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How does the largest democracy India compare with the oldest democracy US on practicing democracy? There is a WhatsApp message doing the rounds“ Americans recently found out that it’s much easier for them to change presidents in other countries than they can do in their own country.”

With the launch of the World’s biggest immunization drive on January 16, India is all set to create a history, but with several ominous signs too. The whole vaccine rollout plan, as stands after the meeting of our Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of the states, sets top priority on perceived threats over the real threats, indicative of someone having laymen’s ideas calling the shots in the name of experts to prevail over all reasons and common sense. On the one hand some new biological threats, such and new strains of corona virus and bird flu, appear to be increasing, and on the other many vested interest groups are trying to derail India’s vaccination programme. Prime Minister has himself cautioned the Chief Ministers about the threat.

New Delhi: In a battle between two Olympic quota holders, seasoned campaigner Tejaswini Sawant out-shot Punjab’s Anjum Moudgil, to win the Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions T1 trials, at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range on Monday.

Over the last year, the left has seen its power in the Labour Party wane. This has been a shock to many who found their feet in party politics under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. But for those of us who remember the days before Corbyn, it is familiar territory. However, things have not simply reverted to how they were. We are far stronger now than in 2015. The legacy left behind by Corbyn and the organisations and networks that grew out of that period of influence are a source of hope. Momentum is the biggest of those organisations, achieving huge success over the last few years in mobilising tens of thousands of activists for the cause of socialism.

What happened on January 6 in Washington? In one sense, it’s easy to say. Trump supporters, many of them armed, stormed the Capitol Building and forced Congress to recess, delaying the certification of Joe Biden’s election as president for several hours. It was a startling spectacle, but there was never any real likelihood that they would enable Trump to remain president. It’s not clear they even had a plan for keeping Trump in office. C-SPAN footage of the Trump supporters who made their way into the Capitol’s Statuary Hall showed them wandering around like tourists, seemingly as surprised to be there as anyone else was to see them there.

History repeats itself. At least that’s what books say. Which means, history warns us that all that happened in the far or near past will happen again. Biographies of persons or organisations recap histories, retell stories, open our eyes to the politics of the time and provokes some comprehension.

Assam, being the largest of all the northeastern states in terms of population, has often been considered as the key to consolidation in the region. The political activities are almost in the final stage — as the elections in the state are only three months away.

“East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet.” What Rudyard Kipling said about India and England is applicable to the seemingly irreconcilable differences between the secular and the Hindutva camps in Maharashtra where they have constituted an unlikely alliance to keep out the BJP.

Nothing is more untrue and misleading than the official statement that the near record surge in current domestic petrol and diesel prices is linked with hardening crude oil prices in the international market. The retail prices of petrol and diesel have almost touched their peak levels reached in October, 2018. The prices were manipulated then, and now. The domestic petrol and diesel prices have nothing to do with world oil prices. Their prices are artificially jacked up by the government’s high taxes and levies. They provide the easiest revenue source for both the central and governments. The current crude oil prices in the international market vary between US$47.12 per barrel for Mexican basket and $53.93 for Brent crude. As of January 6, 2021, the global price of MARS US crude was hovering around $51.03 per barrel. The price of OPEC basket was $51.36. The average world crude oil price through the last week hovered around $50.05 per barrel. The crude oil price did appreciate by only around five percent last week in anticipation that the newly discovered Covid vaccines may improve the global economic situation and raise the oil demand. Contrast the current global crude oil prices with those prevailing in the middle of 2008 when the highest recorded price reached $147.02 per barrel.

The aspirations for the economic comforts were growing more rapidly than the economy in the first four decades of post independence era and suddenly the economy growth became faster to induce the social transformation. Politicians and analysts found it much easier to blame the eras of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi for slower economic growth. By then larger numbers had moved to urban areas in search of better life. They were not equipped with needed skills for survival in urban life. They were dazzled by comforts of the urban life provided to most but they were disappointed as urban population refused to accommodate them. The social distance between the traditional but corrupt elite and new migrants confined to live in slums and wait for food in cities continued to be increased. They became the raw material for the populist nationalist elements with a promise of high paced growth and employment generation. They were malleable young minds to be easily impressed.