Left, Right & Centre

Rescue teams braved minus-20-degree cold and heavy snow to save 46 workers trapped by a deadly avalanche in Mana in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, since Friday. Eight perished, but heroic efforts by the forces using choppers and sniffer dogs, ended the 60-hour mission. In today's Left, Right & Centre Vishnu Som caught up with the Army Brigade Commander MS Dhillon, who led the rescue operations.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hosted leaders from over a dozen nations, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a summit on Ukraine's future. This follows the disastrous February 28 Washington meeting where Trump and Zelensky clashed over war strategy. With France and Germany in tow, they drafted a ceasefire plan to pitch to the US, countering Trump's push for a Russia deal.

Congress Vs BJP | The aftermath of the Maha Kumbh is witnessing another Congress-versus-BJP over religion. The BJP has again hit out against the Congress, calling the party and its leaders anti-Hindu and specifically targetting senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. Mr Gandhi, the party claimed, has shown his indifference to Hinduism by failing to go either to Kumbh or the inauguration of the Ram temple. Congress's Priyank Kharge, the son of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, responded with a post on X that pointed out half of BJP Union Ministers and over half its MLAs never attended. The BJP attack on the Congress came amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Somnath temple in Gujarat.

US President Donald Trump has invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for a meeting in Washington to sign a deal on critical minerals and suggested that the war between Russia and Ukraine could end "within weeks". The American President also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "no problem" with European peacekeeping troops in his country, saying Kermelin does not want "more war."

Three years post Russia's attempt at regime change in Kyiv, there appears to be no immediate peace process in sight. Even though US President Donald Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin and Vlodomyr Zelenskyy and European nations and made it clear that America will not keep endlessly bankrolling the war and that the war has to end now. Trump's European partners have rejected the proposals, saying Ukraine must be a part of its own future in talks and that this could not necessarily end overnight.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni | Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni launched a scathing critique of what she describes as a "liberal network," accusing the Left of hypocrisy and of reacting with "hysteria" to the rise of conservative leaders globally. Speaking via video link at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC on Saturday, PM Meloni praised US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance while attacking what she referred to as "elites" and left-wing politicians.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan | Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a "broken" seat on a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. The minister alleged that when he questioned the airline staff why the seat allotted to him was broken, they told him that the management was informed about the condition of the seat earlier and that the ticket should not be sold.

The Delhi government will be led by a woman Chief Minister again as the BJP zeroed in Rekha Gupta, its first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, for the Chief Minister's post. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's legislature party this evening. Ms Gupta succeeds Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi after the BJP ended the 10-year-rule of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the recently concluded assembly election. 

The formal announcement came from the X handle of the Delhi BJP. "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Mrs. Rekha Gupta ji on being elected the leader of the Delhi BJP Legislative Party. We have full faith that the state will progress under your leadership," read a rough translation of their Hindi post. 

The Supreme court today castigated YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia for his distasteful remarks on an online show, describing them as "vulgar" and even saying he should feel "ashamed" of his actions. After strong criticisms, the top court granted interim protection from arrest, to Allahabadia with no further cases permitted to be filed against him and put a gag order on any further content creation by Ranveer Allahabadia or others involved in the controversy. The court has even asked government view on regulation of online content. 

Should cringe content and stupidity lead to imprisonment? Censorship or Should an example be made out of these content creators, a lesson be taught to them but a lesson where we the people are ready to pay the price and discount some degree of freedom of expression.

The BJP and the Congress are taking sharp jabs at each other over reports that the United States through its global aid body, USAID - budgeted $21 million for "voter turnout in India" in 2012. The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk announced a series of expenditure cuts, including $21 million allocated for "voter turnout in India." BJP leader Amit Malviya termed the grant an "external interference" in India's elections. He questioned who the beneficiary was, asserting that it was "not the ruling party for sure."He claimed that the now cancelled programme was a pointer to the previous Congress-led UPA government allegedly enabling infiltration of Indian institutions by forces opposed to the country's interests. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday took to social media to sharply rebut the allegations, remarking that  in 2012, when the grant was allegedly made, it was the Congress and not the BJP that was in power, but that it was the latter that came to power.