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On December 9 Monday, Indian foreign secretary held crucial talks in Dhaka with his Bangladesh counterpart as also the head of interim government Dr. Muhammad Yunus to find some ways for improving the bilateral relations in the wake of reports of attacks on Hindus by the communal elements of the country. The discussions were the first at the high level between the two countries in the Bangladesh capital with no breakthrough in sight though both expressed their desire to continue the dialogue.

Syria, a relatively minor player in terms of oil production, has emerged as a key player in regional geopolitics. The country’s strategic position in the heart of the Middle East, combined with its deepening ties with Russia and Iran, places it at the centre of ongoing tensions. These dynamics are not only significant in terms of regional power struggles but are also influencing the global oil market.

Just as the first Christmas tree of the season is going to be lit up in New York’s iconic Rockefeller Plaza, a popular American TV channel was holding an interview with maker of native Christmas trees for decorating American homes. Lo and behold, what the interview about. It was on imposing import tariffs on Christmas trees.

In an unprecedented move in the parliamentary history of India, the opposition INDIA bloc submitted a notice on December 10, 2024, at the Rajya Sabha Secretary General P.C. Modi’s office seeking removal of the Chairperson of the Upper House the Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar alleging him of conducting proceedings of the House in an “extremely biased” manner. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on December 11, during his address in the House, said, “We will not allow this.”Amidst uproar in the House during Centre-Opposition faceoff, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.

Chief Justice of India Justice Sanjiv Khanna has only a short six-month tenure to leave a stamp on India’s psyche. His predecessor Justice DY Chandrachud got two years and he left a stamp, which now refuses to leave him in peace. CJI Chandrachud allegedly played possum with the Places of Worship Act, 1991 and now there’s a question mark on the Act, for which CJI Sanjay Khanna has to find a solution. The answer won't be easy forthcoming.

The late summer and autumn of 2024 may well go down in history as the Berlin Wall moment for the Middle East as the collapse of the Assad dynastic dictatorship will have a seismic geopolitical fall out across the region. Iran has lost its land bridge/weapon supply conduit to its proxy militia Hezbollah, itself decapitated and militarily degraded by the IDF in Lebanon. Baathist Syria was Iran's oldest ally in the Arab world, a relationship forged by Hafez al-Assad with Ayatollah Khomeini in a bid to end his diplomatic isolation after Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Accords with Israel and his ideological archrival Saddam Hussein launched a bloody war of attrition in a failed attempt to crush the Iranian revolution in 1980.

The current week is crucial for the Chief Justice of India Justice Sanjiv Khanna. He has a new task in hand –making judiciary above suspicion. The task has come on his way through two sets of petitions – the first was relating to the Places of Worship Act, and the second is relating to a sitting judge of Allahabad High Court making Hindutva speeches. Earlier, several judges came under suspicion for aligning with Hindutva forces, during their tenure as judge after retiring or resigning, though by and large, judiciary as a whole still enjoys the credibility of being neutral.

He almost took a bullet, but survived the assassination attempt. For Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal to undergo religious punishment, it wasn't God punishing him, his mistakes and decisions, during the time he was Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister, notwithstanding. And it shouldn't bother any non-Sikh rubbernecker about what's happening!

At the first glace it does not appear to be ethically legitimate, complying to the judicial practices, that a three-judge bench would have a relook at the verdict of a five-judge bench which while pronouncing the Ayodhya verdict, had approved the law and held that Places of Worship Act is a legislative instrument designed to protect secular features of Indian polity.

Jeremy Seabrook, who dedicated his life to writings which speak for the underprivileged and oppressed people everywhere, is no more. He breathed his last in a care home in London on November 30.. He was 86. His absence will be deeply felt by friends, admirers and countless readers in many parts of the world.