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As Manipur braces for the two-phase state Assembly polls, the possibility of sporadic political violence cannot be ruled out. State-based media reports summing up the pre-poll situation, have duly mentioned that most of the long term problems/social evils plaguing Manipur --widespread drug trafficking, the lingering effects of insurgency among a section of youths and an uncertain law and order situation – will hardly be addressed by major parties.

One of the most important arguments advanced by John Maynard Keynes, the renowned economist, was that the operation of financial markets under capitalism is deeply flawed. Such markets are intrinsically incapable of distinguishing between “enterprise” where an asset is held because of the stream of returns that its ownership yields over time, and “speculation” where an asset is held not for this yield but only because it can be sold at a higher price tomorrow to someone else who in turn would buy it because he believes that he can sell it at an even higher price the day after tomorrow.

Resignation of three ministers in three days from the ruling BJP led by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set the political wheel in the state in motion. As many as 10 MLAs have quit the BJP. The house of the BJP seems to be crumbling. Modi’s so called charisma seems not to be working within the party and NDA as uniting force. MLA Chaudhary Amar Singh of Apna Dal has also quit the alliance with BJP, which was the eleventh resignation. It signals not only political realignment of the parties but also shifting alliances of the voters – communities quitting parties, and hence there is no end in sight for the humiliation of the Yogi Adityanath personally, and the BJP as a whole.

BJP seems to have re-discovered the original intent of Mark Zuckerberg when he set up a website for Harvard University students, which was later to become Facebook, the social media giant that it is today. Zuckerberg set it up essentially as a tool for students to shame each other and their professors. But as the Harvard dropout’s epoch-making initiative grew in stature, his platform evolved into one of the most effective communication media for the masses, bringing people together, empowering the voiceless and a load of other benefits, with the original hate resource becoming only an aberration.

The four states of the five that go for ballot in two months for state assemblies seem to be bound for major political change. Three states, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand may slip out of the BJP hands and Punjab may remain a distant dream for the BJP. The major vote banks won eight years back indicated their uneasy association with the BJP. Two ministers in the Yogi ensemble indicated the uneasiness of the lower classes by their defection. The Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary claimed support of the upper castes also after the party chief Mayavati declared her determination to stay away from the state power game. She had won power in 2007 with support of the combination and had lost power in 2012 with the upper strata straying away from her due to their disenchantment.

Chilean Communist Party which is an important part of the coalition headed by the newly elected president Gabriel Boric is holding its next party congress in April this year amidst great expectations among the Chilean people about the transformation of the Chilean economy and society as promised in the election manifesto before the presidential elections last November.

Post 2021 state Assembly elections In West Bengal, the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing an existential crisis.

Along with the elections of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab, elections would be held in the north-eastern state of Manipur. The elections would be held in two phases — February 27 and March 3. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been aiming to return to power for the second time while the main opposition Congress is desperate to wrest its ex-citadel. The battle isn’t limited to only BJP vs Congress as there are other regional parties — National People’s Party (NPP) and Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) — in the fray making it a multi-corner contest.

New Delhi: Former champion Saina Nehiwal’s hopes of regaining the title went up in smoke as she lost to Malvika Bansod in straight games while Ashmita Chaliha and top seed PV Sindhu came up with strong performances to storm into the quarter finals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Badminton at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

On January 11, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) released an announcement by the ministry of information and broadcasting regarding the observance of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence – Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. This is a clear expression of the intention of this Modi government to use this occasion to distort and rewrite the history of the epic struggle of the Indian people for independence from British rule.