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During the UPA-2 regime, there were jokes going around that the day’s Parliament session lasted as long as one needs to cook a two-minute “Maggie noodles”. Now that the Maggie noodles are in soup, one has to look for some other example. Unfortunately, most political parties have been adopting disruptive politics in the conduct of Parliament to gain public attention. The Congress is now following the practice of what the BJP did in the last ten years without realising the harm it is doing to the parliamentary practice. As President Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing Parliament some time ago: “Parliament functions through debate and not disruption”. The sooner the political parties realise this the better.

Manipur, especially the Imphal valley, is in the throes of an extraordinary mass movement around the Inner Line permit (ILP) issue, in the face of relentless curfews. Protesters have been killed and wounded by Khakis. That we do not hear more about it is because there is no senile “Gandhian” or Gurgaon candleholder or tricolour self-righteousness involved.

The world’s leaders are all set to adopt a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a United Nations (UN) Conference in September 2015 at New York, following the culmination of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that they set out in 2000. The 2000 Millennium Declaration was a veritable document that was filled with aspirations for a just and lasting peace, regard for human rights and fundamental freedoms and for nature. It also encompassed specific targets drawn from a decade of UN conferences; cutting in half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day (later raised to $1.25 in 2005 dollars); universal completion of primary school and gender equality in education enrollment; reduction of maternal mortality by three-quarters and of under-five child mortality by two-thirds and reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseases. These targets formed the core of six millennium goals, conjoined by a goal on environmental sustainability and one outlining a global partnership for development.

Leading the march to the Raj Bhavan in Patna on July 13, demanding immediate release of the caste-based census data by the Centre, the RJD chief Lalu Prasad had claimed that it was the beginning of the revival of the Mandal agitation and politics. He, however, did not underline the parameters within which the movement would be built. He also did not clarify the reasons for his optimism.

The dramatic developments in India-Pakistan relations after Ufa accord may surprise some but not those who are in know of the forces that dictate Pakistan’s relationship with India. The attempts that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi made to revive the stalled dialogue process were laudable. He met his counterpart Nawaz Sharif at the sidelines of the SCO Summit as a matter of diplomatic courtesy and agreed to resolve all outstanding issues.

Come October, representatives of one-third of humanity meet in New Delhi in what is billed as one of the biggest diplomatic events in the international calendar: the India-Africa Summit 2015. More than 1000 delegates are likely to participate in the five-day event, including heads of government, senior ministers, government officials and captains of industry. This is the Narendra Modi Government’s largest outreach programme since coming to power in 2013, with New Delhi hosting leaders of 54 African states. While programme sheets are yet to be finalised, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) indicate there may be several rounds of interaction between ministers from various countries in the run-up to the actual summitry of the heads of government. “Bilateral meetings are being scheduled for October 30,” Navtej Sarna, Secretary (West), said. Apparently, the MEA has dispatched invitations at three levels—head of government, foreign minister and senior officials—of each country.

Nine months to go before Tamil Nadu goes to polls in May 2016, DMK of Mr M Karunanidhi and other Dravidian outfits and fringe parties are out-rivaling one another for a power grab, even as ruling AIADMK looks impregnable with Chief Minister Ms Jayalalithaa’s undiminished hold on the masses and with fewer signs yet of anti-incumbency on the electoral horizon.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala CPI Secretary Kanam Rajendran’s statement that the time has come for the left parties to have a relook on secularism has touched off a lively debate in the state’s political circles, especially among the left parties.

Should holders of constitutional offices or seats of power own/run private businesses? Should they use the power, bestowed upon them by the offices they hold, for amassing assets or for helping their favourites facing legal action? The spate of recent controversies involving some of India’s leading political figures holding high seats of power have given rise to these questions. Such ‘luminaries’ who find themselves in the dock include Union Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje and her MP son and Punjab’s ruling Badal family.

Narendra Modi’s hope that India will emerge as the world’s “human resource capital” via his “Skill India” projects just as China has become a global manufacturing hub may not be fulfilled if the government continues to impose a RSS-inspired writ on educational and other institutions.