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Uttar Pradesh became the hottest state in India on May 20, 2026 with Banda earning a distinction of the hottest city in the world with 48.2°C. Whether this affected the minds of the political leaders is not known, but their statements were hot, that made Uttar Pradesh the hottest political place in the country. Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav identified himself with cockroaches and posted “CJP vs BJP”. Rahul Gandhi attacked BJP leaders PM Narendra Modi, Union Minister of Home Amit Shah, and RSS calling them traitor, while BJP leaders attacked Rahul as anarchist. All these have started at a time when Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections are to be held within 18 months from now.

The trouble with the post truth world is that it has an expiry date. The truth can be glossed over for some finite length of time, not perpetually. Truth eventually triumphs. It seems that we have reached that hour of reckoning. Indications were pronounced, coming from the Prime Minister himself, when he in no uncertain terms asserted the need for Indian citizens to ‘tighten their belts’ – an ‘austerity package of sorts’!

The gift wrapped Melody chocolate seemed to sing a new jingle: Jab Melody hain, tho Meloni hain" to soft power India's diplomatic thrust into a country where a saint was crucified and a great new religion was born that swept the world with millions of followers governed by the smallest country within another country — the Vatican. In the often stiff and scripted world of diplomacy, it took a humble Indian caramel toffee to melt the internet.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an important policy decision, the V. D. Satheesan Government has decided to scrap the K-Rail (SilverLine) semi-high-speed railway project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. Addressing a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Satheesan said all the land acquired for the project would be de-notified and the yellow-hued concrete markers that demarcated the prospective line would be removed.

History has again put the Congress in the politically very sensitive and emotionally complicated terrain. After the election result in Tamil Nadu, the Congress decided to support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Vijay. As chief minister of the state, Vijay on May 18, paid tribute to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE’s) founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was the chief accused in the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.

Supreme Court’s endorsement of lawful euthanasia for rabid, incurably ill and demonstrably dangerous stray dogs marks a decisive shift in India’s long-running debate over public safety, animal welfare and the limits of sentiment in civic governance. The ruling does not license indiscriminate killing, nor does it erase the place of compassion in animal policy. Its larger significance lies in restoring an uncomfortable principle that had been blurred by years of administrative drift and activist pressure: when human life is placed at risk by a preventable public hazard, the state cannot hide behind slogans, procedural inertia or selective interpretations of animal protection.

KOLKATA: Time was when Trinamool Congress stood on firm organisational foundations all over West Bengal with each and everyone of its leaders and activists looking up to party supremo Mamata Banerjee for helming them to electoral triumph. But the days when none dared to question Banerjee's leadership seems to be over as TMC is beset with organisational chaos post a landslide BJP poll triumph.

KOLKATA: Now that a “double-engine sarkar” is in the driving seat in Bengal, strong expectations have been roused about a revival of a long-hibernating economy of the state. The background is that once, almost beyond the living memory of the newer generations, Bengal was in the forefront of the nation’s economy.

On April 13, 2026, a demonstration led by garment factory workers in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Noida turned into a violent protest leading to fraught public order in several areas of the city. There were reported incidents of stone pelting, clashes between workers and police personnels, vehicles being set on fire, physical violence, amongst others. A large number of workers from several industrial establishments in Noida had gathered to protest for their long pending demand of wage hike and better working conditions.

Despite several orders and recommendations of the Supreme Court and the Parliamentary Standing Committee, the Union Government did not structurally reform the National Testing Agency (NTA), and also did not take appropriate actions that helped the education mafia of the country to strengthen its grip over the agency. In the name of taking “tamper-proof exams” for much needed “education reform”, NTA is earning hundreds of crore from students, while by continued paper leaks education mafia is earning huge money. What surprises even more is the India’s Education Minister’s contemptuous statement on his not implementing parliamentary panel’s recommendations on the ground that there were opposition members in the committee. What is then behind it – an arrogance of his government, some people’s financial interests, or something else?