Only power wielders are affected by tampering with levers of corruption from the system. Those in opposition or outside the administrative structures do not have opportunity or power levers to indulge in corrupt practices. Does it mean that he was hinting at the internal forces at work who were not allowing him to function with full authority and effectively?

What was feared is happening. Under the Modi-led government, India is facing an Emergency-like situation, or even worse. Dissenting voices are being suppressed. Goons in black robes thrash students, their sympathizers and journalists, including women reporters, within court’s precincts with the police watching as spectators. Short of acting like Gestapo (Hitler’s feared secret police force), the police has been turned into political arm of the ruling party at the Centre and in some states like Punjab where the Akali-BJP alliance is in power. Our leaders need to be reminded of the noted writer Salman Rushdie words “What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist”.