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Why did the $21 million USAID largesse fail to bring about the desired regime-change in India, replace Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seat in his place a more acceptable face? This should be US President Donald Trump’s query because the dollars belonged to Americans and President Trump and DOGE's presumptuous head Elon Musk have to trace and return to the American people their hard-earned dollars.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The convulsions in the Congress over party MP Shashi Tharoor’s fulsome praise of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government for the staggering growth in the start-up sector and its remarkable feat of emerging as the top state in the country in ease of business has exposed the double standards practised by the grand old party.

NEW YORK: Senator Bernie Sanders spoke in the U.S. Senate last week warning of the “authoritarianism” of “modern day kings,” namely President Trump and Elon Musk. He highlighted violations of the U.S. Constitution and abuse of American workers.

February 2025 is not just the moment of truth for the European nations and NATO members but also time for reckoning for the Global Left and the peace movement which are still sizing up the dimension of the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s emergence as a peacenik to end the three year old Ukraine war after imposing a ceasefire (though temporary) between Israel and Hamas just on the eve of his inauguration as President for the second term on January 20 this year.

Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the White House on February 13 was meant to illustrate how close Modi was to his friend, Donald Trump, and to bask over the photo-op that it presented. Instead, what Modi’s short visit to Washington underlined was the subaltern status that India has been reduced to under Modi’s watch.

One need not be obtuse to realize there’s a growing rift between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Chief Minister he replaced — Eknath Shinde, who also happens to be Maharashtra’s current Deputy Chief Minister and a man with a penchant for bucking sitting chief ministers like, for example, Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.

Under late capitalism, there is an assault on the working people that is reminiscent of early capitalism and this assault is worldwide, not just in the third world but in the advanced capitalist countries as well. This assault is at three levels, economic, political and ideological.

The Sangh Parivar’s attempt to take political advantage out of what has traditionally been a religious congregation has turned the Kumbh into of the bloodiest events since the Kumbh in 1954. The effort was visible long before the Kumbh began in Prayagraj. It was reflected in a massive campaign launched by the BJP and its governments, inviting devotees from across India and even from foreign countries. They promoted this year’s Kumbh as the rare occasion for religious tourism. The mainstream media dutifully followed the suit, reported every claim of the government and published promotional photographs without questioning the political shift that was sought to be given to the religious congregation.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘Invest Kerala Global Summit’ to be held in Kochi, Kerala is expected to give a booster shot to the State’s economic activities.

NEW YORK: Gabriel Filippelli got the form letter from the U.S. State Department on a Monday morning two and a half weeks ago. Since October, Filippelli has been teaching students and faculty in Pakistan how to use air quality devices to monitor air pollution exacerbated by rising temperatures — a consequence of climate change. The letter from the State Department, which had awarded the $300,000 underpinning the collaboration, said the funding was suspended, effective immediately. The project, it said, “no longer effectuates the priorities of the agency.”