oppn parties Elections In States Must Not Be Allowed To Play Spoilsport

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News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
D Gukesh is the new chess world champion at 18, the first teen to wear the crown. Capitalizes on an error by Ding Liren to snatch the crown by winning the final game g
oppn parties
Elections In States Must Not Be Allowed To Play Spoilsport

By Partha Roy
First publised on 2021-01-03 13:42:34

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Freelance contributor

After prolonged suffering for a span of nine months, a silver lining is seen with some recovery on the economic front and experts are quite upbeat about a rebound in the GDP which had contracted abysmally to 23.9 per cent during April-June quarter. With Covid vaccination slated to rollout from this month, the economy may rebound by as much as 7.6 to 9.2 per cent. On the fiscal side, the highest ever GST collections of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December has boosted the government's kitty. Good GST collections for the last three months will ensure healthy public spending which is urgently needed to give a shot in the arm to the economy. To carry forward this positive story should be the focus now.

Meanwhile, as the new mutation of the coronavirus is on the loose in India (brought in by travellers from the UK) some sort of uncertainty has been added to the revival story. If people are not traced and isolated, if the new strain goes on to infect a huge number of people and is not stopped by the current vaccines, there will be problems. The Centre and the states, along with the medical fraternity are on their guard to nip it in the bud. Nine months of experience in fighting the virus will hopefully help in countering the spread of corona's new avatar.

But the ensuing assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu this year may cause a health scare as all political parties are desperate to lure voters to their political gatherings where managing social distancing and other health protocols are next to impossible. If the new coronavirus strain starts infecting people, election crowds will become new superspreaders. Hence, the Election Commission of India, along with the health ministry, must come out with strict guidelines for political gatherings on urgent basis. Since the country is showing signs of throwing off the lockdown-induced slide and is moving into positive territory, nothing should be allowed to play spoilsport. 

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