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New Delhi: A two-week National Coaching Camp for 33-member core group as part of the Indian team's final preparations for the Hockey World Cup has begun at Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru.

The Devil of a New Pension Scheme (NPS) has now surfaced impacting government employee-pensioners in India, many of whom are getting a paltry monthly pension in the range of Rs 2000-Rs 4000 per month retiring after 18 years of service as a government employee. In the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), they would have been getting a minimum pension of Rs9000 per month apart from other benefits. The situation led to – a demand of restoration of OPS, assurance given by non-BJP political parties during recent state elections to fulfil it, and even tweaking of NPS by the BJP.

Impervious of the defeat of his JD(U) candidate by the BJP contender in Kurhani assembly by-election, the leader of the seven party Mahagathbandhan, Nitish Kumar in a clarion call to his opposition friends underscored the need for coming together to successfully counter the BJP. After the defeat while the BJP leaders were crying hoarse and demanding his resignation, the JD(U) national meet provided a major boost to his political stature by assigning him with the task to accomplish “Mission 2024” to bring the Opposition on a platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

By launching its pre-election campaign in Meghalaya much earlier than other major parties, the West-Bengal based Trinamool Congress (TMC) has highlighted its striking differences in terms of its general political approach and mobilisation programmes. As Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched on Monday the TMC’s state Assembly election campaign in Meghalaya making a rare visit, there is a perceptible stirring of interest among entrenched local party leaders as well as common people.

Now that the voters in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have given their verdict, what next? Each of the main parties got some gains but also suffered some losses. The immediate challenge before them and the Opposition are to set right things before the final 2024 polls.

CARACAS: Venezuela’s economy is likely to grow faster than most this year and next, according to Credit Suisse. GDP is forecast to have grown by as much as 20% this year (the IMF reckons 6%), up from around 4% in 2021 (the IMF claims 0.5%), before easing down to 7 or 8% in 2023.But there is still a long way to go before the average output and income per head trebles to reach its level before world oil prices began falling a decade ago.

Wage growth in the United Kingdom over the past twelve years has been dismal. In the period after the financial crisis, the country experienced the longest period of wage stagnation since the Napoleonic Wars. Then the pandemic hit, and wages collapsed as unemployment spiked.

Usually things start with a display of offensive banners and end with a flag meeting. Tempers cool followed by the rival “20-year-olds” going back to each their neck of the woods either side of the LAC. This time, it was at Tawang far to the east of Galwan and happened on December 9.

While the Supreme Court and the Union Government are locking horns in matters concerning the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, it has come out in the public domain that at-least on two occasions, the Supreme Court Collegium gave in to the wishes of the Union Government by recalling its recommendations for two names which were already reiterated by it.

We were mistaken to think that Palestine represents the central issue for all Arabs. Such language suggests that Palestine is an external subject, to be compared to other collective struggles that consume most Arabs, everywhere. The ongoing celebration of Palestine and the Palestinian flag at the Qatar World Cup 2022 by millions of Arab fans compels us to rethink our earlier assumptions about the Arab people’s relationship with Palestine.