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Another pandemic-dominated year has ended, and a demoralized and fragmented British socialist left remains embattled, to say the least. A bipartisan establishment backlash has seen a relentless drive to return socialists to the margins of political discussion; one all the more determined because, in 2017, we came far closer to a socialist-led Labour government than Britain’s ruling class had expected. The Left’s efforts to regroup after the defeat of Corbynism, meanwhile, continue to be hampered by the coronavirus.

BERLIN: Political leaders in Germany are using the results of the recent September elections here to build support for the anti-Russia hysteria being pushed now by NATO and the U.S. The armament makers and militarists in Germany are backing the Pentagon’s dangerous push for deployment of military forces around the world, just as they backed positioning of German forces for so many years in Afghanistan and as they back these days placement of German troops in countries that were once part of the Soviet Union itself.

On December 16, the union government decided to raise the minimum legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. Pursuant to this, the Union Cabinet introduced a bill of amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 in the Indian parliament.

Gross Bank Credit in India has witnessed only a little improvement compared to last year. The latest data release by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that both food and non-food credit deployment grew by only 7 per cent during November 2020- November 2021 as against 5.8 per cent a year before. Food credit was -2.6 per cent which deteriorated to a -7.4 per cent. However, non-food bank credit growth improved to 7.1 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent.

Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has discovered he is ‘Hindu’ and has told it to the world, too, especially the electorate of Uttar Pradesh, which is going to polls and the Yogi may or may not continue to rule Uttar Pradesh if he fails to woo the Hindu vote. So, quite aware of the pits and falls, he revealed the secret and asked the congregation to “Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hain.”

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party national President Akhilesh Yadav is giving tough fight to ruling BJP in assembly polls which is evident from sharp attack by top BJP leaders during campaign meetings in different parts of Uttar Pradesh during recent weeks. Massive turn out during Vijay rath yatra of Akhilesh Yatra has unnerved BJP leadership which is now working round clock to retain power in UP.

Many people doubt whether it is necessary to hold the upcoming Assembly polls in the poll-bound states next month or postpone, as the Allahabad High Court has suggested. During the earlier round of elections this year, another court- the Madras High Court- had held the Election Commission “irresponsible” for conducting the polls during the pandemic. Some argue that, after all, there are precedents of postponement of polls earlier while former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y Quereshi thinks constitutionally it is not possible.

New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday decided to postpone the ongoing Hero I-League 2021-22 for at least 6 weeks.

Successive surveys, month after month, have been recording sharp fall in BJP’s political fortune, and also a miraculous rise of Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, especially since September 2021. The steep slide of the BJP led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has necessitated two things to be done by the central party leadership led by Narendra Modi– putting brake on the accelerating fall of the BJP, and if successful, reversing the direction upward in the shortest possible time, since the election to the state assembly is just round the corner.

India’s External Affairs Ministry may disagree, but the country’s attempt to make its presence felt in Central Asia has come rather too late. The initiative should have started three decades ago. India could probably rope in Russia to launch a joint trade and economic cooperation programme with the five Central Asian republics soon after the disintegration of the USSR. The government seemed to have lacked the vision or underestimated China’s well-calculated move to expand its influence in this strategic region ahead of others. Last month, India held its third round of Central Asia dialogue with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar talking about India’s readiness to take its cooperation with the region to the "next level" to become a "steadfast partner" in their developmental journey. India has invited the heads of all the five Central Asian countries to attend the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. New Delhi is said to be keen on rapid expansion of ties with the region. However, it is not clear how fast such ties can be expanded when the region is already deeply involved with China for its trade and economic development and the Taliban rule in Afghanistan has raised a fresh connectivity problem for India.