IT is now clear that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel was most ill-advised, ill timed. It is not merely a moral question but goes far beyond, into the realm of geopolitics and national strategy. The monstrosity of the Gaza genocide has not ended in the complete extinguishing of the embers and ruins that struck Palestinian people and the Gaza strip. Further, the rapidity of expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank systematically undermines the possibility of a two-state solution.

THE two-day meeting of the Odisha State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was held at Koida in Sundargarh district on February 25–26, 2026. The meeting began with a massive procession and public rally at Koida, reflecting the strong participation and enthusiasm of workers, peasants, youth, and women. The rally was presided over by Comrade Laxman Munda, MLA (Bonai). Central and state leaders of the Party addressed the mammoth gathering.

FOR quite some time there was a sharp criticism about the Modi government’s use of central agencies like CBI and ED to defame important leaders of the opposition and often imprison them. The process of such weaponisation of the agencies became increasingly pronounced after amendments carried out to the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) enabling the ED to arrest and imprison the accused and keeping them behind bars by making the securing of bail more difficult than other criminal laws.

‘A play can communicate with the people directly, without jargon, in an idiom that people understand, and by touching their heart. In that sense, what you might take one hour to explain in a speech, a play can convey that in twenty minutes,’ said R. Arunkumar, inaugurating a two-day cultural workshop in New Delhi on February 1, 2026. This workshop was held to create street plays and songs for the state-level jathas that will take place as a build up to the Jan Akrosh Rally in New Delhi on March 24.

JUST when all the trend lines show us that the economies of the Global North will remain flat for another year, and that the economies of many of the Asian countries – in particular – will have slower but still higher growth rates, the leaders of the Global North go to their various forums to say – we are back! The most recent leader to do this conjuring trick has been Marco Rubio, Secretary of State for the United States.