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Till recently, when commemorating the significant anniversaries of independence, we could cite the parliamentary democratic system as one of the major achievements of independent India. The adoption of a republican constitution in 1950 provided the scope for people’s participation and a voice in politics which reflected the aspirations of the Indian people in their struggle for national independence.

Labour market has been undergoing unprecedented distortion for the last two and a half year, first hit by wrong policy stance of the majority of the governments across the world driven by profit oriented mindset at the cost of workforce, and then by multiple crises. COVID-19 made it worse, and then the price rise and inflation is all set to break its spine. Loss of jobs and income for the workforce has become a global trend while crony capitalists have been making huge profits. Economic recovery is obviously not human centred, but profit oriented, in spite of the clarion call of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for “Action for a Human-Centred Recovery” adopted one year before in June 2021 and UN’s initiative for “Global Accelerator for jobs and Social Protection for just transition”.

A week ahead of the 75th anniversary of Independence, India commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Quit India movement on 9 August 2022. The Congress leadership had been arrested immediately after giving the Quit India call from the All-India Congress Committee session in Mumbai, but the call triggered a popular upsurge in several parts of India and gave rise to even four parallel governments – Ballia in UP, Tamluk in Bengal, Talcher in Odisha and Satara in Maharashtra. The Satara parallel government in fact lasted till 1947, becoming the historical bridge between the Quit India movement and the final exit of the British colonial rulers.

In the fierce battle for buttressing political supremacy between the two Chanakyas, Amit Shah was made to bite dust by Nitish Kumar by aborting his mission Operation Lotus, an endeavour to remove Chief Minister Nitish from power and also restructure his task to finish yet another regional party, this time JD(U) of Nitish, and create a new Eknath Sinde in Bihar.

It might not be churlish to say that the celebration of the 75th year of Indian independence is more an official event associated with the BJP than a national occasion.

Veteran lawyer Kapil Sibal isn’t a happy lawyer. It was only a few days ago that the Supreme Court had asked him to be the court’s friend, help it understand the “freebies culture”, and what ought to be done with the pettifoggery that some political parties do to win sweeping electoral victories.

“My operation depends on your co-operation, otherwise there will be separation.” As Venkaiah Naidu, 73, demitted office as Vice-President of India on August 10, the Rajya Sabha of which was ex-officio Chairman, will be poorer for his quick wit and puns, many of which elicited laughter and served briefly unite the Treasury benches and Opposition benches at a time of brief discord and distrust between the two sides. His recent “operation-cooperation-separation” response was in response to frequent disruptions in the Upper House by Opposition members seeking discussion on price rise.

Chess became a craze after Celebrated Bengali Director Satyajit Ray's movie 'Shatranj ki Khiladi' created a big buzz in 1977. But the recent Netflix release " Queen's Gambit" took it to a different level worldwide.

In 2020, Japan adopted two policies to strengthen supply chain resilience. Big subsidy was provided to stimulate Japanese investors to diversify offshore investment and invest in domestic market for supply chain resilience. The main aim was to reduce over dependence on China. Focuses were made on Southeast Asian countries for offshore diversification.

The rate of urbanisation in India has so far been slower than other emerging countries. But this is expected to change drastically in the coming decades. So much so that in the next two decades, the country is expected to add a new city of the size of Los Angeles every year.