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Not a day passes without some attack on the federal structure and infringement of states’ rights taking place. If one day, the centre unilaterally announced a vaccine policy whereby states are asked to procure vaccines and pay for them, then another day, the chief secretary of West Bengal is summoned to Delhi to report for duty on the day of his retirement. The next time, the centre is stepping in to prevent the Delhi government from implementing its door-step delivery of rations. On another occasion, the Punjab government finds that the centre has stopped the payment under the Rural Development Fund due to it amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees; it is being penalised for its opposition to the farm laws.

The recent Supreme Court decision in quashing sedition charges against Vinod Dua for his alleged criticism of the Prime Minister constitutes a hastening development for our country. Since 2014 onwards, sedition cases are slapped on people at an accelerated pace. 160 per cent rise in such cases is indicative of the Modi regime’s repressive approach to stifle dissent, criticism and to suppress people’s legitimate and constitutionally guaranteed right to protest.

In Bangladesh, the tea industry is thriving on the strength of rising income levels within the country. Apparently, because they earn more, people tend to drink more tea. Average per capita consumption has risen according to some estimates, almost five fold, from around 90 to over 500 grammes during the past decade. As a result, many people consume several cups a day, a habit they share with their Indian counterparts, especially those living in the E/NE states.

Sardar Tarlochan Singh was very popular figure in Parliament even though he had only a short-term of three years in the Rajya Sabha. Apart from Parliament, he excelled in public relations. He was public relation man of the late President Gyani Zail Singh in Rashtrapati Bhavan and did a excellent job. He ably defended the President in all sorts of odd situations which Zail Singh often created. Tarlochan was himself very popular with the press. The reason was that he was always available to them. Some of media persons were his personal friend.

Investment in India has plunged. Projects valued US $ 129 billion were dropped. New investment announced fell by over two-third in 2020-21, compared to its preceding year. In contrast, FDI in India increased by over 19 per cent, albeit global FDI fell by over 42.7 per cent.

New Delhi: Asian Games Champion boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh is no more.

Six weeks ago Uttar Pradesh was recording over 30,000 daily covid-19 cases. Now, the same state is recording less than 1000 daily cases. The positivity rate of the state has dropped to just 0.33 from its peak of 16.74 registered back in April. This wouldn’t have been possible without the active participation of the administration. That the state increased its daily testing, with daily testing numbers at one time even crossing 3 lakh, shows that Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government pulled up its shocks learning from its failure during the initial phase of the second Covid-19 wave.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala is in the eye of a storm over the infamous Kodakara black money heist case. The scam has badly dented the image of the BJP. The ‘party with a difference’ has morphed into a party pockmarked with differences! BJP politics has well and truly plumbed the depths in the wake of the startling revelations in the case.

It is now clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s indifference to the burning problems facing the country and creating a space for him to pursue his own agenda, which mostly pertained to the periphery of national life, in the process giving him much ease of comfort, was a well-considered strategy.

The ace poll strategist Prasant Kishor is back into action. After enjoying a holiday for one month following the gruelling elections in Bengal the results of which were out on May 2, PK beaming with his success after ensuring massive defeat of Modi-Shah duo in this crucial state, told his outfit I PACK's staff to go on leave for a month. Now a rejuvenated PK attended the June 5 meeting of Trinamool Congress convened by Mamata Banerjee in which Mamata made Abhishek Banerjee the national general secretary of TMC. She gave enough hint that Trinamool had national ambitions and TMC would be spreading to other states.