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Shelving of the disinvestment programme of the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) the Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) soon after postponing planned disinvestment programme for another PSU the Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has brought the national attention not only to reexamine the merits and demerits of the Modi government’s overall disinvestment programme, but to find out the real intention behind it apart from the competency of the government officials dealing with the matter.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has struck a big blow to the efforts of the opposition parties towards forming a combined front to take on the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Gandhi said in the Congress Chintan Shivir in Udaipur that the Congress is the only alternative to the BJP and the regional parties cannot be the face of the opposition. His view is that the regional parties have no ideology and the only the Congress, with its strong ideology, is in a position to fight the BJP.

Union Government in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has raised concern over failure of the States/Union Territories (UTs) to adopt Model Prison Manual 2016 for improving jail administration and security of jails. In this connection, a circular of May 2, 2022 to States/UTs points out that given the importance of prisons in criminal justice system, the Government of India has been sharing with States/UTs the latest guiding principles, best practices, directives of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and recommendations of Parliamentary Standing Committee for efficient prison administration.

Following the 1857 so-called Great Indian Rebellion during the rule of the East India Company, British monarch Queen Victoria, issued a proclamation in 1858 that India would be governed by and in the name of “the Crown”. Thus, the British territory of India (the State) and the British Government of India, were embodied in the British Monarch.

Media has been writing and talking of “KCR’s gambit” from way before the Telangana state was born. That first gambit succeeded and, today, Telangana is India’s youngest state. It is said that KCR led the way for the formation of Telangana from the front from the word ‘go’. Then, in the year 2018, KCR took another gambit. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao dissolved the assembly and resigned.

The Chintan shivir is not the panacea of the malaise that inflicts the Congress. Significantly, Congress under Sonia Gandhi has been regularly holding such shivirs. But the shivirs have failed to rejuvenate and revitalise the organisation and provide a new direction. On the contrary the party has been consistently drowning in the quagmire of lack of political will and ideological disillusionment. It is noticed that the internal bickerings raises its ugly head after these shivirs.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A new political outfit has burst on Kerala’s political landscape. The latest addition to the plethora of political organisations the State parades has been made by the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and the corporate-backed Twenty20, which have joined hands to challenge the two principal political fronts dominating Kerala’s political landscape for long.

Where does Congress go from Udaipur Chintan Shivir? Was the conclave an exercise in futility, or will it revive the party? It all depends on the implementation of the decisions taken at the conclave.

The seismic shift in the global crude oil market has begun to take effect. This is expected to manifest in tightened crude markets as well as unprecedented shifts in trade flows, most notably of Russian oil from Europe to Asia. Russia is expected to redirect as much volume as possible to alternative markets an d India, along with China, would be key players in this shift.

India’s record of taking up labour issues in a progressive manner predates the observation of May Day, on May 1, 1891, as the first international Labour Day. In 1884, seven years before the commencement of May Day celebrations in 1891, Narayan M. Lokhande, hailed as the father of trade union movement in India, founded the Mill Hands Association, constituting the beginning of the labour movement in India. In the absence of any safeguards for their safety and security, workers were forced to work in harsh and unhealthy working environments, and suffered untold misery and exploitation. Moved by their plight, Lokhande launched a movement against mill owners, and exerted pressure on them to concede to their demands for fair wages, a healthy working environment, and protection of their rights and liberties.