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A Russian state television host warned that the country is ready to confront NATO as tensions between Moscow and the West continue to escalate over the war in Ukraine. Speaking on the state-controlled television Channel 1 on Sunday, television host Vladimir Solovyov said that Russia was only using 18 percent of its army in Ukraine and its military was fighting at "a peacetime" size so it was ready for "a direct confrontation" with the international military alliance if necessary. Andrey Gurulyov, State Duma deputy and former deputy commander of Russia's southern military district, who was also speaking on the show, boasted that Russia's nuclear capability meant it can "liquidate all means of an attack that threaten the territory of Russia." Responding, Solovyov said: "That's why it's understood why we're currently using less than 18 percent of our Armed Forces, which is our peacetime army because we are ready for a direct confrontation with the armed forces of the entire … [Read more...] about Russia ready for direct confrontation with all of NATO, state TV host says

Gujarat, where the assembly election due this year, has cooperatives, which matter a lot in the development of society and politics. The Gujarat cooperative movement is quite strong in the domain of agriculture products such as cotton, groundnuts, coriander leaves, garlic and other commercial agricultural products, dairy, milk products and handicrafts and the sugar sector. The Congress retained its influence in the cooperative movement of Gujarat for a long time but now it is in the deep influence of the BJP, which has displaced the Congress leaders from the cooperative network and has become an influential part of it. It helped the party in – providing space to its cadre to do mobilisational politics thus becoming influential in the local power structure, and providing jobs to them to survive and sustain their life. The various agricultural products marketing cooperative committees (‘Samiti’ from local to apex) and cooperative banks produce jobs and employment too. The cooperatives … [Read more...] about Political Matrix: How Cooperative Movement Has Shaped Up States and Influenced Power Structures

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) chairman Uday Samant admitted that the four-storeyed building , which collapsed in south Mumbai on Tuesday, was supposed to have been demolished in 2012. The ground-plus-four-storey 'Kesarbai' building, located in a densely populated narrow lane in Dongri's Tandel Street, collapsed around 11.40 am, leaving around 50 people trapped. At least 13 people have been confirmed dead so far. Samant, also the MLA of the Ratnagiri-Sangmeshwar constituency, said the building was 100 years old. According to him, the building owned by the Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (MHADA) was to be demolished by a private developer. "Strict action will be taken, no one will be spared...the developer and our officials should have seen the work," he said. After the collapse of the building, the MHADA said it had not given a No Objection Certificate to the developer in 2012 for its … [Read more...] about Dongri Building Should Have Been Demolished in 2012, State Govt Blames Private Builder

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries agreed Monday that all natural gas storage in the 27-nation bloc should be topped up to at least 80% capacity for next winter as they prepare for the possibility of Russia further reducing deliveries. The EU is trying to slash its use of Russian energy amid the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine and find other sources. A ban on imports of Russian coal will start in August, and an embargo on most oil from Russia will be phased in over the coming eight months. Meanwhile, Moscow is disrupting natural gas deliveries, a fuel used to power factories and generate electricity that the EU didn’t include in its own sanctions for fear of seriously harming the European economy. Before the war, the bloc got about 40% of its natural gas from Russia. Moscow has reduced gas supplies to several EU countries, including heavy importers Germany and Italy, and cut off … [Read more...] about EU countries adopt mandatory gas storage amid Russia’s cuts

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 ELMAU, Germany (AP) — In 1975, leaders of the world’s wealthy democracies gathered to deal with an energy crisis sparked by a war and rampant inflation. Those same sore points are bedeviling their successors representing 46% of the global economy at this week's Group of Seven summit, with high consumer and energy prices threatening to trigger recessions in the U.S. and Europe. Here are key facts about the Group of Seven: WHAT IS THE GROUP OF SEVEN? It's a group of wealthy democracies with large, advanced economies and high standards of living. Annual summits give leaders a chance to hash out common approaches on pretty much anything they want to talk about. The first summits in the 1970s were convened to deal with the first post-World War II recession, and focused on fiscal stimulus and exchange rates. Economic policy still tends to be front and … [Read more...] about EXPLAINER: G7 provides forum for like-minded democracies

