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World Bank has revised upwards its earlier GDP growth estimate to 6.9 per cent for India this financial year on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and economic revival after Covid-19 mayhem. This is certainly music to the ears as India is perhaps a few countries looking up in otherwise gloomy global economy. Inflation is one factor, which is still daunting the economy and Reserve Bank of India has rightly taken measured monetary steps to bring it down to acceptable band. RBI has raised short-term repo rate, a barometer of interest rates, by a mere 0.35 per cent as against expectation of 0.5 per cent. This has been done to ensure that growth momentum is not severely hampered by going all out contain inflation. Consumer Price Index at 6.7 per cent is still higher than the RBI band of 4 plus-minus 2 per cent, but it has started slowing down. It is, however, still a source of worry as food and fuel inflation, which affects the poor most, are still high and are expected to continue for a few more quarters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the BJP to a massive victory in his home state Gujarat in the latest assembly elections. The Congress has faced its worst disaster in the state of Mahatma Gandhi in 2022 polls. Certainly, there are reasons for the BJP to rejoice but the way the BJP leaders including the PM as also the national media are projecting the results as the end of the Congress and possible sweep of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, lacks basis.

Delhi Municipal Corporation polls results on December 7 and Vidhan Sabha election results of Himachal Pradesh on December 8 should enthuse Congress on several counts chief of which is the shadowing of electoral prospects of its prime rival BJP, which has performed well only in Gujarat the home turf of PM Narendra Modi.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has revealed that it has tracked nearly 3,300 crypto accounts from April to November 2022 for illegal activities such as wildlife smuggling, drug trade, money laundering, and funding social unrest. The total illegal transaction through these accounts amounted to nearly Rs 28,000 crore, which took place between 2019 and 2021. FIU has been able to get 70% of these accounts closed while it’s working to get the remaining accounts closed. Some of them are on foreign exchanges and to get those accounts blocked FIU is coordinating with international agencies such as Interpol and Europol, among others.

A person like Jagdeep Dhankar, holding the coveted office of the Vice President of India, launching vitriolic against the Supreme Court on the issue of appointment of judges, even while the Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in all sincerity has already been carrying on the mission to insinuate the Supreme Court, has given rise to certain apprehensions about the actual intentions of the Narendra Modi government.

Driven by good performance compared to other sectors during the pandemic, agriculture has absorbed an additional 11 million workers over the last three years while the rest of the economy lost 15 million jobs, said the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Jobs apart, the question remains where does the surplus from the bumper crops gets accommodated.

What has happened in the Government New Law College in Indore and some other places is a disturbing pointer as to how the deep communalisation and polarisation in society is now affecting the educational system.

Gujarat for Bharatiya Janata Party. Himachal Pradesh went to Congress. Does that spell equal=equal, overall, neither party won, neither party lost? Delhi’s 'Big Boss' Aam Aadmi Party failed at both places. And that will rankle. One day right on top of the world, the other day, down in the dumps! Just like the freebies, gone in two minutes!

If the Qatar World Cup proved anything, it’s that sports and politics are inseparable Siamese twins joined at the hip.

The wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere have fueled skyrocketing U.S. and global arms sales. Those sales were already rising even before the start of the 10-month war in Ukraine. According to figures published this week, there have been seven straight years now of rapidly rising war profits.