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Of all the decisions taken by the Modi government the most mindless has been the so-called “liberalisation” of vaccine distribution. Originally, the central government was the sole buyer from the two producing firms at a fixed price of Rs 150 per dose, and then, while itself distributing them free to the people, also used other channels for distribution, including private hospitals (who however charged Rs 250 per dose because they had to pay the central government for the vaccines). With “liberalisation”, it suddenly made state governments and private hospitals buy vaccines directly from the firms at prices determined by the latter.

While the propaganda machinery of the Sangh Parivar was singing glory for the Modi magic during Covid, the people of five Indian states have written a different story. They came out with their verdict. These states represent the south, east and northeast regions of the country. Their response leaves undeniable impact over the contemporary history of India as a whole. Of course, the nature of the electoral outcome was not the same in all the five states/UT. But the conclusion of the people’s verdict was a severe blow to the greedy game plan of the BJP to a large extent. BJP faced an ordeal, categorical and implicit, in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bengal and the trauma that followed cannot be compensated by the little victories in Assam and Pondicherry. The invincibility tag attached to the BJP by its stormtroopers was torn off and buried by the people.

LUCKNOW: BJP got a rude shock when it lost in Ayodhya, Varanasi (Kashi) and Mathura in zila panchyat elections. What could be more shocking for the ruling party that it lost in these three Hindu bastions.BJP won so many elections riding on the Hindutva wave in the name of Ayodhya where a grand temple is being built.

“Law and order are everywhere the law and order which protect the established hierarchy,” wrote the mid 19th French literary figure Honore de Balzac. Replace with “Covid-care is everywhere the Covid-care which protects the established hierarchy” and we’ve hit the nail on the head. Common folk, everywhere in India, are dying by the hundreds of thousands from Covid-19, and nobody cares. And daily death counts are going under-reported, safer to err on the side of caution.

Goebbelian thesis has come alive in Bengal. The RSS and the BJP have succeeded in their design to push a divisive narrative that the state has been in the midst of a communal war like situation.

The deadly new surge in COVID-19 in South Asia, especially India, has strained the healthcare systems to a breaking point in the whole region. India has become the worst affected country, not only in the region but also in the world with 4.13 lakh new daily infection and about 4,000 daily death. The worsening situation compelled diversion of medical services and resources away from other diseases to the COVID-19 management. Due to this, the region lost 228,000 children and 11,000 mothers even during the first wave in 2020, who died of non-COVID-19 complications, as against only about 186,000 deaths by COVID-19 by mid-March 2021.

The Madras High Court’s ‘warning’ to the Election Commission that it should be booked for murder for failing to prevent the spread of Covid infection, no doubt, came like a bolt from the blue. But the demand by the poll panel that media must be debarred from reporting observations made by judges in the court is simply outlandish and clearly exceeds the commission’s brief. It is all too well that the Supreme Court has rejected the demand with the contempt that it deserves.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has been re-elected to office with a big mandate. This is a significant election in many respects.

In the year 2017, the Government of India changed the way airport tariffs are calculated in India. Airport tariffs are fees that passengers and airlines pay the airport for using its services, which include user development fees (that are a part of air tickets) and aircraft landing charges.

Marathi novelist, poet, critic and short story writer Sharankumar Limbale was selected for the 2020 Saraswati Samman, a prestigious literary recognition conferred annually by the KK Birla Foundation.