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Since May 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India, Union government has introduced a variety of measures to reduce poverty and enhance employment that enabled the country to withstand the shock of COVID-19, claim our PM and officials downwards and his fan club. However, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) sponsored study titled “State of Inequality of India” has found that the income of the top 1% is only increasing while the poor are being further marginalized. It indicates that inequality in India has been rising sharply in Modi regime despite the claims of progress.

Given the hype and build-up for LIC’s Rs 21,000 crore dream IPO over a long time, the listing of the shares has turned out to be an anti-climax. Of course, the first day price is no indication of how the stock is going to perform over any term. But the debut has disappointed everyone, including the critics who are opposed to the idea conceptually.

Nobody knows how many leopards there are in the wild not even Chandrutt Mishra, the world’s foremost expert on the big cat, and he’s been studying them for 25 years. The spotted grey feline that lives on the snowcapped mountains of Asia’s is so elusive that a single photograph taken in 1970 circulated for two decades.

Nothing has engaged the capabilities of police forces in India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh in recent times more the arrest of international fugitive Prashanta Kumar Halder, charged with the embezzlement of billions of rupees through a scam that makes the homegrown Sarada ponzy scheme look puny!

Amid speculation about a reduced US military commitment to security in the Middle East, Turkey has spotlighted the region's ability to act as a disruptive force if its interests are neglected.

The Economist newspaper of London, highly respected worldwide for its expertise and views on the global economy and issues, has predicted India to lead the economic recovery process as the fastest growing major economy.

In what appeared to be a sudden move, the Indian government prohibited the export of wheat on May 13. This appeared to be totally out of sync with India’s policy of goodwill and outreach through liberal relief and support measures under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, so far.

The Madras High Court, in the case of Arun Kumar versus Inspector General of Registration (2019), analysed the legitimacy of cis-trans marriage with regards to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 specifically and held that the same would be legally sound. For the purposes of this, the court had taken into consideration Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, and analysed whether the term ‘bride’ would include a transgendered woman or not.

On May 13, the Union Government notified the appointment of nine advocates as judges of the Delhi High Court. Of them, three are women. This increases the high court’s current working strength to 44 judges against the sanctioned strength of 60 judges. The newly appointed judges are Tara Vitasta Ganju, Mini Pushkarna, Vikas Mahajan, Tushar Rao Gedela, Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, Sachin Datta, Amit Mahajan, Gaurang Kanth and Saurabh Banerjee. Except for Ganju and Pushkarna, the remaining seven advocates were recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court Collegium recently on May 4. Both Ganju and Pushkarna were recommended for elevation almost two years ago.

Who hasn’t heard of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb? Those who did not are being fed a healthy diet of Aurangzeb these past few days, ever since the fate of the Gyanvapi Mosque of Kashi/ Banaras/ Varanasi became a subject of intense strife and discussion in a country where places of worship are bones of contention. History school books have at least one chapter on Aurangzeb, and there used to be an Aurangzeb Road in the heart of New Delhi till not long ago, but which now goes by another name.