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The situation on the ground in Afghanistan is changing fast. With the US troop withdrawal more or less complete, the last few weeks have seen the Taliban advancing all across the country. The Taliban have claimed that 85 per cent of the territory is now under their control. But whether this is actually the case, the fact remains that the speed of the Taliban advance, particularly in the northern region, has taken everyone by surprise.

The ace poll strategist Prashant Kishor has finally entered the national arena of Indian politics, ready to advise the opposition parties for framing a winning strategy against BJP for both the state assembly elections in 2022 and 2023 and the Lok Sabha elections in April/May 2024. His meeting with the Gandhi family early this week was the culmination of the efforts which the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have been taking since her trouncing of the BJP in the assembly elections to West Bengal two and half months ago.

Several companies are insolvent or either staring at bankruptcy amid the economic downturn, caused by Covid-19. Even law firms with ample cash reserves have a bleak outlook and could face a financial crunch.

Bank credit deployment in the economy have been one of the key measures for economic revival of India ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 and announcement of general lockdown on March 24, 2020, but the level of deployment is still lower than one year before when the country was completely shut excepting the emergency services. The present level of deployment of bank credit is clearly insufficient for economic revival in near future. Hurdles in the way need urgent removal to bring the economy back on track in the current fiscal.

‘Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ is his name. But let’s just leave it at ‘Tedros’. Easier on the tongue. Easier to forget! Tedros is WHO chief. And the WHO says we’re in the early stages of Covid-19 third wave. As if it’s a milestone! Nothing like that. There are among us those who swear that the novel coronavirus is an alien manifestation that took an across the light years visitation.

New Delhi: The official cheer song for the Tokyo-bound Indian contingent titled ‘Hindustani Way’, performed by pop singer Ananya Birla and composed by AR Rahman was unveiled here on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Four-time Olympian and former captain Dhanraj Pillay says that Indian hockey team has a good chance to break the 41-year jinx and finish at the podium in the Tokyo Olympic.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in our healthcare system. Complications of the disease apart, unprecedented number of people lost their lives due to lack of basic needs like Oxygen, ventilators, medicines and hospital beds. Over and above exorbitant cost of treatment has become real constraint in the treatment of cases requiring hospitalization. A patient requiring ventilator had to pay around Rs.20,000 per day as ICU charge in the private hospitals which had become the people’s choice in the absence of updated government facilities in most of places.

Perhaps no clear answer is right now available to what may look like a straightforward question. Is the pace of US moving out from Afghanistan more, or is it the pace of Taliban moving in? Well, it is not a question that will hang in balance for a long time as the US withdrawal gets completed in the coming days and weeks. One can imagine Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan celebrating the US discomfiture, may be on mute, but he has challenges he can’t ignore.

Cuba is in turmoil. The continuing blockade of the Caribbean nation by the United states has hit the country’s economy badly and after a long time, there were big demonstrations on Sunday in Havana and other big cities in Cuba demanding the supply of the essential goods including food items and medicines.