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Elections to the European Parliament held on June 9, saw the emergence of far-right parties as a significant force. Many of these parties are pro-capital, against immigration and also climate skeptics. In a globalised world these results are ominous.

The deaths of 10 persons in a collision between the Sealdah-bound Kanchenjunga Express and a goods train raises important questions about railway safety, accountability, policy priorities and more. Are we always learning by accident? This accident in West Bengal's Darjeeling district has registered the highest death toll since the Balasore accident in Odisha last year. Initial reports point to human error as the cause of the accident.

A senior faculty of a reputed educational institution in Karnataka wrote on her X handle: “MK enjoy Karnataka, First power cuts, water shortage and now……”. She further wrote: “I wish I could somehow not give my share of income tax”. Undoubtedly, this manifested disenchantment of the people towards the Congress government of the state for its failure to meet the minimum daily needs of the people. They had voted out the BJP government for it being disoriented and dysfunctional, though caste break-up played a role. It was primarily the BJP government's failure to meet the basic requirements of the people which brought Congress rule.

Caste does not matter much in Odisha politics. But it seems the BJP is up to experimenting with it, as it chose a tribal face as its first Chief Minister in the state over more familiar — Mohan Charan Manjhi, a four–time legislator from Keonjhar district, who belongs to the Santhal tribe, like the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. Tribals constitute almost a quarter of Odisha's population. The 52-year-old Manjhi is the third tribal Chief Minister of Odisha — Congressmen Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gamang had short tenures in the 1990s.

Israeli military triumphs and exploits often produce battlefield victories that fail to garner political gains. The Gaza war has changed that paradigm. It has produced neither a military nor a political victory. Adding fuel to the fire, Israel has abandoned the notion that soft power is as important as hard power in the vein of scholar Joseph Nye, who recently cautioned that “ignoring or neglecting soft power is a strategic and analytic mistake.”

In a recent ruling, the Calcutta High Court has invalidated Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates for 77 Muslim classes in West Bengal, casting doubt on the West Bengal Backward Classes Act of 2012 and striking down several of its provisions for contravening the landmark Indra Sawhney judgment, which was the basis for introducing OBC reservations in India.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued its “first in-depth investigation into the events that took place on and since 7 October 2023.” The report holds the Israeli occupation responsible for the ongoing catastrophic situation in Gaza. But it also alludes to the possibility that October 7 is a watershed moment for even harsher Israeli occupation unless international law is urgently implemented.

On May 30 this year, the first International Day of Potato was observed. While India is the second largest potato producer after China, the historic event failed to create any awareness among the Indian people about its importance. Potato is the third most important crop after rice and wheat and is considered crucial for global food security. India produces about 60 million tonnes of potatoes annually. This year the production was at least one million tonnes less compared to last year.

RSS Pariwar union government’s scrutiny of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) has eroded their autonomy completely over the last ten years despite the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 having provided their long sought after autonomy. For quite some time now news bulletins in the public broadcasters have been seen beginning with the Prime Minister (PM) and ending with him. The imprint of PM is total as other important national and international news stories are ignored. Every day, standards and tenor of the news bulletins are seemed set by the PMO and even BJP IT Cell. In the process, news bulletins loose its professional quality. The news bulletins are seen to be singing paean to the PM.

The government’s strong reaction to the news of the death of two Russian Army-recruited Indian nationals in the Ukraine war asking the Russian authorities for an early release and return of all Indian nationals serving in the Russian Army does not seem to be quite justified. It may be even considered as uncalled for in view of the long standing defence relations between the two countries that had tremendously benefited India during a difficult period. There is nothing secret about those young Indians going to Russia to take up helpers’ jobs in the Russian Army. The government was fully aware of it. Jobs in security forces are never risk-free. All Indian recruits were believed to have been apprised of the risks related to the job before they signed the contract to join as “army security helpers.”