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It is not as difficult as it may seem to guess the outcome of some of the elections later this year and during 2021. The predictions are fairly easy if the present trends in the poll-bound states are kept in mind. To take the more or less surefire results first, it seems obvious that the DMK will emerge victorious in Tamil Nadu. It should not find it too demanding to overcome an AIADMK weakened by Jayalalithaa’s demise.

India is the cheapest producer of electricity from coal, solar and wind sources in the entire Asia Pacific region. It is the only country in the region where solar power costs almost 14 percent less than that of thermal power. However, in terms of tariffs paid by Indian consumers, electricity charges are among the highest, much higher than those in countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and China.

New Delhi: Former captain Rahul Dravid has disclosed that it was all-rounder Kapil Dev's advice that gave him sense of direction to follow after his retirement ." "After I finished (playing), there were quite a few options and I was not sure what to do. It was Kapil Dev who gave me this advice actually when I was coming to the end of my career."

It’s really no longer controversial to state that Donald Trump embraces the ideas and thinking of the racist right; he’s been brandishing his bigoted credentials since long before he was elected. But the recent adoption of explicit neo-Nazi and white nationalist imagery and symbols by his campaign suggests Trump is going all out to attract every possible extremist vote he can get.

After a lot of drama, imprisoned poet and activist Varavara Rao, 79, was shifted to Saint George Hospital in Mumbai after testing positive for COVID-19. He has been moved from the Taloja jail prison hospital to J J Hospital in Mumbai last week. This was done after his family members raised an alarm on his deteriorating health condition and lack of adequate medical attention in Taloja jail. He has reportedly been sick since May, when he was last shifted to J J hospital in the city and hurriedly discharged before his bail hearing. Rao was a professor of Telugu literature, editor of Srujana, a literary journal and one of the founders of Virasam, a progressive writer’s movement.

The Indian National Congress and eight other political parties — CPI, RJD, CPI(M), CPI(ML), RLSP, VIP, HAM, LJD — have written a memorandum to the Election Commission opposing the digital poll campaign, requesting the EC to ensure free and fair public participation as well as demanding that equal opportunity to all the political parties to conduct electoral campaigns be provided, something that is not possible if the digital poll campaigning is allowed to go on.

Sachin Pilot and his 18-19 musketeers are up the creek without a paddle. They have been given respite till July 21 to think over what they want - disqualification or rehabilitation? That’s because the Rajasthan High Court has told the Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly to lay off these legislators and not take any punitive action against them for the time being. Now, how will this help Pilot and his by now grounded MLAs is pure guesswork. The Congress party and its CM Ashok Gehlot appear to be on a stronger footing vis-à-vis Pilot and his once merry men. Young and “handsome” Sachin Pilot, say some bipartisan folk, has bitten off a bigger chunk than he could chew; his stealth aircraft downed by a Brahmos-like missile fired from the hip, cowboy-style, by Ashok Gehlot!

Ignorance is for long considered bliss. But not when it comes to vital issues like the spread of a pandemic.

Long before Sachin Pilot, there was his equally charming father, Rajesh Pilot. In 1997, Pilot senior decided to take on octogenarian Sitaram Kesri for the Congress president’s post to “save the party”. It’s a battle he knew he could not win as Kesri had “managed” the electoral college. But Rajesh Pilot was undeterred. He lost the election but stayed on in the Congress. If Rajesh Pilot’s ambitions were couched in lofty principles, son Sachin Pilot’s battle is a fairly open power struggle between him and Ashok Gehlot for the chief minister’s (CM) kursi in Rajasthan.

HAVANA – The Cuban president arrived early, when the blazing summer sun was still just a gentle caress over the beautiful gardens of the La Pradera International Health Center, in the western part of the capital, Havana. “We made this really early, 7:30 in the morning, so you can be home soon, which you must be longing for,” he said to the room full of medical personnel who had just returned home from helping people in other countries battle the COVID 19 pandemic.