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It's Kamala Harris, for Joe Biden's running mate
A known one, if good, is the best choice, better than the unknown best. Joe Biden has, therefore, chosen lawyer-Senator Kamala Harris whom he could assess first-hand, from close quarters, as she fought him tooth and nail in the Prez nomination campaign. (SEE: A brief bio of Kamala Harris) She withdrew later. (But she was targeted by media as a potential Lady Macbeth! Biden is an old guy and he has declared, winning, he is not for a second term). As for Susan Rice, politically inexperienced but a senior diplomat, who is “simpatico with me,” he is planning to compensate her with a key position in the White House. But have you won? If at all he wanted to win, the only way left was ...

WASHINGTON, Aug 11: Finally, after a long wait, Democratic party's presumptive candidate for President Joe Biden on Tuesday picked his running mate for vice-president - lawyer-Senator Kamala Harris, the Black and Indian multiethnic American with colour, but targeted by media as a potential Lady Macbeth! She was his opponent for Dems' presidential nomination but later withdrew; so he knows her well.

  1. The unimpressive, too cautious presidential candidate had announced his preference for a woman candidate for veep and that had made the media job easy, making a list of probables narrowing down to less than half a dozen.
  2. He had also listed his other preferences (out of his insecurity). He said he was looking for a woman veep who has "trust," who is “simpatico with me” and who "talks to you privately any differences." All post-election! It seemed he was more worried about the relationship in the White House than winning the election. Lest he is overshadowed and sidelined! Putting cart before the horse! He was less on the campaign strategy to exploit the problem at hand: a bungled pandemic and the damaged economy.
  3. However, finally he has been guided by the dictum that a known one, if good, is the best choice, better than the unknown best. And he learnt about Kamala Harris' efficiency and character first-hand in the campaign against himself. And that too as his opponent in the Primary: the best way to assess. She has colour too.
  4. He had once indicated Susan Rice was “simpatico with me” but avoided naming her may be because of her tainted background which the Republicans will make use of in the campaign. May be he plans to reward her with a key position in the White House as she had been in during Obama time. If he wins!
  5. If at all winning was the priority, and if Biden was the Prez nominee, then the only way for the Dems to win was to send an S.O.S to Michelle Obama...!

The probables other than Harris the media had been speculating were Senators Elizabeth Warren (the woman of liberal ideas), former UN Ambassador and National Security Adviser of Obama times Susan Rice, former Representative Karen Bass (the insider) and Florida Representative Val Demings.

Joe Biden knows Kamala Harris' efficiency first-hand as she was his opponent in the Primary and she has colour. But not Elizabeth Warren, the woman of potential ideas. As for a 'tainted' Rice, she has worked with him in the White House and is “simpatico with me.” But he should know personal relationship alone will not work when the country has lost everything in a bungled pandemic, and reconstruction stares at you. However, that comes later!

Biden had been testing the waters for quite long.

A piece of paper bearing the words 'Kamala Harris' was seen displayed from Biden's hand on July 28 and photographers had clicked that. It could have started the speculation which led to Politico, in what it clarified as a mistake later, publishing Kamala as the choice in a postdated (Aug 1) news report.

"A placeholder text mistakenly published on the site," so said its spokesperson. "Our standard practice is to use 'lorem ipsum' as placeholder text. In this instance, that did not happen. We regret the error and any confusion that it caused." But, ironiclly, it turned out to be true.

The report had said: "Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on Aug 1, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, after keeping his choice close to the chest for months."

Joe Biden, 78, running neck-and-neck with President and Republican nominee Donald Trump in opinion polls, is the oldest to take office if he wins, and he has hinted that he will not seek a second term: This possibly puts the incumbent V-P almost on a semi-automatic route to the highest office in the following polls. Biden's vice-presidential pick therefore has very high stakes.

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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.

The irony lies in her illustration of her experiences in the country she has been living in for the last four years. What it really is!

ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
  • The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
  • The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

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