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With competition for a share of the digital payments market hotting up, leading players like Paytm and Google Pay are expanding their offerings to include investment products to keep customers continually engaged and build brand loyalty.

An intense cold war is going on inside the Bihar NDA. The BJP leadership which has been angry with Nitish Kumar for his move to assert his independent status post formation of the M odi government, have been using the death of kids due to AES to malign him and show in poor light.

The Congress has taken a wise decision by choosing a person outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. The Parliamentary core committee picked five-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, as the leader even though it was widely believed that the post would go to Rahul Gandhi. Rahul was present at the core committee meeting. Adhir Ranjan represents Berhampore constituency of West Bengal and is known to be a bitter critic of Mamata Banerjee. The BJP has decided not to give the status of the leader of the Opposition to the Congress because the party’s tally of 52 seats fell short of the requisite number 55.

No one came to rescue the babies, unattended, crammed in crowded beds in the far off hospital of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, dying unwept. With hardly any medical aid, the kids suffered and passed away. Those, responsible for their demise, offered compensation, in leiu of a life, that was to be lived with a world of possibilities.

At the beginning of his second innings Prime Minister Narendra Modi was extra conscious to show his commitment to the Constitution of India. Before taking the oath he saluted the Constitution in a symbolic manner. Last time in 2014 also there was such a gesture from his part. Only after bowing to the Parliament building and offering his respects at the first step itself, he walked in. Everyone in India knows what was the aftermath of that gesture from 2014 to 2019. Now the people of India who are the creators and protectors of the Constitution are anxious to see what will happen in the second tenure of Narendra Modi. Of course their promise this time is to build a new India. Last time it was ache din and Sab ka Saath Sabka Vikas. Mixing that slogan with so many emotional issues like Pulwama and Balakot they contested the elections and their catch was much bigger than even their own expectations.

The conspicuous absence of ‘Skill India Mission’ among the new initiatives and actions taken by Modi government in the last three weeks clearly indicates that it is no longer a priority area. Even the Presidential address did not mention it, though the ‘skill’ word was used twice as passing remark. It is an ominous sign for Modi’s objective to make India the ‘skill capital’ of the world by 2022. This pledge was taken in 2017 as part of making New India within five years. It was the time by which the mission was already emanating signs of its failure in fulfilling its objectives.

The number of people fleeing war, persecution, and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018. This is the highest level that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has seen in its almost 70-year history. Data from UNHCR's annual Global Trends report shows that almost 70.8 million people are now forcibly displaced. To put this in perspective, this is double the level of 20 years ago, 2.3 million more than a year ago, and corresponds to a population between that of Thailand and Turkey.

The address by the President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of the Parliament on the opening day June 20 lacks the vision and the mindset of a new government which has been returned to power with a massive mandate. Apart from repeating the slogans and the programmes for building a New India by 2022, the address totally ignored to mention the seriousness of the job crisis haunting the economy and what are the plans for giving a new life to the crores of unemployed who are worried more about their own future than in slogans for a New India.

U.S. government agents have long struck at Cuba’s infrastructure, economy, leaders, and population. Such attacks have accentuated recently with new restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba and steps taken to endanger foreign investments in Cuba—specifically, implementation of a crucial section of the Helms-Burton Law. But all along, including just recently, the United States has pursued more shadowy interventions.

It is time to remember Elizabeth Barrett Browning for her poem ‘The Cry of the Children’ dedicated to the condition of children in England who were made to clean chimneys and work in hazardous industry. As a result many would catch serious diseases and eventually die an early death. The poem examines children's manual labor forced upon them by their exploiters. It was published in August 1843 in Blackwood's Magazine. But since then England has moved far ahead. All the children go to school, get proper nutrition and healthcare required of them. But where do we stand today!