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With China rapidly developing and deploying potent anti-satellite (A-Sat) weapons, India’s defence industry must work on manufacturing similar defence equipment to bolster the country’s counter space capabilities. The issue has been taken up at the highest level of India’s defence management. Last week, the country’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan stressed the need for developing indigenous positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services by strengthening the NavIC constellation while inaugurating a defence satellite (DefSat) seminar in Delhi. The CDS called for the defence industry’s partnership with the armed forces in augmenting the capabilities by developing multi-sensor satellites, launch-on-demand services, and a network of ground stations. Incidentally, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set up a regional navigation satellite system called ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation’ or NavIC.

Tamil superstar Thalapathy Vijay launched his political party, Thamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam, last week. He declared that his party will only contest the 2026 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, not the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The question is whether he will succeed.

The Walk Free Foundation had mentioned in its report released in May 2023 that India topped in the list of the countries of the world with incidence of 11 million in modern slavery, with prevalence rate of 8 per 1000 people and rate of vulnerability at 56 per cent. Central Trade Unions have been opposing the controversial four labour codes of 2019 and 2020 out of fear that if they were implemented, workforce will be forced into modern slavery in even large numbers on account of their joblessness that has considerably worsened in the last 10 years.

In the next few days, lakhs of farmers unhappy with the Modi government will be making banner headlines in national and international media all over again and the Modi government’s Bharat Ratna for kisan leader, the former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, will be taken as a failed enterprise of a government in panic. Can’t blame Jayant Chaudhary because which Indian wouldn’t want a Bharat Ratna in the family? The Modi government can also be excused for believing such kneejerk tactics would deliver Jat votes on a platter to the BJP/NDA, whatever.

The world of cryptocurrency is once again grabbing attention, with Bitcoin (BTC) crossing past the $ 48,000 mark last week and sustaining the level over the last two days. In the last seven days, BTC has gained 13.3%, and its fully diluted market cap is over a trillion dollars. The gain for BTC looks more substantive compared to levels from a year ago. Over the last year, BTC has gained a whopping 122.7%. When writing this report, 1 BTC is equivalent to Rs 39,85,026.

New Delhi: The former Congress President Sonia Gandhi appear to have decided to bid adieu to direct electoral process and instead would be enter Parliament through the upper House.

On June 21, 1991, the 70-year-old Congress veteran P V Narasimha Rao took oath as the Prime Minister of a minority government amidst massive political uncertainty over its longevity. The Congress had got only 232 seats as against the usual majority of 272 in the Lok Sabha with the total strength of 543. Only one month ago, on May 21, Rajiv Gandhi was killed in the course of campaign for the 1991 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi was in mourning and Rao was also acting as the Congress president.

The Supreme Court has issued a rather contrarian ruling on the grant of bail, by proclaiming that people accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) do not deserve bail as a rule. Such people must be granted only in exceptional cases, the court clarified. The court further said that delay in hearing of the case is no ground to grant bail.

Bestowing Bharat Ratna on former prime minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, is a partial correction of neglect and, often, heaping of indignities on him. Well into his twilight era after his prime ministership, Rao used to lead a forlorn life in a bungalow on Man Singh Road, when hardly anybody would come to see him.

Two-time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is wheelchair-bound though mentally alert, will no longer be an active politician even if it’s a cinch that he will be sought out on occasion to get a quip on issues and people. Like, for example, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is years younger than Manmohan Singh but has been quite free with bad vibes for the former Prime Minister whose quiet demeanour covered up for a steely resolve as displayed during the days of the contentious Indo-US civil nuclear deal.