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During Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine (why he visited Ukraine at all at the present time remains a mystery), Zelensky asked India not to purchase fuel from Russia in violation of western sanctions, that is, to fall in line with the “unilateral” western sanctions. Let us for a moment forget the identity of the person making this suggestion, the fact that he rules Ukraine with the help of the followers of Stepan Bandera, the notorious Nazi collaborator during the second world war; let us also forget the present context there: a war brought on by NATO’s insistence on extending itself eastwards right up to the Russian border in violation of the promise made by Bush to Gorbachev at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, a war moreover that could easily have been prevented if the Minsk agreements, arrived at through negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, had not been repudiated by the latter on Anglo-US “advice”. Let us also forget about India’s own “self-interest” in breaking the sanctions by purchasing Russian oil. Let us talk only of the ethics of “unilateral” sanctions.

KOLKATA: In recent weeks Manipur has not seen any escalation in the ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo tribal communities that broke out on May 3, 2023 on the issue of tribal status for the majority Meitei community concentrated in the valley. However, the Opposition do not agree with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion that ‘hope for peace’ in the trouble-torn north-eastern state is at last visible. Modi mentioned about his hope while referring in some detail to Manipur in Rajya Sabha on July 3 when he spoke on the motion of thanks to President for her address to Parliament’s joint sitting.

Demand for electric vehicle batteries is on the rise as the world shifts towards a greener future. Together with it, the requirement for lithium, a key component in electricity vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage has skyrocketed.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has swung into action by initiating steps to implement the Hema Committee report on the problems plaguing the Malayalam film industry.

Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said that a week is too long a time in politics. This was in the context of post-war turmoil in British politics. As regards India, it seems that the post 2024 Lok Sabha elections scenario is changing fast and the most affected has been the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on his consecutive third term comparable only to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

First the Zaporizhzhia and now the nuclear power plant in Kursk under threat are issues of extreme concern. UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on August27 warned during a visit to Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant that situation is very grave because the plant is situated hardy 50 kilometre from the war zone. “At the end of the day, again, this may sound common sense and simple: Don’t attack a nuclear power plant” he warned. The IAEA has issued several warnings about threat to the nuclear power plants particularly after the Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

The Nepal bus accident on August 23, in which a tourist bus with 40-odd Indian tourists fell into the Marsyangdi river, killing 26 people on the spot and one at the hospital, comes across as a grim reminder of how dangerous Himalayan mountain roads can be during the monsoon. All the victims came from Jalgaon in Maharashtra and were travelling in a group of three buses. There were more than 150 people from the same village. One of these buses fell into the roaring monsoon river, killing 27 of these tourists, with one still missing after five days of the incident.

Narendra Modi’s brief visit to Ukraine has been hailed by the pro-American circles and the corporate media as a big success. According to this version, here is an Indian leader whose international stature has been heightened by the holding of the G20 summit in Delhi and gaining recognition as a leader of the Global South, making a historic visit to Kyiv, thus opening the way for India to play a mediating role in bringing about peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

What emerged from the meeting held by the Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya with Central Trade Unions (CTUs) on August 28 is quite disconcerting, since the government is bent upon implementing the newly announced Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) in the Budget 2024-25 which it has been said, would further enrich the corporates in the name of employment generation at the cost of small enterprises and workers, who will have to suffer even more than now.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in all sorts of moods. She is “deeply sad". She is boiling mad. And she's not in a forgiving mood. But in a generous mood, she was dedicating a Trinamool event to the memory of the Kolkata rape-cum-murder victim, the 31-year-old trainee doctor, who was mindlessly and senselessly slaughtered in the seminar hall of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College & Hospital on the night of August 9, leading to nationwide protests.