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The implementation of the four labour codes gets complicated and there is no sign that Modi government will be able to roll these out. Hurdles are many in the way: All states are not yet ready with their rules; SP Mukherjee Committee will not be able to come out with its report on minimum wages before September; the organizations of employers and industries have raised their concerns on two of the Codes; CTUs have hardened their stance demanding scraping of the codes; apprehension within the government about the political fallout of implementation and divergence of views regarding time and manner of the rolling out of rules.

Congress leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is emphatic that the Opposition’s Margaret Alva will by far be a better Vice President than the BJP’s Jagdeep Dhankar. Kharge should be forgiven for his loyalty to the Opposition’s cause. And the Opposition’s cause is a sacred oath in these days of unbridled Modi power.

A clear win in 15 out of 20 seats in the bye-elections to Punjab provincial assembly by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has unnerved the 13-party ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement. It indicates that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is not at all formidable in its home turf. It was thrashing late swinger by the former Pakistan cricket team captain to trounce the PDM. Elections took place in the constituencies which fell vacant after the de-notification of dissident members of PTI in the provincial assembly. Almost all who defected to the PML-N from PTI were defeated, suggesting strongly that ‘Kaptaan’s political base remains strong vis-à-vis PML-N in Punjab.

From an irate Lord Hanuman depicted on car windows to a snarling version of the age-old Asokan emblem, the signs of India discarding the old benign, Nehruvian era and entering an aggressive Hindu civilizational phase are all too evident under the new ruling dispensation.

The best way to stabilise the Indian Rupee is to contain inflation and imports. Simply put: the inflation rate should be below four percent and the country’s massive annual trade deficits need to be reduced to zero. The country should totally focus on making goods in India to reduce avoidable imports and try to push up exports — from farm products to manufactured items. The Reserve Bank’s so-called "conscious effort to internationalise the Rupee” by encouraging global trade payments in Rupee may be of little use if the country’s imports continue to far exceed exports and the central bank shies away from raising bank rate substantially to control inflation.

New Delhi: TATA Steel PGTI has announced a strong line-up of 14 events between August to December with the prize money in excess of Rs. 11 -crore thereby taking the season’s total prize purse to over Rs. 18 -crore.

New Delhi: Ace racer Jehan Daruvala will take part in a second two-day Formula One test with former champions McLaren at the Portimao circuit in Portugal next week.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the western sanctions against Russia for its Ukraine invasion is hurting Europe more than these were meant to harm Moscow. While a guaranteed energy crisis is staring Europe on its face due to the stoppage of gas flow from Russia, even creating the scare of rationing of natural gas to meet winter heating demand, Russia’s oil output, the key target of the US-sponsored sanctions, has increased to more than pre-crisis levels, according to authentic assessments.

The Thackeray-Shinde feud has split the Nation. While some commentators are critical of Eknath Shinde’s departure, terming it as a subversion of party politics, others find it to be a correction of Uddhav Thackeray’s departure from the alliance with the BJP in 2019. The dissension within the Shiv Sena is not uncommon. Grander political parties have suffered similar divorces. However, what will pose an unprecedented challenge is who inherits Sena’s legacy.

New Delhi: A 322 -member strong Indian contingent (215 athletes and 107 officials and support staff) will represent the Birmingham Commonwealth (CWG) Games scheduled from 28 July to 8 August.