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Akhilesh Yadav needs no introduction. But in the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, he is a newcomer, just like Yogi Adityanath was in 2017. Yogi remained a non-member of the assembly the entire five years he was CM the first time, just like Akhilesh Yadav when he was Chief Minister from 2012-2017.

Two-day workers strike hit normalcy in many parts across India on March 28-29 that were reverberated with shouts of the striking workers demanding scraping of anti-worker policies of the Modi government. Even many government employees participated despite the threat of Essential Services management Act (ESMA) and the orders against their participating in the strike by judiciary and governments, and also many workers affiliated with Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) that being pro-government central trade union did not participate in the general strike. The echo of the strike even reached in front of the Parliament of India in the form of protest by several political parties in opposition, and even suspension of business notice was given in Rajya Sabha to discuss the two-day nationwide strike called “Bharat Bandh”. All these indicate that the echo of the demands will be heard for a long time to come as the struggle enters next stage.

The BJP has reposed faith in the incumbent chief ministers in all the four states where it won in the recently concluded Assembly elections. Whether it was a coincidence or by design, the big picture is clear: the party high command did not want to disturb the winning formula in these states. The earlier practice has been to nominate a new face. The decisions indicate that the party preferred continuity, stability, and youth.

The frequency of elections has lately gained centre stage, with voices rising against the prevailing practice of holding continuous elections in one or other part of the country. In that context, the idea of simultaneous elections — holding elections for all three tiers of government together ­— is being pushed as a comparatively efficient practice.

New Delhi: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year (ISWOTY) award.

New Delhi: Jehan Daruvala drove to his second podium finish of the season in Sunday’s Formula 2 Feature race at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The discourse that arose in the Supreme Court in January this year about the creation of an Indian Environment Services has its origins in a report by a high-level committee that was headed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian. The committee was established in August 2014 to suggest amendments to six laws related to the environment. The committee in its report tried to balance the imperatives of development that cause the least damage to the environment. To formulate the report, the committee had consulted with related stakeholders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal are gung ho about India’s merchandise exports that is goods exports touching $400 billion mark for the first time this year. This certainly calls for rejoice as India’s goods exports growth has been tepid in the last few years, even in years before Covid pandemic. Over 25 per cent growth this year is something noteworthy. Coupled with this, India’s services exports too is looking up and it is expected to be around $250 billion in 2021-22. This really calls for celebrations as India’s total goods and services exports are likely to exceed $650 billion this year. With foreign exchange reserves surging towards $650 billion India’s balance of payments position is quite comfortable and has thrown enough indications that India is poised for an economic recovery that will take the country back to high growth trajectory.

There is talk of the “fear” on Uddhav Thackeray’s face. And that if anybody started the ‘sliving’, it was the Sena’s partner Nationalist Congress Party. ‘Sliving’ is slang for somebody “slaying” as well as “living it high.” Using the analogy, the BJP-Shiv Sena ‘sliving’ has reached a crossroads. The BJP has lost patience and so, it seems, has the Shiv Sena.

The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court’s decision to entrust the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)with the power to probe the ghastly Birbhum village massacre instead of leaving the job to the Bengal police, is commendable: it makes any cover-up job planned by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) more difficult. Also unexceptionable is the Court’s insistence that the peoples’ faith in due legal process must be restored --especially in a woefully misgoverned State!