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Passing legislation by resorting to suspensions is a kind of authoritarianism’. Knocking down the March 2 directive of the Supreme Court that said that the panel which picks election commissioners and their chief “shall” include the Chief Justice of India was clear manifestation of the autocratic mindset of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wanted to send the message that the judiciary, one of the pillars of democracy, was subservient to “him” and the Chief Justice was to take directives from the executive.

Prices of vehicles on-road vary vastly across the states in India, which not only encourages evasion of taxes but also makes the process of compliance cumbersome. Varied taxes imposed by the states is the main reason for this distortion and it must be replaced by a uniform road tax regime in the country. This is all the more important because India has the second largest road network in the world – 63.32 lakh kilometres.

Despite four rounds of prolonged talks, unity eludes, even on basic issues, potential partners in the much-hyped opposition alliance – famously christened INDIA – in east and northeast India. Major opposition parties of Assam and Bihar have rejected two proposals, one on seat-sharing and the other on projecting a “PM face” for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi renamed his official residence Lok Kalyan Marg in 2016. The new name reflected Modi's populism and inclination to shed India's colonial past. Beyond a strict security checkpoint, "Seven LKM" features peacocks and inner courtyards adorned with intricate flower arrangements. The premises itself has a meeting room with ceiling frescoes depicting world maps. The cabinet room bears inscriptions of excerpts from the “Preamble”.

At a time when there is an emphasis on India going for more free trade agreements, expert studies of India’s FTAs indicate that they have been more beneficial to its FTA partners than India. The studies by former senior economic adviser, H A C Prasad in collaboration with India’s Exim Bank clearly suggested that the partner countries have benefitted more from India’s imports than India exporting from those partner countries due to the preferential treatment provided under such trade agreements.

An unprecedented 146 Opposition Members of Parliament of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were suspended before the Winter Session of Parliament was cut short on December 21. This after the Modi government ensured the passage of several Bills including the one to replace the IPC and the CrPC with new criminal laws with the help of the “loyal” MPs belonging to parties like the BJD, YSRCP and the AIADMK.

CPI(M)'s West Bengal unit secretary Md. Salim’s assertion that the CPM will not campaign for INDIA bloc candidates in the 2024 general elections in West Bengal has landed state Congress leaders in more than a spot of bother for good reason.

For the last few years, the Narendra Modi-led Government has been empowering itself through changes in various laws relating to crime and evidence to such an extent that it can arbitrarily apply certain laws to raid, arrest, seize, detain, prosecute – even pardon anyone it may like to. The passage of three Bills – the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita – in the Lok Sabha on December 20, 2023 is the latest in the series, and which were summarily cleared through a voice vote.

Khela Hobe! That is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking a direct hit at the opponent’s goal post at the fourth INDIA meet in Delhi on December 19. Mamata pitted Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge against BJP’s public face Narendra Modi. With that, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be a one-on-one one act play between the "unbeaten" and the "invincible".

After the G20 flagged off the Global South at its New Delhi Summit earlier this year, hunger and poverty eradication will be back on the global centre-stage at the 2024 G20 Summit in Brazil. "Brazil's presidency offers something new: social issues, the fight against poverty and the resolution of the hunger problem,” Angola Sherpa Domingos Custódio informed other G20 sherpas.