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India’s Union Budget 2023-24 is being decried as the great betrayal of the working class on account of cut in allocations of several schemes related to labour and employment and their survival with dignity. It has given new impetus to the year-long protest campaign already planned only two days before on January 30 at the National Convention of Workers organised jointly by the 10 central trade unions (CTUs).

The cow is in picture again, this time with the approval of competent authority and on the direction of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy. With emphasis on aiming to celebrate the 'Vedic tradition' and the immense benefits a cow possesses, the Animal Welfare Board of India has urged people to celebrate 'Cow Hug Day' on February 14 which is celebrated as Valentine's Day. "We all know that the Cow is the backbone of Indian culture and rural economy, sustains our life, and represents cattle wealth and biodiversity. It is known as "Kamdhenu" and "Gaumata" because of its nourishing nature like mother, the giver of all providing riches to humanity," the Animal Welfare Board informed in a statement.

Indian tourism market is slowly but surely taking the centre stage. With Ganga Vilas, India is setting the stage for high-budget tourism products. That could bring a paradigm shift in the way the Indian tourism market is looked at.

Recently, two large boulders, believed to be 60 million years old, were dispatched to Ayodhya. These stones were found along the Gandaki river at a site in Muktinath valley in Nepal. The region is thought to be part of erstwhile kingdom of Mithila, ruled by Ram’s father-in-law, Raja Janak. According to the Puranas, these stones, called Shaligrams, are considered representations of Lord Vishnu. They are worshipped only by males, as per Vaishnabite beliefs. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Ksheita Trust has chosen these Shaligrams as from Nepal as Ram is considered as the incarnation of Vishnu. The Trust is calling two Shaligrams from Nepal “Dev Shila” (sacred rocks) and most likely, these sacred rocks from Mithla will be used to carve out the Ram-Sita idol for the grand temple at Ayodhya to be made ready next year.

India’s labour market remains volatile. The month of January 2023 witnessed a large number of unemployed moving out from the labour market after they got frustrated after months of searching jobs. This act of the unemployed excluded their count as unemployed resulting in fall in unemployment rate from 8.3 per cent in December 2022 to 7.1 per cent though joblessness in reality increased. Even though unemployment rate at 7.1 per cent is unacceptably elevated.

In a desperate bid to defend Adani, an orchestrated attempt is being made to present shorting as something undesirable and even abominable. Adani himself has tried to pretend that the action by US investment firm Hindenburg in exposing the irregularities in his group’s accounting practices as an attack against India and the Modi government is putting all its might behind the tycoon, obviously because it is the most favoured corporate house in the country. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, which is hearing pleas seeking investigations into Hindenburg’s expose, is also giving the impression that shorting is the villain.

Is Adani-Modi and the so-called Hindenburg revelations that brought the alleged murky ties between a prime minister and a stinking rich moneybag an issue in the Tripura assembly elections, the first of nine state assembly elections scheduled for 2023? The answer is, there is so far nothing to indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’. And this, when one foreign media said “Adani is too big to fall”, which isn’t far from the truth notwithstanding his slide down the world billionaire’s list.

Kolkata: Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya carded a a steady final round of one-under 69 that enabled him to post a wire-to-wire win to take home his maiden trophy and cheque of Rs. 15- lakh at the Rs. 1 crore TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge Golf Club, here on Friday.

The observation “everybody is same and do not be misled by caste superiority” coming from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat certainly cannot be described as ambiguous. It has much wider and deeper than it looks at the surface level. His rumination on caste is the part of the well-designed strategy and is evident from the fact it puts a question mark on the efficacy and relevance of Sangh, which stands for Sanatan Dharma and Manusmriti.

Even after Pradyot Kishor Manikya Debbarma, chief of the most powerful party of the tribals in Tripura Tipra Motha (TM) sought to carve out a separate state from Tripura, none of the leaders of the major political parties contesting the state Assembly elections have dared to label him a separatist. For the man is "babubagra"(king) to whose rallies the tribals flock to in thousands. He is the only leader in Tripura who is challenging the Home Minister Amit Shah in terms of attendance in poll rallies before the elections in the state on February 16.