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KOLKATA: Rajakaar is a pejorative term. This is used to describe pro-Pakistani collaborators during the war of independence of Bangladesh. Enraged by student protests, which at an advanced stage were joined by people from different walks of life, against the quota system reserving 56 per cent of government jobs for various groups, including highly controversially 30 per cent for descendants of the 1971 freedom fighters, Sheikh Hasina made the blatant blunder of calling the protesters rajakaars. This further inflamed the already angry students, except for the ones aligned with Bangladesh Chhatra League, an Awami League wing and in order to tame the protests, the government of the day used brute force leading to the death of close to 300 people.

Leading playwright and actor of Bengal, Manoj Mitra dominated the Bengali theatre scene for more than five decades making his distinctive mark as a writer, actor, teacher and director. He passed away at the age of 86 in Kolkata on November 10 morning following a brief illness. His demise was mourned by both the educated cultural community as also the common people of cities and villages since some of his plays like ‘Sajano Bagan’ and ‘Narak Gulzar’ were appreciated throughout the state covering all sections of the population.

LONDON: The US election result raises the spectre of Trump renewing the assault on Venezuela that his loss to Biden interrupted in 2020. In office between 2016 and 2020, Trump’s approach to Latin America showed an implacable hostility towards Venezuela, as well as other governments in the region determined to advance their population’s interests, not those of the US.

LONDON: Thousands more people are dying in poverty in Britain, including fuel poverty, shocking new research has revealed. Victims include people suffering end-of-life illnesses who are suffering the highest increases in poverty and cannot afford to heat their homes.

Three months after the installation of the interim government in Bangladesh headed by chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the politics of the 18 crore-nation has landed in fresh turmoil after the win of the Republican candidate Donald Trump in the just concluded November 5 presidential elections. Only six days have passed since the victory of Trump, but it has stirred the Bangladesh political establishment so much that talks are on in Dhaka’s diplomatic circles that Dr. Yunus may resign. The question is only when?

At the end of election campaign for the first phase of Vidhan Sabha Election in Jharkhand scheduled to be held on November 13, 2024 for 43 of 81-member Vidhan Sabha, INDIA bloc led by JMM seems to have an edge over BJP led NDA. Threefold identity politics – Jharkhandi vs non-Jharkhandi, Adivasi vs Outsiders, and Hindu vs Muslim – has emerged as the most influential issues that are likely to impact election outcome.

With the Winter Session of Parliament due to begin its session on November 25, there is mounting panic in secular parties and in the Muslim community, which never votes for the BJP. Today, 78 years after India’s independence, Muslims are afraid they’re losing their special status and it galls them no end. It makes them feel unwanted, it angers them that the secular parties aren’t able to defeat the "communal" BJP and send Prime Minister Narendra Modi packing.

On November 14 this year, Sri Lanka will witness voting to elect a new parliament. In September, left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the People's Liberation Front, or Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), won the presidential election. JVP is part of a 21-party alliance, the National People's Power (NPP), established in 2019. When Dissanayake was elected President, the NPP had only three members in the 225-member Parliament.

KOLKATA: Elephant count in India is in doubt. Reliable population estimation of these huge land mammal is not easy as it is often in camouflage or on the move. The government read the Union ministry of environment and forests have shelved the latest census count of the jumbos. It shows the conservation efforts in poor light.

WASHINGTON DC: If you want to see the two competing visions of the Democratic Party’s future coming out of Tuesday’s electoral catastrophe, just compare the responses to the Democrats’ thumping from Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders.