THE decision of US President Donald Trump to close the United States’ Agency for International Development (USAID) led to a slugfest between the two main ruling class parties – the BJP and Congress. Announcing the closure, a list of recipients of USAID was published. Quoting from this list, Trump claimed that $21 million was given for ‘voter turnout’ in India. Doubling down on this claim, Trump stated that this was intended to get ‘somebody else elected’. He followed...
DONALD Trump’s foreign policy has left commentators in a real tizzy. His markedly differing positions with regard to Ukraine and Gaza, in the first case apparently pursuing peace, and in the second asking for ethnic cleansing of an entire population, have left them wondering whether his influence on world affairs is a “positive” one or not. The reason for such bemusement however lies not in anything that Trump has done, but in not cognizing the phenomenon of...
THE Trump presidency's engagement with the scientific community has been characterised by a very high level of tension, particularly during his second term as the president of the United States. Perhaps one of the most influential actions taken by Trump in early 2025 was to issue executive orders that suspended communication and froze spending at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest public funding agency of biomedical research. This action was...
REITERATING popular support for the state government’s policies, the people of Kerala delivered a thumping victory to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the local body by-elections held on February 24, across 13 districts in the state. The LDF won 17 out of 30 seats, including the Sreevaraham ward in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. The BJP failed to secure a single...
ON February 10, a cartoon was published in Vikatan Plus, the online edition of the century-old Vikatan magazine. Following this, without any prior notice, the website gets mysteriously suspended. As the technical team at the nearly century-old Vikatan Group worked to restore the website, someone within the group highlighted that a threat had been made by a senior BJP official, K Annamalai, the president of the Tamil Nadu state unit. Taking...
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), in a statement issued on February 25, has urged the Telangana state government to intensify rescue operations on a war footing to save the eight trapped migrant workers in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel. CITU also demanded that the contractor be blacklisted for criminal negligence in failing to ensure workplace safety.
ADDRESSING a massive public meeting at Dankuni Football Ground on February 25, after the conclusion of the state conference, CPI(M) leaders called for an immediate and relentless fight to save Bengal from the Trinamool and BJP. They stated that the people feel helpless and disillusioned by the politics of Trinamool and BJP and emphasized the need to connect with the people and protect Bengal.
TWENTY Seven lakh electricity employees and engineers are gearing up for a massive strike on 26th June 26, 2025. This strike is set to be the largest sectoral action by electricity employees in recent decades. In addition to this, electricity employees and engineers will join the strike called by the Central Trade Unions of India in protest against the proposed implementation of the...
THE Delhi State Committee of CPI(M), in a statement issued on February 25, has expressed deep concern over the severe shortage of teachers in Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) schools, which has led to a complete breakdown of the education system. According to the 2021 CAG report, some schools have up to 60 per cent vacant teaching positions, while inadequate infrastructure has cast...
THE Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), in a statement issued on February 27, has condemned the attempt by the newly sworn in BJP government in Delhi to deny entry for certain reporters to the Assembly to cover the proceedings. Three journalists from ANI, ABP News, and PTI were stopped at the gates of the Assembly building when they were going to cover the Assembly on February 24, 2025, the first day of the new session. On the second day, five...
