THE big success of the Bharat bandh called by the farmers’ organisations on December 8 was a display of people’s support and sympathy for the cause of the farmers.The spontaneous response to the bandh call in many places and the support extended to it by a wide range of organisations and sections of the society – trade unions, traders’ organisations, transport associations, teachers, students and women’s organisations – all indicate the isolation of the Modi government on this issue.  It is also significant that almost all non-BJP opposition parties expressed support for the protest action.

THE Internal Working Group (IWG) of the Reserve Bank of India has proposed allowing large corporates and industrial houses to own banks by amending the Banking Registration Act, 1949.

THE victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election in the United States must have been a galling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  After all, he was the first Indian prime minister ever to virtually endorse a candidate for  the election, the incumbent Donald Trump. Everyone recalls the reiteration of the slogan “Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar” by Modi at the “Howdy Modi” rally at Houston in September 2019.  The Namaste Trump rally at Ahmedabad in February 2020 was another political gesture in favour of Trump organised by Modi.Traditionally, the Indian government maintains a neutrality in the p

THE spectre of unemployment is stalking the country.  After the pandemic broke out and the hasty lockdown, millions lost their jobs in industry, small businesses, service sector and, above all, in informal sector.Even prior to the Covid-lockdown, unemployment had grown tremendously.  Demonetisation and the implementation of the GST had affected petty producers and small enterprises leading to a steep rise in unemployment.  The 2017-18 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which the government tried to suppress, showed that the unemployment rate had increased to a level that was unprecedented

THE forthcoming Malabar exercises in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in November will feature all the four countries of the quadrilateral grouping (Quad) – the United States, India, Japan and Australia. The Malabar exercises had begun as joint exercises of the Indian and US navies in the early 1990s. In recent years, it has become trilateral with Japanese participation.Only once in 2007, did Australia and Singapore join the Malabar exercises in the Bay of Bengal.