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The similarity between what took place in Hyderabad central university last month and is happening now in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is obvious.

In the Railway Budget 2016-17 to be presented by the Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu on February 25, 2016 in Parliament, people of India expect various reforms to be announced with a resolute commitment to implement them for capacity expansion, improvement in passenger amenities where no measures announced so far have worked to the satisfaction of rail users, further measures for resource mobilization to implement the 7th Pay Commission awards, how to save Indian Railways from impending debt trap, lukewarm response of private investment in the railways, meeting challenges of a balance between railways social responsibility and commercial viability, and some other imperative challenges facing the railways to save it from corporatization.

Our van hurtled down the serpentine road from the Hastagiri peak, one of the three peaks in Bhavnagar district, after two hours in the octagonal Jain temple complex under construction for four decades. The marble complex is grand with the main temple for Rishabha Dev, the first Tirthankara and the founder teacher of Jainism at the top. It is spread out over half a million square feet area with three stories of Jain temples of marble.

Historically, we are pretty accustomed to seeing Indian awards and controversies go hand in hand. Come January, there would be absolute chaos once the padma awards are announced. Well, this year was no different, the awards did not fail to surprise us and they did live up to their innate reputation of being diabolical. So, have Indian awards lost credibility? Did they ever have it in the first place? I personally believe that it would be only fair to comment once we scrutinize the award process from layman’s perspective.

The myth of Narendra Modi’s invincibility, especially after the debacle in Delhi and Bihar, has been busted at last. It also comes ahead of crucial events like the Union budget later this month and the coming assembly elections in five states this year. The party has apparently reset its only Modi strategy. In Assam, the party named a chief ministerial candidate, while in West Bengal, by all accounts, it will rely less on Modi, more on its local leadership. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the party will adopt the same strategy. Clearly, the NDA allies feel embolden to seize this moment when the BJP’s winning streak appears to be dented and the party seems pushed onto the back-foot in terms of politics and strategy.

The contentious domicile policy for Jharkhand has not only exposed the ideological bankruptcy of the political establishment of the state on the issue of how to accomplish the task, it has also created a sharp division in the intellectuals and academics whether it would benefit impoverished indigenous tribal population or only end up destroying the state’s social fabric and tribal culture.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The mission to Kerala of Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi to ‘put the Congress house in order’ has come a cropper.

LUCKNOW: Much significance is being attached to by-elections for three assembly seats scheduled on February 13. The results of these by-elections in Bikapur, Deoband and Muzaffarnagar will set the tone for 2017 assembly polls for Uttar Pradesh.

India, and indeed the world, awaits on how our 'fastest-growing economy' would at last move forward in the new fiscal year 2016-17, from a two-year slough, amid major reform hurdles at home and convulsions in global financial markets, which together keep investors wary and domestic corporates in a bind.

In a swift move the BJP has reached out to its asserting allies with the party President Amit Shah assuring them that the party was keen to follow the coalition dharma. This damage control exercise this week ahead of the crucial budget session of Parliament had somewhat mollified the allies who were irked with the BJP’s what they call arrogant behaviour.