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The Supreme Court verdict in the keenly-awaited Maratha reservation case is a setback to the unscrupulous plans of political parties to use reservation as a tool for vote bank politics rather than as an instrument to help disadvantaged sections of the society catch up with social and economic progress.

Adar Poonawala is the ‘King of Vaccines’. And in today’s Covid-19 world, he’s bigger than Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani. Poonawala runs the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest producer of vaccines with a production facility in Pune. Now, on the turn of a coin, he wants to set up production hubs in other countries, which ought to make India think. It appears like he is miffed with India. But why, what’s eating into him?

Just 48 hours ahead of her being formally sworn in as the chief minister, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee moved one step forward to stake her say in the national politics. For the experts and the political establishment, who till May 1 were sure of Mamata losing the election to the BJP triumvirate, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, a new hope of India and “agent of national political change” has been resurrected. This is undoubtedly the most coveted complement for her, but at the same time underlines the desperation of the secular and liberal forces to take on the rightist power.

Asia is now running the risk of a financial turmoil. The hopes of its recovery have been dashed by the second wave of Covid-19 in India. It has even endangered the global economic recovery. The drop in employment for the region has been projected nearly 70 per cent of the total employment loss globally. The estimated wage income losses for the region may range anywhere from $348 billion to $533 billion as against the global loss of $1.3 to $1.8 trillion, and it is only an early estimate. Given the low earnings of the working class in this region, its impact would be devastating though the loss would be only about 30 per cent of the global wage loss.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at his eloquent best when he talks about the ‘youth power’ of India and how the future is safe and secure in their hands. "The more emphasis we put on India's youth power and the more opportunities we will give them, I understand that they will become a strong foundation for the bright future of our country," Modi said while replying to the motion of thanks on the President's address in the budget session of parliament early this year.

BHOPAL: While the people of Madhya Pradesh are starving for medical oxygen, voters of Damoh provided much-needed oxygen to the Congress by electing its nominee with the margin of more than 17,000 votes. Observers feel that it was not an ordinary victory for the Congress. The Damoh results have numerous implications. By electing Congress candidate, Damoh voters have punished a defector. BJP candidate Rahul Lodhi was elected in 2018 Vidhan Sabha elections as Congress candidate by defeating BJP stalwart Jayant Malaiya. Later at the behest of the BJP he resigned from the Vidhan Sabha, joined BJP and contested elections as BJP candidate. His choice for by-election caused a lot of resentment in the BJP. Malaiya also revolted but with a lot of persuasion he agreed to work for the party.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s finest hour. A veritable Left tsunami saw the opposition – the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP-headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - being blown off the electoral landscape. The remarkable victory in the teeth of adversity and against heavy odds was fashioned by Pinarayi, who has emerged as the tallest Left leader not only in the state but also in the country. The splendid victory – a repeat of the local body election result – could see a new addition to the political lexicon – Pinarayism. In the process, the Chief Minister has created history by winning a second consecutive term in office after helming the state for five years and bucking the trend of alternating between governments every five years.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi forfeited his national stature to Mamata Banerjee, the constitutional body, Election Commission of India, smeared its own image by denying to furnish the victory certificate to Mamata from Nandigram. Both these entities have the right to vehemently deny that this observation has any iota of truth, but the fact remains that both have become the victims of the unscrupulous politics of Amit Shah.

It’s been a bad week for the BJP and personally for the prime minister. Not only has Narendra Modi been roundly excoriated by the Western media for the Covid crisis in India for failing to first assess and then tackle the situation, his party has faced a comprehensive electoral defeat in West Bengal, belying grandiose predictions of winning 200-plus seats in the 294-seat state legislature.

A spectacular victory for Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal must have come as a crushing defeat for the nationally majoritarian BJP, given its targeted capture of this eastern behemoth, in its planned march to "One Nation".