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Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, one organization has come to focus that is NATO. This organization can be seen all over the conflict. This infamous organization is the North Atlantic Treaty Association commonly referred to as NATO. Formed in the aftermath of the Second World War, NATO’s formation was the response of the Western world to the rise of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). As a planned socialist economy, the USSR made rapid all-round progress. The blood and sweat of Russians ultimately triumphed over the abominable ideology of Nazism and fascism. The red flag in Berlin made the capitalists uneasy and insecure the world over.

The last time Union Home Minister Amit Shah stood up in the Lok Sabha to discuss the affairs of a state, that state was bifurcated and broken into two union territories. This time around, Shah has done the opposite—merged three municipal corporations into a single block with ramifications still not clear, except that this merger of Delhi’s ‘3 MCDs’ could be panacea for a severe bout of election fear psychosis gripping the BJP following the AAP’s Punjab landslide.

In the five days ending March 26, petrol and diesel prices in the country had been hiked four times, with more such daily hikes in the offing. On each occasion the hike had been by 80 paise per litre, so that the total increase during the week had been Rs 3.20 per litre, bringing the price per litre of petrol to Rs 98.61 and of diesel to Rs 89.87 in the capital city, Delhi.

General decline in COVID-19 cases in India has emboldened several states in the country to remove curbs, even as in the morning of April 1, 2022 a slight increase in new infection were reported in the last 24 hours to 1335 from 1225 a day earlier, which is a clear indication that we are not too far from the underlying danger, and hence precautions are still needed, and lessons from the past must not be forgotten so soon, rather must be taken forward as being suggested by a group of experts.

The Indian supersonic cruise missile that landed in Pakistani territory accidentally on 9th March 2022 is a matter of grave concern not only for the two nuclear armed neighbouring countries but the world community as a whole. The accident which was first brought to light by the Pakistani military establishment on 10th March reaffirms the claims that accidental launch of a nuclear weapon can be a reality.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The beleaguered Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government received a much-needed shot in the arm with the Supreme Court refusing to stay the ongoing land survey and social impact assessment (SIA) for the SilverLine project.

Modi government has been very liberally distributing promises of help but not money. MSME sector is a case in point that is struggling for its survival, even as the Union Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises is deprived of sufficient funds for smoothly running itself, its schemes and projects. The department related Parliamentary Standing Committee has not only pointed out the inadequate allocation of funds, but also warned that it “would jeopardize the smooth functioning of the Ministry and successful implementation of its schemes/projects.”

The Joint Platform of the Central Trade Unions and the independent Sectoral Federations and Associations congratulates the workers of all sectors, organised and unorganized, the govt. departments, the public sector, the private establishments, small-medium-micro enterprises, rural and urban working people, having participated in different ways, made a grand success of this two day general strike. The participation crossed 20 crores facing all odds, ESMA, intimidation, and obstructions of all kinds including the high handedness of police in some cases and high court order in Kerala prohibiting strike for BPCL and Govt. employees.

Mercurial Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Supremo, appears to have climbed down a bit to realize that she cannot on her own bring about opposition unity under her umbrella without main opposition Congress being in the pack. The fact that she had contacted DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to find a way to deal with high handedness of Narendra Modi led central government in unleashing ED and CBI raids among opposition leaders to make them bend and kneel down. Also she has lately been making overtures that she is not averse to the idea of Congress being part of opposition unity. Stalin who has been advocating that Congress should lead the opposition alliance, may perhaps impress upon Mamata that this is the time to be united and perhaps work towards forging a combined opposition approach to deal with the frequent central agency raids among opposition leaders and parties.

Political circles in Nepal are keenly watching how much the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will score gains in his first bilateral visit (1-3 April 2022) after taking over as the PM in July last year. Moreover, the visit takes place during the year of election to the National Assembly of Nepal. It is not that it is his first visit to India as the PM. During his first tenure as the PM in February 1996 when Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao was the Indian Prime Minister, Deuba came to India as the then PM. He took along with him prasada (sandalwood) from Samrajeswor Pashupatinath Mahadev for Narasimha Rao who was pleasantly surprised at the gesture. Expectedly, the Nepali premier will repeat the gesture for his present counterpart Narendra Damodardas Modi.