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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris assume office on January. 21, 2020, confronting the most significant overlapping set of crises since the Great Depression, beginning with the exploding Covid-19 pandemic, and economic, inequality, and ecological crises. Only large-scale solutions and government intervention can begin to solve these crises.

India runs an unprecedented biological risk, but we are not prepared to successfully deal with. Coronavirus pandemic is a wake-up call, but the government is too slow to reform and invest satisfactorily in health and biotechnology sector. It leaves the country too vulnerable to dangers.

Frantic efforts of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to break the farmers’ agitation lie shattered on the streets of Delhi. The rustic farmers refused to subscribe to his well-crafted and nicely worded proposal which was nothing but a collage of lofty lies meant to befool and confuse them. Shockingly the make believe edifice of Narendra Modi which he has built with the help of his corporate friends crumbled down pathetically leaving before him the only alternative to launch brutal crackdown on the farmers and force them to agree to his proposal.

The response to the call for Bharat bandh by Samyukt Kisan Morcha — an umbrella body of over 500 farmers’ organisations was over whelming. It was from one and all across the country. In almost all major cities, there was a deserted look as shops and markets remained shut, rail and public transport were disrupted. Left and other all political parties (except BJP), array of trade unions, students, teachers, youth, dalits and women organisations took to the streets and as part of Chakka Jam and blocked national and state highways. Huge success of Bharat bandh boosted the spirit of lakhs of farmers protesting for the last 13 days at various borders of Delhi.

It seems the government has lost the trust of farmers. Instead of keeping its promise to expand the list of agricultural products under the ‘minimum support price’ (MSP) system to prevent distress sale of farm produce, the new farm laws threaten to abolish the practice that helped India to grow over the years as the world’s second largest food producer, after China. Before the 2018 Karnataka legislative assembly election, the prime minister himself listed three more agricultural products as his TOP priority for price support. By TOP, he meant Tomato, Onion and Potato which come under distress sale by their producers year after year while their market prices peak in the off season by several thousand percents with traders making huge profits.

Goa: Mumbai City came from behind to down Chennaiyin 2-1 to record their fourth successive win in the Hero Indian Super League at the GMC Stadium, Goa, on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Champion wrestler Bajrang Punia and teenage shooter Elavenil Valarivan bagged the top honours at the FICCI India Sports Awards 2020 held virtually this year.

Gurugram: Amandeep Drall, carded two-under 70 to emerge leader after the first round of the eighth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday.

Vasco, Goa: A desperate East Bengal will look to end their disappointing start to the Hero Indian Super League season as they take on Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco on Thursday.

Chennai: Big grids, a massive card of 29 races and over 200 entries mark the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship which gets underway at the MMRT, here on Friday.