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Indians have long, and rightly, taken pride in the robustness and durability of their country’s democracy (interrupted only during the Emergency), and the relatively apolitical nature of its armed forces. India stands in sharp contrast to many Third World countries where the military has meddled in politics, or defied and suborned the civilian leadership, or directly usurped power.

The world economy is in low gear in 2013 with mixed signals—a gradual strengthening in advanced nations, notably USA, however detracting from its fiscal stand-off and shutdown for the second week, and a significant weakening in emerging market countries after the cyclical peaks of 2000s. The latter now face the dual challenge of slowing growth and tightening global financial conditions (with the rising long-term interest rates).

Since Manmohan Singh’s reputation has been taking a beating from the time of the spectrum to the Commonwealth Games scams and finally to Coalgate, the latest snub from Rahul Gandhi will not mean much to him. His refusal to resign shows that he does not mind being pushed around by the dynasty. So, it isn’t the prime minister whose position has been undermined so much as that of Sonia Gandhi.

New Delhi: India has decided to defend its assistance to public stockholding of foodgrains and distribution of subsidised food to the poor which has come under attack by developed countries like US, Canada and the European Union at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

New Delhi: India and the 10-nation ASEAN body are likely to sign a free trade agreement on services and investment towards the end of 2013. It will be implemented by July 2014.

Just when the Chinese army’s incursions in Arunachal Pradesh have become deeper and more frequent, the people of Arunachal in a rare example of solidarity cutting across party lines, have demanded that New Delhi take up with Peking the question of ‘Reaching a permanent solution that is favourable to the Tibetan people (which) will be most beneficial to India and the security of Asia.’

In West Bengal, 28 months after its comprehensive defeat in the State Assembly polls, the Left Front is yet to find its feet.

In the most murderous attack on what is left of the ever-terrorised Christian population in Pakistan, Islamic terrorists killed at least 85 worshippers at the All Saints Church in Peshawar on 22 September. Inspired suicide bombers were the weapon of choice to target the Christian congregation. The death count is still rising, as more people succumb to their injuries in the hospitals. Outright murder represents the sharpest edge of what Christian and other ‘constitutionally’ non-Muslim people endure in Pakistan. Their daily life in a nation-state that officially considers them unequal in various ways to official Muslims is not pretty. Usurpation of property, blasphemy charges, attacks and destruction of places of worship, rape and subsequent forced conversion (or the reverse order) of womenfolk form the visible tip of a much broader systemic antagonism.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the powerful ally of the Congress in the United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition Government, is at it again.

The Congress leadership has, at last, committed the bloomer; it cleared the creation of separate state of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. These days the leadership is making mistake after mistake. Whole world, even a child, knew that dividing a prosperous state like Andhra Pradesh would be a mistake; even the Congress General Secretary in charge of party affairs in AP, Digvijaya Singh, had told Sonia Gandhi, in no uncertain terms, that carving of Telangana would be a mistake but his advice was of no avail. Party Vice- President, Rahul Gandhi, deputed his own emissary to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and he acted on his advice which was, of course, misleading.