From the North

Sir Keir Starmer was elected the Leader of the Labour Party post the worst defeat that his party had faced since 1935. It was also the fourth time in a row that the Labour Party was defeated at a General Election. It was a moment of reckoning for the party as it lost its heartlands in the North-West of England, the traditional working-class seats which had not seen anything but Labour MPs. It’s been around four months since he took office and the changes that he has brought about are visible.    On the other hand, we have another democracy based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, India whose opposition party is in disarray post two consecutive election defeats, the worst and the second-worst in its political history. Its presumptive leader Rahul Gandhi, who resigned last year as the President of the Congress Party is set to return if the rumours in the corridors of Delhi are to be believed. There’s a lot Rahul Gandhi can learn from Sir Keir.    Sir Keir was ele...

It was in the beginning of 2016 that the Panchayats elections were scheduled in Haryana. This five-yearly practice seemed to be very normal and the state saw it as a opportunity to elect the government of the villages. while everything seemed to be normal, much had changed in the previous 12 months. The state government had come up with new laws regarding the election of panchayats. The law said: 'The grounds for disqualification from contesting polls under the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 are failure to pay arrears to any primary agriculture co-operative society or agriculture co-operative banks, failure to pay electricity bill arrears and not having a functional toilet at home. The “minimum” education required for eligibility to contest in a panchayat election is completion of matriculation in case of general candidates; completion of Class 8 for a woman candidate or a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste; and completion of Class 5 pass for a Scheduled Caste wom...

The City Beautiful-Chandigarh carries on its shoulders the weight of two BIG FAT Indian state Governments, Haryana And Punjab. It's been over 70 years since Independence and over 50 years since the two states came into existence. It's time to take a look at the story of Chandigarh. Chandigarh was the first planned city of Independent India. Designed and planned by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, Chandigarh was destined to be the world-class capital of the state of Punjab. The city was completed in the year 1960, and the capital of  Punjab was shifted from Shimla to Chandigarh. This was just 6 years before the bifurcation. (more about Chandigarh:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandigarh) Chandigarh's administration is carried out by the state government with the help of an Administrator as in the case of every other union territory(except Delhi and Pudducherry). It is mostly the Governor of Punjab who plays the role of the Administrator. The IAS officer's of the ...

  When Haryana was formed in 1966, everyone had their doubts. A state with few resources had come into existence. The residents of the state longed for development and the state needed massive investment for its development. The doubts of the sceptics became a reality when the politicians of the state indulged in politics of power and ignored the aspirations of the citizens. the politics of  ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram’  marred the image of the state nationwide. In two years the state had seen two Chief Ministers and uncertainty glared in its face. In 1968, elections were called and the Congress Party winning 48 of the 81 seats up for the contest, named Bansi Lal the next Chief Minister of Haryana. He embarked upon the path of development and took decisions which would change the fortunes of Haryana. The key decisions are listed as follows: Pucca Roads to every Village : Bansi Lal directed the Government machinery to connect each and every village in the state to the District Head...