View Articles

Unless they happen to be part of the ruling dispensation at the centre, political parties in India mostly express only a token commitment to the concept of federalism.

The BJP is again firing all the shots, which brought it considerable success in the early 1990s. It’s a long list comprising, among others, Ram temple, uniform civil code and Article 370 – the three items on its Hindutva agenda which Atal Behari Vajpayee put on hold in 1996. Now that the known moderate – or mukhota (mask), as a saffron apparatchik said – is no longer active in public life – the party has evidently decided to turn the clock back to the days of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement.

New Delhi: India needs an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in forensic technology alongwith necessary measures to upgrade and modernise police force in the country to meet the challenges of internal security.

The global lobbyist for genetically modified (GM) crops, ISAAA, has now shifted its focus from advocacy for transgenic crops to the geo-politics of re-drawing political boundaries of countries.

We can see in the history of modern states that revolutions are sometimes followed by reactionary repulse. Bangladesh had her version of the tale in 1970s when the nation’s revolutionary birth was hugely offset by the resurgence of Islamist fundamentalist later that decade. By next two decades, these regressive forces consolidated their revival under the auspice of the military rulers and the centre-right political forces for sheer political expediency of the latter.

Land grabbers continue to be on the prowl in Punjab and Haryana. Last week’s two developments illustrate this. One was the indictment of VIPs by a Punjab and Haryana High Court panel for fraudulently grabbing village common lands, particularly on the periphery of Chandigarh. The other was the Akali-BJP government’s decision to develop Mullanpur, a township close to Chandigarh and name it as New Chandigarh. This has led to allegations that land mafia and influential politicians were behind the renaming decision.

New Delhi: The United States is likely press India to further open up its retail sector for foreign investment, effect changes in the law to recognize intellectual property rights and adequate protection for American investment during the visit of the US President Joseph (Joe) R Biden.

‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit’ — the Modi magic to mesmerise the foreign investors — witnessed less enthusiasm from them to pour their money into Gujarat than making formal commitments. During the five biennial summits between 2003 and 2011, the State Government claimed that MoU worth US $ 893 billion were signed for foreign investment in Gujarat.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The most valuable asset till a few weeks back, but a total liability now. That is the unenviable fate which has befallen Kerala chief minister Ommen Chandy, acclaimed by one and all as the Congress-led United Democratic Front’s USP. It is difficult to accomplish such a feat so fast, to borrow a Wodehousian expression. But Oommen Chandy has managed it, to the delight of his rivals within the party and the opposition.

One wonders if Narendra Modi may not himself become an election issue in the run up to May 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The evident from the way the Gujarat Chief Minister is bashing the Congress, and with the Sonia Gandhi-led party and the non-BJP leaders, in turn, hitting out at him. The war of words between the ruling UPA and BJP’s election campaign chief Modi is getting louder and fiercer every day. As the campaign proceeds, the chances are that it may boomerang on him. He may win a few verbal battles but loose a war.