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LUCKNOW: BJP and RSS leadership is busy with damage control exercise for Uttar Pradesh in order to achieve Mission 2022. Realising that it could be tough challenge for BJP to retain UP especially after debacle in West Bengal, BJP high command sent senior leaders to Lucknow to have reality check in view of forthcoming assembly polls.

There will be a very slow jobs recovery with very high inequality risk from now onward until at least 2023 end, if employment and social trend in the first half of 2021 is of any indication. Though the global employment recovery is projected to accelerate in the second half of 2021 as per the latest assessment of the International Labour Organization (ILO), their projection heavily depends on the condition if there will be no worsening in the overall pandemic situation.

India is facing an acute vaccine shortage. The impression that generally prevails is that this shortage is because while production capacity is slow to increase there has been a sudden spurt in vaccine demand since vaccination is now open for the 18-44group in addition to the original 45+group. This impression however is erroneous: while more people no doubt are now eligible for vaccination, there has been a sharp and mystifying drop in the absolute number of vaccinations in the month of May not just compared to the previous month but also compared to the country’s production capacity for vaccines. The excess demand for vaccines thus arises not just from the demand side, as generally presumed, but also from the supply side. This is utterly baffling; and the government has not provided comprehensive data on production, and stock-holding, to clear the mystery.

New Delhi: Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday unveiled an impressive ceremonial and official sports attire for the Indian contingent that will participate in the Games of the XXXII Olympiad scheduled from 23 July to 8 August in Tokyo, Japan.

New Delhi: With Tokyo Olympics 50 days away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed country's preparations for this mega event and said that the wishes of 135 crore Indians are with the sportspersons who will be representing the country in the Games.

“Freedom is indivisible. There is no question of freedom for one and none for the other. We have to stand united for complete freedom,” said Mythily Sivaraman, a Marxist, trade unionist, and women’s rights activist, who left us on May 30, 2021.

Pakistan has started indigenous production of Covid-19 vaccine PakVac, a replica of China’s single-dose, CanSino at the National Institute of Health plant, set up in April. Like Russia’s Sputnik, it is a single-shot vaccine. This was disclosed by Dr Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi. Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong who was present at the venue of the announcement in Islamabad, said that while the production of the vaccine, reflected the camaraderie between the two countries, Pakistan is the first country to have received the Chinese vaccine as a gift.

Perhaps Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wakes up to a headache these days. Post-Covid complications? More likely it’ll have to do with speculation rife that the Yogi is no longer in the good books of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that the Uttar Pradesh BJP scene for a while looked like it might witness changes. Blame it on Covid-19 and the bloated bodies floating in the Ganga, say some UP know-all sorts, fellows who keep tabs on the BJP, and the RSS, and talk like they own the ground that’s slipping from under Yogi and Modi’s feet.

While celebration of the seven years of Narendra Modi regime is being observed as a major national event by the RSS and BJP workers in different parts of the country, the BJP rank and file in Bengal have developed a cold feet to the latest central moves and are feeling apprehensive.

Lakshadweep, the group of small islands, located in the Arabian sea towards the South West coast of Kerala shores is the smallest Union Territory in India. Among the 36 Islands in the UT, only 11 are inhabited and the total population is roughly estimated around 75,000. Lakshadweep was known for its beauty and tranquillity. The land and its people never came to the notice of the rest of India as they themselves built a humble and contented life. It was the most peaceful part of India where the crime rate was near to zero.