LEAD

As the global economy is reeling under the impact of Ukraine-Russia war and US-China tensions, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suggested setting up a 3-member commission comprising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Pope Francis, to promote a 5-year world truce without war or trade wars.

He announced that he will submit a written proposal to the UN in the regard, according to MSN.

His remarks came following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan which sparked tensions between the US and China, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory.

Tuesday afternoon, Nitish Kumar will take oath for the eighth time as Chief Minister of Bihar. The high frequency is on account of his revolving-door policy for allies: easy come, easy go. For this term, he has recycled his allies from 2015: Tejashwi Yadav, who heads the Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD, and the Congress; apart from them, the new "Grand Alliance" in Bihar has four smaller regional parties. "This alliance will serve the people, it will fight corruption," Nitish Kumar said yesterday to the press.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will hold a meeting with his party MLAs today as speculation about his break-up with the BJP grows to a fever pitch. The Congress and RJD have indicated they are ready for Grand Alliance 2.0 if he dumps the BJP.

The meeting of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United begins at 11 am. Officially, it is meant to take a call on the way forward. Kumar has made his growing anger with the BJP over a multitude of issues clear.

The BJP, which reached out to Kumar twice on Monday, has said it will wait for his decision. Sources said the party's chief strategist Amit Shah has reached out to Kumar and had a telephonic conversation with him. Key leaders of the party's state unit met Kumar Monday.

Every state has played a “crucial role” in India’s fight against Covid and the country’s federal structure and cooperative federalism have emerged as a “model for the world” during the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

Speaking at the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting, the Prime Minister also gave credit to state governments which, he said, focused on grassroots delivery of public services to the people through cooperation across political lines.

“Every state played a crucial role according to its strength and contributed to India’s fight against Covid. This led to India emerging as an example for the developing nations to look up to as a global leader,” the Prime Minister said, according to a press release issued by NITI Aayog.

Members of Parliament of both houses will vote today to elect the next Vice President of India in an election where NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against Opposition pick Margaret Alva. With numbers stacked in favour of the NDA, former West Bengal governor Dhankhar is set for an easy win. Cracks were visible in opposition unity as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress decided to abstain from voting alleging lack of consultations while deciding on the name of Alva. The 80-year-old Alva is a Congress veteran and has served as governor of Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, while the 71-year-old Dhankhar is a Jat leader from Rajasthan with socialist background.

Alva, however, received the backing of regional party Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) on Friday, two days after Aam Aadmi Party and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) lent their support to the opposition candidate. The AIMIM has also extended its support to Alva. With the support of some regional parties like the Janta Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena, the NDA nominee is likely to get over 515 votes, enough for a comfortable win for him.