By Sidharth Mishra

India and the United States have agreed to operationalise the civilian nuclear deal of 2008, which could not be implemented all these years as differences remained over Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act passed by Indian Parliament, which made the equipment suppliers (read the US and other foreign companies) ultimately responsible for an accident. All these years, countries like France and the US have asked India to follow global norms under which the primary liability lies with the operator. The deal agreed between India and US on Sunday gives considerable protection to the US suppliers through the creation of an insurance pool, which would be funded partly by the government-run insurance companies and the remaining expenditure would also be subsidized by the government.

The old cliché goes something like this — the battle lines are drawn. Talking of battle grounds, the upcoming Delhi assembly elections reminds SIDHARTH MISHRA of the Battle of Longewala in the western theatre during the 1971 war, when an infantry company demolished the campaign of a mechanised  infantry brigade. Battle of Longewala was later made into a famous film, Border, which the capital identifies with the human catastrophe its maiden show witnessed at Uphaar theatre.
Coming back to the poll campaign, as of now Arvind Kejriwal finds himself perfectly fitting in the role of Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri, the brave company commander of 23 Punjab Regiment, “who ensured that all his assets were correctly employed, and made the most use of his strong defensive position, and weaknesses created by errors in enemy tactics.” 

By SIDHARTH MISHRA

Last week’s notebook had focussed on how the campaign for upcoming assembly polls in the city was gearing up. In between Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at a poll rally in the Ramlila Grounds last Saturday and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal issued an apt rejoinder. With poll dates announced, the campaign has moved to a higher gear.

By Sidharth Mishra

Delhi has been bracing for  assembly polls for the past few months. Soon after a change of guard at the Centre, and with the BJP having won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, it was thought that snap polls would be held. However, that did not happen. The Lieutenant Governor took his time to dissolve the 5th Vidhan Sabha, which had a fractured mandate, making formation of a popular government impossible.
Though various parties have got into the election season in different degrees, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been the most aggressive, having announced its candidates for all 70 seats. The BJP’s status can best described as ‘making attempts to consolidate’ its position. The process of consolidation, which started with a huge subsidy to power distribution companies, has concluded with the passing of a cabinet resolution that legalised unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

Soon after India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, a hoarding went up outside Ranchi airport. It said, ‘welcome to the city of world cup winning captain’. Mahendra Singh Dhoni belongs to Ranchi, a city that was not known as a cricketing destination till this boy with long golden locks from the HEC Colony

In the name of establishing a new look to the party, Gandhi has destroyed the existing organisational structure and failed to provide an alternative. His team of political managers may make good copy for English language magazines and newspapers, but they make no sense to the people at large. In the process of bringing changes within, the Congress has ended up losing the Lok Sabha and all Vidhan Sabha polls held thereafter.
Efforts by Rahul Gandhl’s team at event management have borne no fruit thus far. As I’ve written in these columns earlier, the relationship between the Congress party and the Indian masses survived for over a century because all these years, its skippers had nurtured some very strong grass root leaders. It was through these state leaders that the Congress high command managed to connect with the masses. For Detail Report Click Here