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In a “business as usual” fashion, the UPA Government’s pre-budget discussions, now on, are mainly designed to keep up pretentions that this time-honoured consultative process would have great relevance for the budget strategy in 2013-14. Faithfully, agriculturists are called first for the Finance Minister to have the benefit of their wisdom, followed by labour leaders and next, as a concession lately, to the social sector activists.

Both the union finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India are waking up to the burden of gold imports on the Indian economy. After showing a little dip in gold imports, this is rising alarmingly once again. The total gold imports last year went up to $56 billion, up from over $40 billion in the previous year. This year so far, between April and September, gold imports notched up to over $20 billion. The reason why the government, as well as the RBI, are suddenly more active on gold imports is that the trade deficit of the country is rising alarmingly high and India could just as well face problems in meeting the external obligations.

After the expected outpouring of anguish and anger over the Delhi gang rape when demands for condemning the criminals to death were routinely made and Anna Hazare even called for hanging the rapists in public, there has been a restoration of a measure of sanity.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. Did we have everything before us? Did we have nothing before us? Beginning of the year is always the time for introspection. Taking stock of the past and making resolution for the future. Thereafter, we have the entire year to forget and repeat us all over again.

This column had, a month ago, referred to the state of health of the Punjab Congress and the Akali-BJP alliance. The context of the write-up was 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The write-up, however, had discussed the state of health of only the Congress. This week the column will deal with the state of Akali Dal and BJP and the present relations between the two ruling partners as also about their likely future relations.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPI(M) stalwart VS Achuthanandan is at again. After a brief lull, VS and the official wing of the State CPI(M) led by Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan are back on the confrontation course.

LUCKNOW: Sidelined by his own party, veteran Congress leader ND Tewari is helping Samajwadi Party and its leadership through his stay in Lucknow these days.

In a well-known story from Greek mythology, Callisto, a nymph of the warrior goddess Artemis (also known as Diana in Roman retellings), was raped by Zeus, the king of the Greco-Roman gods, while she rested in the forest, tired after a hunt. After the rape, Artemis exiles her, and Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife, turns Callisto into a bear. Wrenched from imminent motherhood, for a bear couldn’t raise a half-human, half-god child, Callisto is finally ‘rescued’ by Zeus out of pity and turned into the Great Bear constellation.