For parliamentary privileges and all else in Indian politics, there are two sets of rules. One set of rules for members of TMC, INC, SP, DMK, AAP, BRS, SS, RJD, JD(U), NCP, CPI(M). And a different set of rules for the party run by the two most famous members of the Gujarat Gymkhana.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a state-owned company, has reportedly lost over ₹ 20,000 crore of investment value in Adani companies. State Bank of India, a public sector bank, has an outstanding exposure worth ₹ 27,000 crore to the same group.
Both LIC and SBI have built their credibility over decades. They are custodians of the savings of crores of poor and middle-class citizens. It is these savings that are at risk today.
How will Ajay do at the World Bank? I’m not an astrologer but I can confidently predict two things. He will give it a hundred per cent; and he will leave the Bank a changed and better place. He usually does that to institutions he embraces and individuals he touches.
In a world of unnecessary divides and social media arguments, few emotions unite us more than childhood memories of a beloved teacher. When John Anthony Mason passed away at 78, the outpouring of grief and warm messages from a cross-section of our society — from people who were generations removed, had never met each other, and had perhaps not met “Mr Mason” in years — was as beautiful as it was humbling. John Mason, “Uncle John” to me, lived a good life; more than that, he touched innumerable lives in so many good ways.
On unemployment, price rise, inquiry into a monstrous scam, economic blockade of states, and communal harmony, his silence was telling
In spite of the commitment to the Women’s Reservation Bill in BJP’s manifestos in 2014 and 2019, government hasn’t introduced it. Will this Budget Session be any different?
There is no doubt that the responsibility of enabling every citizen above 18 to exercise their right to vote lies with the ECI. However, any decision to jump into this uncharted territory will cause more harm than good.
Do you think Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes New Year resolutions? I have no idea. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, here is a list of New Year resolutions which he will not make (or keep) in 2023.
Tamil Nadu. Kerala. Delhi. Telangana. Punjab. West Bengal. Maharashtra (until recently). These states have seen a lot of news smouldering in their Raj Bhavans and Governors overstepping their mandates. From trying to topple a democratically elected state government in Maharashtra to interfering in the functioning of elected governments; from withholding assent for Bills passed by the House and going off-script in the Tamil Nadu assembly to holding political and provocative press conferences in Kerala, the list of improprieties is long.
The year 2023 will be a lot like 2022. The first week into the new year and media channels and the eco-system that sustains them are spreading the myth that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible — that 2024 is already a done deal for him. The only point of debate, according to this flawed narrative, is the margin of his party’s victory. Simply put, this is a (mis)reading of the political tea leaves.
