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On Wednesday, last week, the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor - the largest Turkish city- could be described as a watershed moment in the country’s continued shift away from democracy. Opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fear it is a move to sideline the sole challenger capable of defeating him in upcoming elections, expected before 2028.

NEW DELHI: The 59th Jnanpith Award for the year 2024 is being awarded to eminent Hindi litterateur Shri Vinod Kumar Shukla. He has been accorded this honour for his creativity, unique writing style and huge contribution to Hindi literature. This is the 12th time a Hindi writer is being awarded this honour. This is also the first time a writer from the state of Chhattisgarh is being given this award.

It would be an understatement that the discovery of a large stash of cash from the residence of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma has sent shockwaves. This unexpected incident has raised uncomfortable questions about corruption and integrity within the judiciary, often viewed as the guardian of justice and moral rectitude. While the discovery itself is scandalous, what looms even larger is the systemic rot it hints at—an entrenched and dangerous reality that has been ignored or glossed over for far too long. The hidden stockpiles of money that may never be unearthed, and the opaque corridors where justice is supposedly dispensed, point to a much deeper malaise. This incident is not just about one judge or one cache of ill-gotten wealth; it reflects the disturbing cracks in the very edifice of India’s judicial system.

NEW YORK: China never ceases to amaze. It is now practicing “dogfighting” satellites as part of its enhanced program in defense preparedness in outer space that includes extending the conventional dog fights in the air between fighter jets to satellites.

Only after a month and half of the Delhi Election setback, AAP has reshuffled its organization which reveals the party’s national aspirations. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been spared the regional organizational burden to focus on the party’s national aspirations and national politics. As for regional aspirations, the party has clearly indicated its interest in six states as of now – Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu & Kashmir.

AAP’s pretention of being a progressive and liberal political organ has been badly hurt by its action to evict the farmers from the Punjab Haryana border. What happened yesterday imbibes highest order of deviousness of AAP. Over these years, Arvind Kejriwal had tried to create the ambience of being progressive and responsive to the peoples’ aspirations. Yesterday’s incident nevertheless makes it absolutely clear that AAP is India’s first party sans an ideology.

It is getting awfully crowded in that space where Muslims hold the key to any secular party's electoral advantage. Every secular politician of note, even those with linkages to communal elements, is out to assure the growing Muslim population that "protection" is theirs for the asking; in fact, there is no need to even ask, it is there for the taking!

KOLKATA: ‘Referendum’ as a route to bring into larger focus the demand for a separate administration for the hills part of Manipur where Kuki-Zos are dominant inhabitants ? As the ethnic conflict that started on May 3, 2023 raged and Manipur came to be referred to as a strife-scarred state, the prominent Kuki-Zo organisation and its affiliates started not only decrying the discriminatory stance of the Valley majority Meiteis towards them but also demanding a separate administrative arrangement admissible under relevant provisions of the Constitution.

NEW YORK: Elon Musk and Donald Trump are attempting to transform the architecture of the federal government. The American state under their influence is not merely a vehicle for broad capitalist governance but a tool for the personal enrichment of individual business elites.

BERLIN: Some world events can look different to those of us in Berlin. God knows, here too I’m frightened at what Trump, Vance and Musk are doing and planning. Nor do I love Putin. But what I hate above all else is war, which is looks — and is closer over here.