Law and order in Tripura has deteriorated drastically during the BJP government's eight-and-a-half years in office, CPI(M) State Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said. Democratic and constitutional rights were being systematically violated, he said, citing several recent incidents, including police preventing CPI(M) leaders from paying floral tributes to slain party leader Badal Shil at Chottakhola in Belonia on July 15 despite prior permission.

ON July 22, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed what Washington calls a ‘peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement’. The agreement has been presented as a commercial arrangement that will help Saudi Arabia diversify its energy system while creating a vast new market for US-based nuclear companies. But its significance goes far beyond the construction of power stations.

THE victory of the students and youth at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has scripted a new chapter in the history of independent India. It gives a clear indication that this paves the way for the beginning of the end of the BJP-led authoritarian regime under Narendra Modi.

IN the dead of night on July 20, some ‘unknown miscreants’ made away with a full-size statue of Rahul Sankrityayan which had been standing at a major crossing of Ranigunj, an industrial city in West Bengal. In the morning, nothing was left of it but some scattered bricks and stones. Shocked residents immediately reported the matter to the adjacent police station, but since then the police have not been able to identify even a single culprit.

THE Cockroach Janata Party may have started as a satirical takeoff on Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s unfortunate remarks of May 15th this year on unemployed youth. But in a few months, it has transformed the national political space in a way that we could never have imagined a few months back. A witty response from Dipke to the Chief Justice’s remarks the next day, "What if all cockroaches come together?" drew a huge response.