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The choice of Russia as the destination of the first official visit in his third term heading a coalition government is laden with symbolism and strategic implications, encompassing political messaging to coalition partners and a reinforcement of economic ties between India and Russia.

A new era has begun after a decade in the 18th Lok Sabha with election of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker for the second term, who was welcomed jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi after shaking hands to the Chair of the House of the People. Having a Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the House after a decade signals ushering in the new era of “the opposition capable of holding the Modi 3.0 government accountable” for their decisions and actions.

‘Who hasn’t heard of Julian Assange?’ Legions of Indians haven’t. Those few who had heard of Julian Assange soon forgot the taste of his name swirling on their tongues. In fact, who was Julian Assange — journalist, publisher, WikiLeaks founder; Internet sensation, despicable foreign agent, what — harbinger of Arab Spring? For 12 years Julian Assange lived in “confinement and detention”. Some would say confinement of his own making. Not many think of him now even if they had heard of him.

Finally after two decades of ‘will she, won’t she’ Priyanka Gandhi is going to make her election debut now. She will contest the Lok Sabha bypoll from Kerala’s Wayanad, the constituency that her brother Rahul Gandhi has vacated so as to retain Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh instead.

It has been a dream run for developers and investors in Delhi NCR over the last two years in luxury residential real estate. The year-on-year price rise of new launches has been no less than 20%. A steep and steady increase in prices has brought cheers to developers and investors alike. Higher prices and larger residential units have continued to sell like hot cakes, thanks to NRI investments in the luxury segments of NCR, emboldened by India's growth story and the weak rupee compared to the dollar. The party lasted until May 2024, when the sentiment began to take a downturn, with a limited number of sales queries in the ultra-luxury segment indicating that prices have peaked and the market can no longer support further price increases. This has resulted in limited new launches and developers, including branded ones, offering back-door discounts.

The 18th session of Parliament began on June 24 with two ominous signals for the third time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP, the leader of the NDA coalition. The first, the massive scandal over the question papers leak in the NEET examinations involving lakhs of students of all regions of the country, and the second was the leaking of water from the roof of the new temple at Ajodhya which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on January 22 this year. The chief priest of the Ram temple Acharya Satyendra Das complained the same day the Prime Minister was addressing his BJP members about the programme of the new regime.

In the last one hundred years since its founding, the RSS had never faced such an existential crisis as it is happening now with its row with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a former leading pracharak. In 2003 the RSS had faced a big fight with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but that related to organisational issues. Vishwa Hindu Parishad forcing issues like acquiring land for the Ayodhya temple and its ‘Chetna Yatra’ were some of the major issues. However in May 2003, L K Advani, the then deputy prime minister, persuaded the RSS to agree to a ceasefire in view of the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

Participation of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) in the pre-budget consultation exercise led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday is a significant development signalling a relief for the India’s distressed workforce that the Union Budget 2024-25 may bring. The joint forum of ten central trade unions – including INTUC, AITUC, TUCC, SEWA, HMS, CITU, AICCTU, LPF, AIUTUC and UTUC, had boycotted the virtual pre-budget consultation with the Union Finance minister last year, because the representatives of CTUs were given only 3 minutes of time, which the forum had said a joke.

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has been thinking — a human trait which she had almost given up on over the past several years while the party slid into near total irrelevance even as her favourite nephew grew into her sandals. Of significance, however, is the fact that, as always happens, it is after the fact that wisdom dawns and the regret and sense of loss creeps in. Mayawati is no exception though in her bailiwick, she is Queen of all that she surveys.

The Indian Railways is no longer considered as the union government’s most important public contact platform. This is despite the fact that around 500 million passengers took train journeys across the country during last April alone. The number keeps on rising. The Railways loaded 128.29 million tonnes (MT) of freight during the month. Among the goods loaded were 57.64 MT of coal, 14.88 MT of iron ore, 5.24 MT of iron and steel, 6.79 MT of cement, 4.75 MT of clinkers, 3.85 MT of foodgrains, 4.1 MT of fertilisers, 4.16 MT of mineral oil and 6.57 MT of container cargoes. By any standard, it would appear to be a wonderful performance by the national carrier. Unfortunately, the government is not impressed. The national asset was set for privatization soon after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power in 2014.