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Spain’s ruling Socialist party scored a crucial victory in regional elections in the powerful northeastern region of Catalonia on Sunday May 12 capturing most seats and dealing a blow to the region’s two main separatist parties that have governed for decades. The results have given a big boost to the personal image of the coalition Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who is embroiled in a controversy over the corruption allegations against his wife. Further, the Socialist victory is a positive development for the Left before the crucial poll to European Parliament on June 9 this year.

It is good to note that India’s defence manufacturing industry is fast emerging as a major contributor to the country’s economy and quietly supporting the latest stock market surge. Defence manufacturers have never had it so good. The private sector defence manufacturing enterprises are doing extremely well alongside the traditional government-run publicly held armament manufacturers. The country’s 10 defence stocks surged up to 446 percent in the last one year. Among the top performers are: HAL, Mazagon Dock, Bharat Forge, Bharat Dynamics, Paras Defence and Space, Bharat Electronics, ideaForge, MTAR Technologies, Data Patterns, Solar Industries, Goa Shipyard and Taneja Aerospace.

India, a rising military power that proudly avoids alliances, recently showcased a shift in its global perspective. In a low-key manner, despite emphasizing its "strategic autonomy" for years, New Delhi dispatched the INS Talwar, a frigate, to assist a maritime coalition led by the United States.

Like many other countries, political parties in India often claim victory during elections even before official results are announced. It is part of their politics. The ongoing polls are not just another political event; they are of paramount importance, as well to the fate of several political party leaders. They have profound and far-reaching implications.

“Fundamental principles and rights at work at a critical crossroads” say a report submitted to International Labour conference for discussion during its 112th Session scheduled to be held during 3-14 June 2024. The discussion would be a follow-up to the International Labour Organization’s declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008, as amended in 2022. At the time of discussion, there will not only be a heightened risk, but also a renewed importance, since the world of work has been buffeted by a series of severe headwinds over the last five years, when ILC has discussed the issue in 2017, following which the ILO Governing Body had adopted a plan of action for the period 2017-23.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no time to waste answering pointless questions. After Wayanad, he faces the Raebareli electorate and Raebareli voters are not on the best of terms with the Gandhi family right now. The family, however, cannot leave 'north India' unrepresented. So Rahul Gandhi, who wasn't excited about a second seat, chose to contest from Raebareli, which was represented by Sonia Gandhi in the 17th Lok Sabha, instead of from Amethi.

Never before in the history of Independent India, a prime minister, even BJP stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee had taken out a road show as part of election campaigning in the city of Patna lasting covering a distance of 15 kms. For Patnaites this was really an amazing show on Sunday of Narendra Modi on the road soliciting vote for his candidate. Modi did not travel from one end of the city to the other end. Instead it was circuitous road show, starting from the heart of the city to literally coming back to the same spot.

The resignation of Thailand’s foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara within hours of the cabinet reshuffle on April 29 deals a serious blow to bringing humanitarian assistance and peace to strife-torn Myanmar. Parnpree visited Thailand’s Mae Sot only a day ago to take stock of the ground situation after the Myanmar junta launched airstrikes to wrest back Myawaddy from resistance forces. Mae Sot has received nearly 40,000 refugees from Myanmar since the 2021 coup.

Election Commission of India (ECI) has collapsed altogether in conducting free and fair elections in the ongoing General Elections to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) as has been witnessed from its conduct since the announcement of the polls in March 2024. The ECI has lost public credibility for its failure to infuse public confidence in the fairness of country’s electoral processes.

In granting interim relief to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court has shown the willingness to go beyond technicalities and take a ‘political’ stand against what has been widely seen as a political arrest by the Modi government. The decision by the bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will be remembered for long as a landmark for a holistic approach and being guided by the spirit of the law rather than its letter.