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Like an incompetent carpenter who blames the tools for his bad work, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has started playing the victim card having failed to keep his promises made to the people and provide a people oriented governance. Modi has come to realise that his popularity and charisma were on the wane and people were turning indifferent to what he says, he was in desperate need to start the operation salvage. Incidentally he used his Telangana visit to spruce up his image.

Global investment banker Morgan Stanley may have predicted the current decade as India’s following economic slowdown in China. But, the Indian economy is not growing as fast as it should. Large foreign direct investments (FDI) seem to be fighting shy of India’s highly price sensitive economy. The complexities of an uncertain and volatile regulatory landscape continue to be an issue. Potentially, India could become a factory to the world. However, the government is not doing enough with regard to the ease of doing business. Land acquisition with clear titles to build large manufacturing ventures continues to pose a problem. The costs of energy and transportation are high. In many states, contractors need to deal with local political mafiosos. Although FDI in manufacturing has lately increased, the world’s fastest growing large economy is yet to attract many large multi-billion-dollar investment offers from big transnational corporations to make the country a global manufacturing hub. The global investment banker’s report appears to be somewhat over-optimistic about India’s immediate economic future.

The first major indication of the Supreme Court thinking on the reservation issue was available in the apex court’s judgment in the Maratha reservation case of 2021, although the substantive issue raised in that plea was different from the court’s latest stand in the 10 percent quota for economically weaker sections.

In Meghalaya, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as a small entity within the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, starts its pre-2023 Assembly poll campaign with a handicap against rival, the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Led by former Congress leader Mukul Sangma, the TMC has 12 members in the 60-strong state Assembly and leads the opposition against the MDA coalition leader NPP (National Peoples Party), headed by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav is facing biggest challenge to defend Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat lying vacant after the demise of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav who recently passed away. Taking this challenge seriously Akhilesh Yadav decided to field his wife Dimple Yadav to face the by-election scheduled for December 5. Akhilesh is aware that the fate of Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-election will also impact the course of Samajwadi Party in crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Humanity is on a “highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”, the UN secretary general has warned, saying ‘the fight for a liveable planet will be won or lost in this decade.’ He told world leaders at the opening of the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt, “We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing … And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”. He warned the world faced a stark choice over the next fortnight of talks: either developed and developing countries working together to make a “historic pact” that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set the world on a low-carbon path – or failure, which would bring climate breakdown and catastrophe.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hit all the right cords when he spoke virtually with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, at a meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-Level Joint Committee last month.

With the Election Commission firing the starter’s gun for the Gujarat assembly elections, one thing is clear. The real fight is over who is best positioned to challenged the multi—decade positioned political hegemony of BJP. Will it be AAP or Congress?

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India Chandrachud have two years facing each across the aisle. The rightwing Prime Minister, and the left-liberal CJI described as progressive and ’woke’. Head to head, the two are as different as chalk and cheese, and the stuff on Chandrachud’s plate could taste bitter to the Prime Minister if circumstances forced him to take a bite!

Panchkula: Ridhima Dilawari, fired stunning bogey free final round of 66 to win the 14th Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Friday.