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Donald Trump made history by winning a larger share of Black and Hispanic votes compared to 2020, and by becoming the first since George W. Bush to win based on popular votes. There had already been indications of Trump winning, although not by such a decisive margin. Initially, the US betting industry was predicting a Trump win. Then, there was the indication from the US stock market. In October, the stocks owned by Trump, performed much better than the stocks listed in S&P 500. More importantly, Trump is being funded by major corporations and is supported by the White Protestants and Catholics. Historically, the US business leaders have consistently supported Republicans. Between 2007 and 2017, 57% of the CEOs of S&P 1500 companies contributed politically to the Republican Party, 19% gave to the Democrats, and the rest split their contributions between the two parties.

Manipur is burning, and the heat of the flames is felt not only in the entire North-East, but up to New Delhi, the National Capital of India, where Union Minister of Home Amit Shah is busy in holding high-level meetings, with little action on the ground in spite of fresh waves of violence for about a fortnight. Prime Minister is on tour out of the country with his disturbing silence on burning Manipur.

RSS and BJP have been consistently raising the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration but the manner in which they are putting it in the Jharkhand assembly elections, makes it obvious that they are working on some treacherous plot. More than merely being a design to polarise the Hindu votes and put the Vanvasis against Mool Adivasis and Christians, it is part of their bigger plan to make ‘intrusion’ a big issue in the sub-continent.

The delegates at the on-going COP29 are expected to deliver news solutions to save the world from a climate catastrophe, but these expectations instead of focussing on climate warriors, should pressurise the developed world holding its purse strings tight, to loosen them and spend for what it has already destroyed in the race for advancement through industrialisation.

A Dharma Sansad was organized in Delhi at which “firebrand” Hindu religious preachers and ‘Hindu Sants’ called for the constitution of a ‘Sanatan Board’ on the lines of the Waqf Board. Fiery speeches with a call to destroy the ‘Waqf Board’ or the setting up of the Sanatan Board (“abhi nahi toh kabhie nahin”) marked the Dharma Sansad. The congregation of “saints” and their followers was led by a Hindu preacher, Devkinandan Thakur, who assumed leadership of the ‘Dharma Sansad’.

KOLKATA: A recall of having taken baby steps clutching the fingers of Mahatma Gandhi and then wedded to Marxism will either be a rollercoaster life story or one spent in ideological confusion. But brought up in Abhay Ashram, Sodpur in West Bengal which the prophet of non-violence considered to be his second home, veteran journalist and political activist Barun Dasgupta does not disappoint in his autobiography "Smiritir Sarani Beye”. He died in 2021 at the age of 86.

The 2024 G-20 Summit is taking place in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19 in the background of two continuing wars in Ukraine and West Asia and the intensification of eco-political crisis in Europe. Moreover, the victory of Donald Trump in the November 5 presidential elections in USA has led to uncertainty over the future programmes of NATO and the relationship between USA and Europe.

Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s tenure has had an eventful start with the Supreme Court delivering the landmark ‘bulldozer justice’ verdict that grabbed global headlines. That the verdict was delivered by a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Vishwanathan, of which the chief justice was not a part, is a matter of detail. What is important is that the verdict promises to be one of the most attention-grabbing events of the new CJI’s time at the helm of the land’s highest court.

Centre is seriously working for Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) reform, which includes modernization of its database, centralization and other initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2024-25 to boost quality employment in the country through increased membership of EPFO.

KOLKATA: Foreign policy hawks who gleefully remind the world how the mightiest country in the world, the US considers fast progressing India as its strategic defence partner in the Indo-pacific region, may face an acid test soon. Belying their rhetoric, the apparent Washington-Delhi bonhomie was not potent enough to halt the US-led West from toppling the ruling India-friendly regime in Bangladesh, to give a recent example.