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The much-awaited data on modern day slavery has finally been released, which has confirmed our worst of the fears that already shockingly rising trend has further been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. The report has special significance for India, since it reveals that most cases of forced labour about 86 per cent are found in private sector with forced commercial sexual exploitation of 23 per cent of all forced labour. Almost four out of five of those in forced commercial sexual exploitation are women or girls. The number people in modern slavery has risen significantly to 50 million in the past five years, which is 10 million more in 2021 than in 2016. Nearly 1 of every 150 people in the world are under modern slavery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the historical city Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 15 and 16 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit amidst the continuation of the Ukraine war and the persisting misunderstanding between India and China over the border issues. This will be first in person summit since 2019 of the eight world leaders including Russia, China, India and Pakistan.

India is not a member of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership). Neither it is party to BRI (Belt and Road Initiative). Both are predominantly influenced by Chinese economic and political muscles. RCEP is facing problems, owing to ASEAN paranoia over China’s increasing influence, without any headwind like India and USA and BRI is in tatters with number of countries leaving the initiative fearing Chinese domination.

Image building is a politically important tool for present-day politicians worldwide, and India is no exception. They employ specialized image-building companies, who tell their clients what to wear, how to speak and what issues should be focused on at considerable costs to capture power.

Nothing has grown more steadily in democratic India than political corruption ever since its independence. Ironically, the news of political corruption consumed more media space than any other line of stories since 1948. Yet, such news had hardly much impact on political parties and their indulgence to corruption. Most of the political corruption cases follow a pattern — investigations launched by the ruling party at the Centre against opposition party bosses in states. The ruling party — in the Centre or states — rarely acts against its own corrupt leaders. Interestingly, political corruption cases mostly end up without conclusion either for want of proper evidence or due to the change of the government that initiated such investigations. High profile corruption cases often appear as big public entertainers like blockbuster film thrillers with little substance. They seem to disappear from public memory as soon as a new story props up. This is despite the fact political corruption has been systematically eating into the vitals of the country’s economy and social progress.

Kolkata: Dominating the proceedings for most of the time, Hyderabad FC defeated Rajasthan United 3-1 win in the last quarterfinal of the Durand Cup football tournament at the Kishore Bharati Stadium here on Monday.

New Delhi: Seamer Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are back in the national side while Injured Ravinder Jadeja, Pacer Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi are out of the 15-member squad announced by the BCCI's selection committee on Monday for the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia in October.

With hardly one year left for Vidhan Sabha elections, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing the charge of scam perhaps as serious as VYAPAM. The scam has been brought into open by the Madhya Pradesh Accountant General. The accountant general detected alleged large-scale fraud in the midday meal and free-food scheme for children, including irregularities in the women and child development (WCD) department – headed by chief minister since the resignation of Scindia-loyal Imarthi Devi after her defeat in the 2020 by-polls.

Either the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) thinks Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't read newspapers or there must be another reason why the BJP cannot keep its national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi in check. It rankles the VHP no end that an "import to the BJP” can be so bold as to find fault with a prized body of the Sangh Parivar while being part of another equally prized body. Shazia, a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party, has got the VHP's goat and the BJP is like the silence of the lambs with not a bleat out of it!

Unlike some of the leaders of the regional and opposition parties who subscribe to the BJP invectives of the Congress as spent force and losing the sting, the Bihar chef minister Nitish Kumar and the veteran Lalu Yadav, chief of the RJD, nurse strong feeling that Congress is still the “largest party” capable to lead the opposition and others must think “practically” on its relevance. Both the leaders will be in Delhi on September 13/14 to meet the Congress president Sonia Gandhi who is expected to be back by then after her visit abroad.