In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to US security – a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years.
The long wait is over. After eighteen months of mass uprising, elections have finally been held in Bangladesh. The people have delivered a decisive verdict. By resisting fundamentalism, they have secured a victory of relief.
MANUFACTURING in the aviation sector is going through quite a boom in India, in both military and civil aircraft. In military aircraft, there has of late been a pronounced emphasis on manufacturing indigenously designed and developed platforms. After decades of sharp preference for foreign equipment and doubts about domestic public sector manufacturers, the armed forces appear to have finally decided to put their weight behind self-reliance out of a practical need to reduce external dependence, especially during times of conflict.
On 14 February, at a seminar organised by Jan Vichar Manch, Lucknow, the packed audience at the Kaifi Azmi Auditorium listened intently for nearly two hours to renowned journalist and writer P. Sainath. Prof. Nadeem Hasnain, the founder of Jan Vichar Manch, introduced Sainath and spoke about his books, especially ‘Everyone Loves a Good Drought’, which has a Hindi translation titled ‘Teesri Fasal’. Pratul Joshi conducted the program.
Nobel laureate and renowned economist Dr. Amartya Sen stated that Kerala has transformed into one of the highest-income states in the country. Speaking virtually at the 'Vision 2031' international conference, he noted that the astonishing achievements in education, health, and social security are a victory for the state's developmental vision. He added that Kerala has become a model for the nation in poverty alleviation, life expectancy, and per capita income.
AS Assam heads toward the 2026 Assembly elections, governance under the present regime appears to be increasingly defined not by policy or performance, but by the systematic cultivation of hate and communal division. What should have been a democratic contest over livelihoods, development and accountability is being reshaped into a campaign built on intimidation, polarisation and calculated spectacle. The conduct of the Assam Chief Minister has ceased to resemble democratic leadership and begun to mirror something far more dangerous.
On February 10, 2026, M A Baby, General Secretary of CPI(M), sent a petition to the Chief Election Commissioner regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls. The text of this petition is given below.
Dear Sir,
We are once again approaching you expressing our grave concern regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi surrendered to the diktats of US Imperialism and agreed to a humiliating lop-sided trade deal by seriously compromising India’s sovereignty. The “deal” announced unilaterally by Donald Trump over his social media platform, and welcomed by Narendra Modi on X, seems more like a promise extracted with a boot on the throat.