View Articles

The new generation will not experience the rhythmic ding dong bell of the tram as it trudges through the chaos of Kolkata roads. In the city’s symphony of sounds, the most pleasing to ears was ding dong bell. Besides its utility as a mode of mass city transport without polluting the air, tram through its long existence got intertwined with West Bengal’s political history. Legions of political and trade union battles were fought over tram.

Household indebtedness in India and the suicides relating to it have been rising sharply since 2014, since the Modi government’s economic policy does not come to rescue the household borrowers, though it rescues businesses and corporates through write offs and relief under bankruptcy code. The data is alarming – household debt has increased from 32.6 per cent in June 2014 to 42.9 per cent as of June 2024, and estimated to have reached 43.5 per cent in the first half of 2024-25. Bankruptcy and indebtedness related suicides increased from 1.8 per cent in 2014 to 4.1 per cent this year.

Pressurising the alliance partner to accrue more political and electoral benefit has certainly not been an alien concept. It has been in vogue for pretty long time. Obviously to look at the frequent visit of Rahul Gandhi to Bihar from the perspective of pressuring RJD to concede more seats to Congress during the October assembly election would be a flawed analysis. A weak political party is always vulnerable and it cannot be supposed to dictate the terms. Congress is not an exception.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The appointment of M. A. Baby as the general secretary of the CPI(M) marks the beginning of a new phase in the party’s political history.

KOLKATA: Though happy that ultimately the warring Manipur groups – the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos – sat across the table with the Union government on April 5, Saturday in New Delhi yet the home ministry team led by advisor (North-East) A K Mishra has had its share of disappointment that its much-desired joint resolution as an outcome of the meeting did not fructify. In the words of political observers and civil society organization representatives who kept themselves informed on the proceedings, it was an intense disappointment which can be described as one “bordering on anger”.

71 year old CPI(M) politburo member Mariam Alexander Baby has taken over as the sixth general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) following his nomination at the 24th congress of the Party which concluded at Madurai on April 6. Baby is a veteran leader of the CPI(M) from Kerala with wide exposure both in the state and also in national politics. He was the education minister in the Kerala LDF government as also member in Rajya Sabha for two terms. Like his earlier two predecessors, Baby also joined the CPI(M) through students movement.

US President Donald Trump is absolutely right to justify the new tariffs as a necessary step to combat “unfair” import trade practices that have hurt his country’s industries and employment opportunities for decades. Thanks to its own liberal import policy over the last several years, the US has been a favourite merchandise export dumping ground for many countries, including China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, South Korea, and Canada. India had to struggle hard to sell its wares to the US. One area of Indian exports which have benefited the US and its citizens immensely is a wide range of drugs and pharmaceutical products, which the new Trump tariff has exempted. Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs have also spared India’s export of semiconductors and copper, car and car parts, and bullion and minerals.

There is a lot of concern about the Waqf Property Amendment Bill 2025, which the Lok Sabha passed on Wednesday. This controversial bill updates the 1995 Waqf Act and gives the Central Government more control over waqf properties. The Rajya Sabha cleared it the next day. President Draupadi Murmu gave her asset last week end converting it into a law.

With the President of India’s assent, the WAQF Amendment Bill 2025 has become an act, but it was promptly challenged in the Supreme Court of India, where the matter was mentioned today April 7, 2025, before the Chief Justice of India for urgent hearing. The petitioners so far have challenged it on various grounds chiefly of its being anti-Islamic, unconstitutional, and violative of the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Ramjanmabhumi-Babri Mosque case.

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is in the Bombay High Court with a petition to quash the Mumbai Police FIR against him for making the ‘traitor’ jibe against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose keen ears prick up in a micro-millisecond if the word happens to be ‘gaddar'. Kamra's petition concerns the right to freedom of expression and speech as also on limitations placed on this right.