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New Delhi: Luck smiled on Anirban Lahiri as the Indian professional booked the last berth available for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after he was placed 60th in the Final Olympic Golf Rankings list.

At a time, when the G-7 nations at their summit worked on a vaccine distribution strategy favouring more the developed world as against the poor countries who need most, five countries of Latin America at a meeting decided to be a part of a new international health order to share covid vaccine technology and production.

The more the deadline (11 September 2021) for complete withdrawal of the US troops from the Afghan soil draws , the more dreadful is the spectre of Taliban haunting rural areas in eastern, southern, northern, and western Afghanistan. A stark increase in deadly suicide bombings striking urban areas goes hand in hand with the nightmarish Taliban threat. During the last seven weeks and a half , Taliban fighters have seized three districts in Uruzgan including their once strongholds in the south along with Sar-e-Puln in the north and Groh, a remote and unstable province in the central highlands plus Ghazi, a strategic province in the main highway linking Kabul with Kandahar, the second-largest city of Afghanistan.

LUCKNOW: CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan said that left parties would be meeting in Lucknow on June 25 to decide the strategy for 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh The meeting will take place at CPI-M office.

The Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has made his dislike for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi through his public denouement of NaMo not once but twice. It may indicate his eagerness to ensure the successor in place of NaMo in the office but too many imponderables make the choice of and timings for action uncertain. Bhagwat also needs to avoid flames following replacement do not singe his position. The constitution and precedents do not envisage removal of the chief. It is a lifelong posting. First three chiefs remained in the office until their death. The last two preferred to retire early.

Indians bragging about India’s record per day vaccinations! Of course, after a point, India will top the world in vaccinations for the simple reason that India tops the world in population, second only to China. And if Indians don’t stop boasting, very soon India will also top the world in Covid-19 deaths, for one big brag deserves another.

The new phase of vaccination kicked in on June 21, 2021 in India under the Modified Vaccine Policy making a record of inoculating 82.7 lakh shots in one day, but the pace cannot be maintained in July next month. It could be reduced to even below half mark. Even sources in the helm of affair at the Centre expect to reach at an average of 45 lakh shots per day. Impediments are still felt under Modified vaccine policy, needing further modification at the earliest to achieve the target of vaccinating all within the shortest possible time.

Who wished Rahul Gandhi on his 51 birthday and who did not has become a hot issue of discussion in the political circle. It might not have acquired importance and raised the index of curiosity if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not refrained from greeting him. In fact a prime minister is not under any obligation to greet a politician. But Modi not greeting him drew the attention only for the reason that he has been greeting him every year. It was only this year Modi did not extend any such gesture.

Will V.K. Sasilala, a one-time close confident of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa make a comeback? It is a question mark as politics is changing fast in the state. ‘Chinnamma ‘as she was known, has had her ups and downs in the past four decades. She enjoyed power as the shadow of Jayalalithaa but she never did understand that she was only the shadow, not Jayalalithaa. She took over the party and almost became Jaya’s successor in 2017 but the BJP spoiled her plans and she went instead to Pappana Agraharam jail in Karnataka for four years.

Is the ruling system in India continues to be federal union of States or Unified structure like an Empire? This is a challenging question but effective answer can come only from the electorate. It poses a battery of questions but without assuring answers. Next election is still thirty four months away and no one can predict whether or not the Prime Minister Narendra Modi would prefer to seek a third term with preference by his party or he would need to base his aspiration for one more term on a new political combination? The question is valid as the Sangh chief appears reluctant to back NaMo for any more time. Bhagwat disassociated the Sangh since March 2020 from the NaMo regime and combination of forces sustaining him in power. No one subscribes to a belief in victory of any other personality or combination without NaMo associated with it. Bhagwat appears to be eager to see the back of NaMo sooner the better.