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EVM concerns have cropped up again, because the older Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are still in use in large numbers, newer EVMs that come with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) paper record are not comprehensive enough, and even all the VVPATs are not counted to match the actual votes polled. Tampering and vulnerability are therefore not ruled out, and even some time back a research paper has found “irregular patterns” in Lok Sabah election results 2019.

Like all his other jumlas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge to ensure the women of their basic rights and protect them from oppression and torture has proved to be yet another empty promise. Had he really been concerned and committed to protect the honour and prestige of women, by now the message would have reached across the line, and the spiritual BJP leaders who are not tired of reminding the common people of their commitment to Hindu culture, its tradition, moral values and ethics, would not have dared to rape a girl student, that too inside the campus of Banaras Hindu University, a Hindutva bastion, in the heart of Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of the self-proclaimed ‘vishwaguru’ Modi.

Watch out. Will Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections throw up surprises? The state dangles like a ripe fruit for the taking. Everybody is just waiting. The alliances, they seem they’re many. What happened to the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and did the BJP and the Shinde Shiv Sena combine have a name before Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party and joined the BJP-Shinde Shiv Sena combine? Now, there is the INDI-Alliance and the BJP-Shiv Sena-Ajit Pawar group eyeing the spoils from the 2024 general elections with neither alliance instilling trust and confidence.

The world is finally recognizing India’s economic strength and its fast-growing market size. Going by the overall development trend, the economy is capable of growing close to 10 percent annually over the next several years. In 2023-24, the economy may reach a growth rate of seven percent. Both domestic and foreign investors seem to be ready with their business plans to take advantage of the situation. They are investing in almost all areas of production and services – from raising minerals to manufacturing intermediaries and finished products, building infrastructure, real estates and housing, making consumer products including electronics, producing drugs, chemicals and fertilizers and offering doorstep services. The business is endless. Investors are busy fixing long-term objectives. Barring unforeseen circumstances, coming decades clearly belong to India.

Congress is running against time on seat-sharing arrangement with India alliance partners, which is likely to be delayed further. A crucial meeting has been scheduled by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on January 4, in which presidents of its state units and the leaders of its legislative members will be sharing their views to finalize the seat-sharing proposal to be formally conveyed to the constituents of the INDIA alliance, which signals further delay to be inevitable. Moreover, Congress’ National Alliance Committee’s expectation in reportedly too high to be agreed upon by the constituent political parties in the INDIA alliance.

Chasing Nazi spokesperson Joseph Goebbel’s famous maxim that people tend to believe a lie as a biblical truth if it is insistently repeated for hundred times, the RSS and BJP’s ecosystem have launched a psychological war against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

A model of the comic strip character Spiderman has been strategically placed before Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Harish Chatterjee Street residence as part of Christmas and New Year decorations this year. It is lit up after dark and its limbs move too; in a way it encapsulates the ups and downs of the TMC in the past 26 years even as January 1 is the party's foundation day.

There is a chance – a realistic one to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party a general elections hat-trick and Modi his third prime ministerial term. All it requires is a leap of faith. Name ‘Behan’ Mayawati – the original ‘Dalit face’ – INDIA bloc’s ‘PM candidate’ and when that is done, the Bahujan Samaj Party will join the opposition alliance for the much-needed break to shatter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a hat-trick. And that in a leap year, which is what 2024 happens to be.

New Delhi: Ace goalkeeper Savita was on Saturday retained captain of the 18-member Indian Women’ Team for the Hockey Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to be held in Ranchi from 13th to 19th January.

New Delhi: It was disappointing opening and closing of 2023 for Indian men's hockey as they put up a poor show and again failed to take advantage of being hosts of the World Cup at Bhubaneswar-Rourkela in January and closed by finishing fourth in five nation tournament at Valencia. However, in between the Harmanpreet Singh-led side managed to turn things around with stellar performances in the Asian Champions Trophy Chennai and a Gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, ending a 9-year wait to stand on top of the podium.