Nearly two crore young voters, or those between the ages of 18 and 29 would be first-time voters. Regardless of the outcome of the elections or the imperfections that might impact its conduct, the fact that a system has been created where some 100 crore people are going to determine who will represent them in the highest institution of governance is a tremendous collective achievement to be proud of.
The escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran in West Asia has once again brought the region to the brink of conflict.
Amidst the kaleidoscope of Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself entangled in a complex web of identity, ideology, and electoral aspirations.
It can rightfully be termed an assembly of Gods and Goddesses, a parliament of divinity. Under the picturesque rotunda of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai, sculptures of ancient gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, Egypt and Assyria have come together, along with a spectrum of Indian gods and deities in a unique global exhibition.
The UN’s fact-finding mission recently found Mahsa Amini’s custodial death as ‘unlawful’, and the subsequent state crackdown, an ‘egregious human rights violations’. In September 2022, Mahsa died in the custody of Iran’s Morality Police for violation of the Islamic Republic’s mandatory ‘hijab norms’.
Defectors contend that anti-defection laws stifle their right to free speech, glossing over the fact that they are not individuals with a free will but representatives of an electorate that voted for them on the basis of certain assurances including that of party affiliation. Seen in this perspective, defection is an act of betrayal of the people’s trust
Certain professional groups rarely welcome females. They believe that women cannot meet challenges as men do and can be fiercely territorial. Many qualified and capable individuals are ostracised from organisations or industries or expelled from positions because of this territorial mindset.
A major global fear remains one of terrorists obtaining weapons of mass destruction. In March 2021, the Chairperson of the UNSC 1540 Committee, which deals with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, noted that possibility of “non-State actors acquiring weapons of mass destruction, including the spread of deadly pathogens,” is a matter of concern.
The United Nations has warned that as many as one million Afghan children are in danger of starving and most of the country’s 38 million people are living below the poverty line. Faced with the Taliban’s request for funds, Western powers are likely to put the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan high on their agenda, along with their recurring demand for the Taliban administration to share power with Afghanistan’s minority ethnic and religious groups.
The Kremlin may appear to be proceeding from conclusion to premise, but Monday’s photo of Russian armored vehicles along a highway in Crimea are indeed suggestive of a calibrated troop build-up.
