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Nirmala Sitharaman seems to have graduated from being a mere union finance minister to a lofty “management guru” and a spiritual leader.

India’s neighbour Sri Lanka has elected the Marxist-Leninist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the next president in the intensely contested presidential elections held on Saturday, September 21. About 75 per cent of the total of 170 million population who voted, broke away decisively from the binary of two political formations through years and opted for the uncharted path of bringing the National People’s Power (NPP), coalition of 28 fringe left parties and civil society groups, to power at a time when the Sri Lankan economy is facing a major crisis.

It may look rather odd that the steel production in India, the world’s most populous country, reached only 140 million tons as against China’s output of 1.019 billion tons, last year. The main reason is that India’s housing and construction sector is not showing the robust growth which it badly needs. Such a growth will automatically push up the country’s steel and cement consumption. The infrastructure sector – both urban and rural – continues to be in a poor state.

The 'one nation one poll' idea is moving towards Parliament and public debate, with the Narendra Modi government deciding to force the issue last week. The cabinet decided to bring a bill to Parliament in the coming session. The concept has been debated many times in the past, but no political consensus has evolved.

Election campaign for the second phase of Jammu & Kashmir Vidhan Sabha Election on September 25 ended on Monday while it is nearing its peak for the third phase scheduled on October 1. All eyes are set on Pakistani refugee voters in the state who are going to poll for the first time since 1947 in the state (now Union Territory) elections. After abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India in 2019, they have been given voting rights for the first time. BJP hopes to gain from it, since it had given land rights to them just before the current election were announced, but can’t be sure of winning enough seat to form the government in the Union Territory.

The latest Quad Summit is largely seen as an effort by the US President Joe Biden to leave a lasting legacy. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi ticked all boxes, yet nothing substantial for India was gained at the summit, apart from the optics.

Wakf Board. Wakf land, Wakf property. Wakf claim. ‘Once Wakf, always Wakf’. There is enough Wakf to go around for everybody to share. But no, Wakf is limited-ownership. The Muslim can claim ownership of Hindu land, but not vice versa. Just like the PLA salami-slicing India at the LAC, the Wakf Board has been claiming ownership of India’s real-estate, plot by plot, for seven and a half decades. Makes you wonder why Jinnah had to seek a referendum for the creation of Pakistan!

The highlight of the bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Joe Biden in USA on September 21 was the agreement on the setting up of a semi conductor complex in Kolkata having potential of creating large number of jobs in main complex as also in ancillaries. This plant will focus on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecommunications, and green energy uses.

“No power on earth can bring back Article 370,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi roared in Jammu & Kashmir, apparently having regained some of his vitality after the “half defeat” on June 4. We hope to hear more of his return to form after he returns from the United States. If he meets former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, newshounds will go to town. In Jammu & Kashmir, the PM spoke his mind addressing a rally in Katra.

The junior doctors’ movement in West Bengal partially ended on its 41st day on September 20 Friday. The striking doctors joined their duties on September 21 in emergency services only in the state government run medical colleges and hospitals still keeping the OPD work and surgical operations out of their duty profile. The outcome of the protracted negotiations on the five point agenda submitted by the Junior Doctors Front, to the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have mostly been positive but the doctors body has indicated full joining only after the directives by the state health department are implemented on ground. It is apparent that the agitating doctors are waiting for the next hearing in the Supreme Court on the RG Kar medico’s rape murder issue scheduled on September 27.