THE two-day national executive of the BJP held in Allahabad on June 12-13 has confirmed the division of labour between the Modi-Shah duo. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi harped on vikas and his government’s commitment to push forward development, the BJP president Amit Shah spoke about the Hindutva issues such as the alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana in Western Uttar Pradesh. The national executive, being held in Uttar Pradesh, focused on the BJP strategy for the forthcoming assembly elections in the state to be held by February 2017.

IN a country where more than 20 crore people do not get an adequate daily diet and go to bed hungry, where half the women and over 60 percent of children are anemic, Modi government’s silence and inaction is nothing short of criminal. It is bizarre that Modi and his party, which have been portraying themselves as champions of “nationalism” demanding respect for the national flag and national anthem and such other symbols, should have this callous indifference towards the lives of crores of their country’s citizens.

The following are the remarks made by Raul Castro Ruz, president of the Council of States and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba,  at the closing session of the 7th Summit of the Association of Caribbean States on June 4. FIRST of all we would like to convey our sympathy and solidarity to the family of the great boxing champion Muhammad Ali; to the American people and particularly to the African American community, whose rights he always defended; and, to the international sports community.

LEADER of the opposition in the Kerala assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, had written to the CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury pointing out to certain media reports that alleged that role played by national leaders like Gandhiji etc were removed from the school text books in Tripura. Yechury wrote a reply to Chennithala on June 9, 2016 saying that he has enquired from the CPI(M) Tripura state committee and asked for a response to the media reports and to Chennithala's letter.

THE death of Muhammad Ali, the legend of world boxing, is an irreplaceable loss for the world of sports. He was three times world  heavyweight champion.  He won a gold medal in the Rome Olympics in 1960. Very few are considered unsurpassed geniuses in the world of sports – Jesse Owens, Nadia Comaneci, Pele, Maradona, Bradman, Federer – Muhammad Ali gained a celebrated place amongst them.