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Arguably, the most influential music band, The Beatles used their platform to spread love and peace in a troubled time. The last song of The Beatles remind the audience why the audience fell in love with the mop-topped boys from Liverpool.

It takes a lot to upset the equanimity of Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha. Especially when he’s still the fresh hubby with a pretty life partner. Yet, Chadha is lacking the spring in his steps. The much touted unity in the INDI-Alliance is what bothers the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, the wavering ties between the Congress and AAP as also the GOP’s running battles with the Samajwadi Party.

Recent s reports say that Phase 1 of the Coastal Road Project is 80% complete and will be operational by May 2024, missing a deadline of November 2023. The coastal road project, which starts from Priyadarshini Park and goes up to Baroda Palace as part of Phase 1, is an 8-lane road link along the Mumbai coastline that connects Marine Drive in South Mumbai to Kandivali in North Mumbai. This fancy road project, when fully operational, is believed to relieve traffic congestion. It is also expected to help reduce noise and air pollution between Marine Drive and Worli by taking the pollution into the sea. Incidentally, these two South Mumbai neighbourhoods are where the rich and mighty dwell, ironically, next to vast expanses of slums of teeming millions.

Only three days before the polling for the Argentina presidential elections on November 19, no opinion agency is predicting the victory of any candidate as both the Left wing Sergio Massa and his far right rival Javier Milei are running neck and neck in the electoral campaign. Some surveys have shown Milei getting a small lead but a few other surveys have shown Massa in a winning position with a lead of 3 to 4 per cent.

Recent developments in Karnataka BJP send out the message that Amit Shah, despite his so-called ‘Chanakya’ fame, has lost grip on party affairs and also is running short of ideas. Only a week back, the BJP leadership appointed B Y Vijayendra, a first-time MLA, the younger son of the former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa, as the president of the state unit. This is being perceived as a circuitous move to hand over the command of the party once again to the old Lingayat leader, B S Yediyurappa, who was sidelined by Modi and Shahin May this year, right in the middle of the state election, in their bid to move the party away from the shadow of the Lingayat strongman.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is of the worst kind in the on-going century. Almost 11000 people out of which 70 per cent are women and children, 40 per cent of them children less than 15 years have been killed by the disproportionate aggression and unprecedented bombardment over the densely populated area. In Gaza one child dies every 10 minutes. Most of the infrastructure, including hospitals and refugee camps have been turned into rubbles. Not satisfied with the destruction, the Heritage minister of Israel Amichai Eliyahu has threatened the use of nuclear weapons.

Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah had his own thoughts on Aligarh Muslim University. Indian leaders of the early years after independence generally had a favourable view because the Congress dominated the political discourse and space even if AMU itself remained “minority” and wouldn’t step out of the narrow groove. In fact, AMU values its minority status to this day and will raise a racket if it loses the status for whatever reason.

A Saudi decision to extend its voluntary oil production cut to the end of the year has passed off as a non-event, with the oil markets shrugging off the decision as of little consequence to the current demand-supply situation in the global market. The kingdom said on Sunday it will continue its additional voluntary output cuts to the end of the year as part of an Opec+ policy of acting to stabilise and balance the markets.

When US President Joe Biden insisted there could be no return to the status ante quo once the guns fall silent in Gaza, he revived debate about the viability of a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Election campaign for the second phase of state elections ended on November 15, and now focus of the election campaign has shifted to Rajasthan where third phase of election is scheduled to be held on November 25. At the fag end of second phase of election in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, PM Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi were heard attacking each other indirectly for corruption, and now PM Modi stooped too low using his loose tongue and calling Rahul Gandhi “moorkhon ke sardar” (the leader of the stupids).