Republican Representative Mike Turner described Donald Trump's actions towards Ukraine as "alarming" and "not OK," but defended the president against the impeachment inquiry moving forward rapidly in the House Intelligence Committee. Turner's comments came in an interview with CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, during which he largely defended the president, while criticizing House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California. But the GOP lawmaker, who represents Ohio, also criticized the president's actions towards Ukraine. After anchor Jake Tapper outlined the allegations that had been laid out by multiple credible witnesses, Turner admitted it was concerning. "Well, of course, all of that is alarming. And as I've said from the beginning, I think this is not OK," the congressman said. "The president of the United States should not have even in the original phone call [with Ukraine's president] be on the phone with the president of another country and … [Read more...] about Republican congressman calls Trump’s Ukraine actions “alarming” and “not OK,” but defends president

When a democracy rolls back a constitutional right that has been in place for almost half a century, it must consider itself in deep peril. The U.S. stands at that fraught juncture now, after its Supreme Court, in a 6-3 majority, overturned the 1973 ruling in Roe vs Wade , and took away the constitutional right to abortion . In one blow, on June 24, it withdrew from women anywhere in the country their right to reproductive and bodily autonomy. With Roe , as well as the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood vs Casey that upheld Roe , gone, the court returned “the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives”. States can now decide whether to ban abortion , and at what stage in a pregnancy and under what circumstances. The fight over abortion has been the U.S.’s most passionately waged ideological battle. With a focus that denies any space for compassion or respect for liberty, conservatives have prioritised the task of having Roe overturned for decades. … [Read more...] about Regressive, inhumane: On the U.S. Supreme Court removing right to abortion

As the Centre has decided to ban the use of single-use plastic from July 1, the hill State of Himachal Pradesh is all set to kick-start a buy-back scheme in schools and colleges to purchase the single-use plastic items from students in a bid to instill a sense of environment preservation by ‘catching them young’. Under the novel scheme, the students would be encouraged to bring single-use plastic items from their home and deposit it with the school, for which they will be paid ₹ 75 a kg by the government — the aim to inculcate a habit among the youngsters towards environment conservation. “Across the State, we have 3,000 Eco-clubs in schools and in 100 colleges under the National Green Corps programme — these Eco-clubs are an association of student-teachers that work to inculcate environmental awareness and protection. As a pilot project, we will start the buy-back scheme in 100 schools from July 1. Later, we will scale it up and implement the scheme in all the schools and colleges … [Read more...] about Come July 1, Himachal Pradesh govt. to start buying single-use plastic items from students of 100 schools

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three assembly seats and the Congress bagged one in the high-stakes by-elections in Tripura on Sunday, officials said. Chief Minister Manik Saha won the bypoll to the crucial Town Bardowali seat by 6,104 votes. Mr. Saha secured 17,181 votes, which is 51.63% of the total votes polled, as per the Election Commission. Mr. Saha’s nearest rival Asish Kumar Saha of the Congress bagged 11,077 votes or 33.29% of the total votes. Congress candidate Sudip Roy Barman won the Agartala seat by a margin of 3,163 votes. Mr Barman secured 17,241 votes, which is 43.46% of the total votes polled. Mr. Barman’s nearest rival Ashok Sinha of the BJP got 14,268 votes (35.57%). With this victory, Mr. Roy Barman became the only Congress MLA in the assembly after the party's complete rout in the 2018 assembly elections. Also Read Bypoll results 2022 live updates | BJP wins Rampur, Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats; AAP loses Sangrur The CPI(M) … [Read more...] about BJP wins 3 seats, Congress 1 in crucial Tripura by-elections

Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had a major setback on Sunday as it lost the parliamentary byelection to the Sangrur constituency, so far a party bastion. Simranjit Singh Mann, a known radical Sikh leader of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat by securing 2,53,154 votes. He defeated his nearest rival of the AAP, Gurmail Singh, by 5,822 votes. Mr. Singh secured 2,47,332 votes. The byelection is being seen as the first major test to ascertain the popularity of the three-month-old AAP government, which went into the Assembly polls earlier this year on the plank of its development work, and stern action against corruption, illegal mining and other “mafias” in the State. Losing Sangrur is being seen as a big blow against the party, especially for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as the constituency is his home turf. The byelection was necessitated as the seat fell vacant after Mr. Mann contested and won from the Dhuri Assembly seat in the Assembly … [Read more...] about With Sangrur bypoll win, Simranjit Singh Mann makes a comeback