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Deep Throat

A regular column on the essential buzz

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Deep Throat
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Back On The Plate

As  the 2019 Lok Sabha polls loom large, the BJP has broken a habit set by PM Modi in 2014 of not holding an official Iftaar party. The party has, however, given it a twist. Union minister for minority aff­airs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi—the cabinet’s lone Muslim—was given the green light to hold the Iftaar but only for single Muslim women, mainly victims of triple talaq. Triple talaq was declared illegal by the Supreme Court last year after the Centre filed an affidavit against it. Sources claim that BJP chief Amit Shah approved of Naqvi’s Iftaar as a ‘positive message’ to the Muslim community. Naqvi’s Iftaar coincided with that hosted by Rahul Gandhi for the Opposition.

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Jaw-Jaw, Not War-War

The idea may seem outrageous, but  murmurs have only grown louder after the historic meeting between the two leaders. Can a denuclearised Korean peninsula lead to a joint Nobel Peace Prize for two most unlikely candidates: Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un? There is a long way to go before peace in any real sense can be restored in one of the most militarised areas of the world—but the Singapore Summit between the US President and the North Korean leader has given hope to optimists in Delhi’s diplomatic circles. Moreover, in 1978, Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat were awarded the coveted prize despite a howl of protest from around the world. But if Kim and Trump do manage the impossible, they may add a new meaning to Barack Obama’s bestseller, The Audacity of Hope.

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The Fault In Our Stars

The stars do not favour opposition parties as they strategise to oust the NDA government in 2019, if we believe Mumbai-based astrologer Shastri Niranjan Shukla. Originally from Ahmedabad, Shukla is thought to have been consulted by Modi and Amit Shah on occ­asions. He claims the PM’s horoscope shows that as his enemies grow stronger, so will he, and forecasts that the government will return “with an even bigger margin” than 2014. He even predicts the number of seats—between 283 and 325—for the BJP alone. He says he had correctly foreseen 270 to 290 seats for the party in 2014. Can we predict a busy time for astrologers of all hues ahead?

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