View Articles

People of India are being driven on a path between the devil and the deep sea. On one side of the passageways there is the Union Government and on the other the profiteers. The Centre is taxing the people more and more while the profiteers are making money as much as they wish to. This well-known fact has just been indirectly highlighted in a statement of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasizing that certain goods would become costlier for people if GST on them would be reduced. It is just beyond the comprehension of the innocent people who know that tax when added makes things costlier, and when it is reduced things become cheaper. Poor fellows do not know the mischief that is inbuilt in the GST.

Where can you find Stalin, Nehru, and Gandhi in the same cabinet except in Tamil Nadu? Immediately after Independence, many chose to name their children in memory of freedom fighters. The late DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi also named his third son Stain, who was born a few days after Russian leader Josef Stalin’s death. Interestingly the name 'Stalin', created some problems for him in Moscow when the DMK chief went on a visit. "As soon as I landed at a Russian airport, I was asked to mention my name. When I said 'Stalin' many people at the airport started looking at me," he told the Times of India. “While checking my passport, officials asked me several questions before I was allowed in," he said of the 1989 trip.

Last year, the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to be directing the fight against COVID-19 directly, imposing a two-month long lockdown starting March 25, 2020, announcing various schemes and policies to buoy the economy, funding private companies for vaccine development and other such things. About a dozen meetings were held by the Prime Minister with state chief ministers. A national task force was set up. Several Empowered Groups of top bureaucrats were formed to deal with various aspects of the pandemic.

The uproarious West Bengal poll is over. Nudging out the highly speculative hung government, West Bengal witnessed the return of TMC (Trinamool Congress) led by Mamata Banerjee, with a massive victory for a third term. This sends a new message to Modi’s political satraps, who were confident to siege Bengal after making major inroads in the Lok Sabha election in 2019. West Bengal political synergy is different from other states. BJP’s poll strategy seemed to be Delhi centric, without a touch on the pulse of Bengal voters. Mamata played the card of Bengali exceptionalism and triumph of Bengali pride. She portrayed Bengali above all and called for a war against those who undermined Bengali culture and ethos.

The belief that the RSS-BJP has scored an ideological victory over the secular forces by forcing their leaders to visit temples at election time or give voice to the Chandi incantation is only partially true. Hindus have always been expressive about their faith as the four-day Durga puja celebrations in West Bengal testify as do the regular pujas offered by devotees at temples all over the country.

The second wave of COVID-19 beginning from February 2021 has been not only severely impacting the economic recovery in India, but has also threatened a contraction in its GDP and consequently a sharp spike in unemployment. S&P’s moderate and sever downside scenario has estimated a hit of 1.2 – 2.8 percentage points to India’s growth, and the latest CMIE’s 30-day moving average puts the unemployment rate at 8.2 per cent as on May 9, 2021, an increase of 2.5 per cent compared to the previous month.

Lockdown may be a temporary solution to contain the spread of coronavirus, but it’s time for the government and society to consider other measures to prevent the virus expansion. For the poor and daily wage earners, lockdown means no income and no food. Even a good number of rich countries in Europe and states in North America are against economic shutdowns while fighting the virus. In India, more and more states are declaring lockdowns — some by select cities and others by chosen weeks, days and hours. They don’t seem to have any other option than imposing lockdowns to fight the sudden spike in Covid cases. The lockdown in highly-infected Delhi and Mumbai had been extended. West Bengal’s newly installed chief minister Mamata Banerjee was quick to impose a ‘substantial’ lockdown in Kolkata and other parts of the state, soon after she took over the charge, last week. The Bengal CM cancelled all local trains, severely cut down public transport and restricted banking and shopping hours.

New Delhi: Hockey Captains Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampaul have exuded confidence that their teams will perform well at the Tokyo Olympics.

New Delhi: Saturday turned out to be a black day for Indian Hockey as the sport lost two veterans- M K Kaushik and Ravinder Pal Singh who were part of the Gold Medal winning team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics - due to covid.

This perhaps may not be the best of times to ponder upon the question of hope. Engulfed by death, disease and desolation, India, and along with it the entire world, is going through a time unparalleled and not witnessed by most of us alive.