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Every statue in the subcontinent is a political site, their erection a political act. This is perhaps true outside the subcontinent too. Mohandas Gandhi’s statue was unveiled in the Parliament Square of London, England. The statue was unveiled by Arun Jaitley, finance minister of the Indian Union and a senior member of a party that looks up to the RSS for political direction. The same RSS was banned by the Indian Union government in 1948, in the aftermath of Mohandas Gandhi’s assassination.

If the BJP was confident of winning the next year’s Assembly polls in Assam, it is doing everything that it should not do. Recently, Pradyut Bora, a member of the BJP’s National executive and a former convener of the party’s IT cell, resigned, criticizing the style of functioning of the Modi-Shah duo. Modi, he says, has damaged the party’s democratic image while Amit Shah was individualistic and authoritarian.

Several combined initiatives of the Union Government of India, the state governments, and the judiciary at the apex and High Courts to reduce delays and expedite disposal of cases have failed to deliver justice to the beleaguered litigating people of India over the years since Independence in 1947. The result has been manifold increase in the pendency of cases. As of now, there are over 3.5 crore cases pending in our courts with more than 4000 vacancies of judicial officers (magistrates/judges) in subordinate judiciary comprising 14,249 sub-divisional and district courts across the country. Situation in High Courts is equally worrying. The number of vacancies at any time is high.

LUCKNOW: After completing three years in the office on March 15 this year, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced that during remaining two years, his government would finish ongoing projects.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab politics has entered a new phase. A close look at the happenings indicates all-round decline in the norms. If the current trends persist, it may not take long before the situation becomes chaotic. Due to their intra-party and inter-party squabbles, the mainstream political parties are facing testing times. Topping the list are Akali Dal and its ruling partner BJP with the Congress closely following them.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam’s expression of ‘deep concern’ over the unfortunate incidents in the State Assembly on Friday, March 13, 2015, and his decision to send a report to the President on the unprecedented developments have sent the UDF Government into a tizzy.

Even a casual observer of the Indian scene would have noticed a diminution of the ardour of the Hindutva camp in recent weeks over spreading their ideological message.

Now that the insurance bill has been passed, is it likely to bring about a change in the landscape of India’s financial sector? It looks likely to work more in the long run than immediately.

If permanent peace has to be brought in Jammu and Kashmir, the hardliners and secessionists ought to be taken on board. Some of the steps taken by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed government within days of taking over are welcome. He directed the DGP to prepare a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of surrendered and released militants “so that they are integrated into the mainstream of the society.” He said these youth should be given a chance to settle down and lead a normal life as other citizens of the state and contribute to the society. These steps will motivate other separatist youth to give up path of violence and lead normal life, like their colleagues, who have surrendered and rehabilitated.

Relations between India and Pakistan have seen many ups and downs with intermittent breaks in friendship and outbreaks of tensions at the border or infiltration of terrorists. The relationship between these two major economies in the region has stalled the development process in South Asia. New Delhi’s indication to resume the stalled dialogue process has given a ray of hope. At the behest of Prime Minister Modi, the Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar began his SAARC Yatra. In the process he met his counterpart Aizaz Ahmad in Islamabad. Initial talks has been fruitful as per reports.