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The 18th Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held from April 19 to June 1 this year in seven phases have assumed historic importance in the past 73 years of the functioning of parliamentary democracy in India since the holding of the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951-52. The Narendra Modi government in the last ten years has eroded the basic ethos of the Indian constitution and has extended its authoritarianism to facilitate an opposition-mukt Lok Sabha polls.

Having arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal in an excise case on March 21, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now begun raids at Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner on March 27. The latest ED action is largely perceived as political in the state as it has come only after the BJP state chief Sunil Kumar Jakhar’s demand for a probe into Punjab’s excise policy as well. Similar to the action in Delhi, Punjab’s excise policy has been under ED’s scanner for quite some time now, but the actions being taken by Modi government just before the Lok Sabha election have made people to believe it political and AAP its victim. The more AAP governments are targeted, the stronger they are becoming with public sympathy.

The big noise about electoral bonds will in all probability end up in a whimper like the investigations into the 2G spectrum scam, both of which can be compared in terms of scale and the extent of mischief. Both scams are likely to remain a dark symphony of secrecy, favours, and hidden agendas in contemporary Indian politics.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s walls are caving in. His multiple battles fall into two categories: keeping his increasingly fragile government in place and fighting a war he has already lost in the court of public opinion and possibly on the ground in Gaza if measured by the prime minister’s war goals.

Acting US Deputy Ambassador Gloria Berbena was at the receiving end of New Delhi’s ire after the US State Department spoke its mind on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Both the US State Department and Gloria Berbena gave Modi’s millions a chance to thump their “56” chests” as India’s Ministry of External Affairs expressed its “strong displeasure" at the United States’ affront to interfere in India’s internal affairs. But, if Kejriwal is granted bail by the Delhi High Court, will it be termed "foreign interference in India's internal affairs"?

Hype created by the urban middle class “andhabhakts” that Narendra Modi is invincible and he is the redeemer has few takers even within the rank and file of the BJP. Barely a month back, Modi came up with the slogan “Teesri baar Modi sarkar, abki baar 400 paar”, passing it off as the creation of the common people of the country, the voters.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its Chairperson, Arvind Kejriwal, owe their political incarnation to the anti-corruption movement of 2011. The movement's epicentre was Delhi and it brought together intellectuals from diverse fields – bureaucracy, law, teaching, banking, fine and performing arts, sports, films, and social work. Successful people from diverse backgrounds came together to create a political party where the central ideology was eradicating corruption. Barely ten years after AAP's inception, its founder and central figure, Arvind Kejriwal himself, is facing corruption charges while three of his colleagues — Satyendra Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh — are already in judicial custody for several months.

A woman laughing uninhibitedly, her head thrown back, hair fanning about her. Two women lolling by the river enjoying an unguarded moment. A girl clutching a lap top in a starch cottage. Kalbelia dancers from Rajasthan applying makeup on their faces.

Gurugram: Former champion Anirban Lahiri on Tuesday admitted he was ‘desperate’ to regain the title, as he gets ready to tee up at the Hero Indian Open on Thursday.

At a time when India is baffled by China’s preposterous and farcical claims over the state of Arunachal Pradesh, its government-owned Sanghai Automobile Industry Corporation, commonly known as SAIC Motor, has joined hands with billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group to manufacture passenger cars and commercial vehicles in India. China is aspiring to have a substantial presence in India’s automotive sector despite government restrictions on equity control. China seems to have opened two fronts to tackle India.