Author: Sakshi Shrivastava

On Tuesday, McDonald’s and Starbucks announced that they were pulling out from Russia. Coco-Cola also said that they would suspend their operations in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These companies became the latest in line to bow down to public pressure and halt their operations in Russia. Over 300 companies have withdrawn from the country over its aggressive assault of Ukraine. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said,  “McDonald’s has decided to temporarily close all our restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market.” He continued that while the company employed 62,000 people, served millions of Russian customers every…

On Monday, Russia announced a ceasefire in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Sumy from 10 AM local time (12:30 PM IST) to set up humanitarian corridors for civilian evacuations. This ceasefire came at the ‘personal request’ of French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Russia’s defense ministry. Previous attempts at ceasefire collapsed when Russian forces resumed offensive before the agreed-upon time. The first attempt took place on Saturday with the opening of evacuation routes in Mariupol and Volnovakha. The ceasefire was postponed, with both sides blaming each other for failing to stop shooting or shelling. Vadym Boichenko, mayor of Mariupol, said he…

A fire broke out at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, following an attack by Russian troops on Friday. According to the authorities, the fire has been extinguished, and no critical damage has been done to the infrastructure. At 2:30 A.M local time on Friday, it was reported by Ukrainian authorities that the nuclear power plant was on fire. The power plant is located nearby Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine. According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is the largest of its kind in Ukraine and contains six of the country’s 15 nuclear energy reactors. A section of the Russian…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered into the second week. Ukraine continued defiance against Russia’s non-stop shelling is beginning to falter. The southern port city of Kherson fell to the invading force on Wednesday after a lot of fighting. Kherson is a strategically important port city of nearly 3,00,000 residents. It is located on an inlet from the Black Sea, north of the Crimean Peninsula. The city was under pressure by the surrounding Russian forces for several days now. On Wednesday, the mayor of the city, Ihor Kolykhaiev, announced via Facebook that the Ukrainian military was no longer in Kherson…

India on Saturday abstained from voting on the US-sponsored UNSC resolution that “deplores in strongest terms” the country’s “aggression” against Ukraine demanding an immediate withdrawal of troops. The resolution failed as expected because of Moscow’s veto power as a permanent member of the council. Eleven of the fifteen members voted for the motion cowritten by United States and Albania. India, China, and UAE abstained from the vote.  India’s Permanent Representative at UN, T.S Tirumurti explained the vote. He stated India’s position as being disturbed by the recent developments at Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of violence. The same…

On Thursday, Ukraine woke up to air raid sirens signaling the start of a Russian invasion. Even as war broke out between countries of Russia and Ukraine, former Hawaii Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard called the whole conflict avoidable. She said that NATO and Biden administration should have agreed to Russia’s demands to avoid the conflict. Calling Russia security concerns regarding Ukraine legitimate, Gabbard accused the Biden administration of just trying to distract from their domestic failures by ‘supposedly’ trying to protect a ‘democracy.’   Gabbard’s tweet came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine early…

Ukraine woke up to a full-scale Russian invasion in the early hours of 24th February. Citizens of Ukraine woke up to the sound of air raid sirens signaling the start of the Russia’s invasion. Missiles were shot in the eastern, northern, and southern regions of Ukraine. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted the urgency of the world’s need to act immediately, saying that the future of the world and Europe was on the line. He gave the world’s leaders a to-do list to take action on: to isolate Russia fully, put crippling sanctions on the country, and provide Ukraine with…

Yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a roadshow in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh along with Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Amit Shah was atop a vehicle decked with flowers and BJP posters. A large crowd participated in the roadshow and marched along with the vehicles across the streets of Prayagraj. People raised BJP flags. The roads were also decorated with BJP flags and balloons. The 4-km long roadshow traveled through Allahapur, Matiyara road, Alopibagh, Madhwapur, Baihrana, Kotha Parcha, Ram Bhawan, Sulaki crossing, Bahadurganj, and Loknath areas. People came on their terraces to welcome them. BJP MP’s Keshri Devi…

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in case of a hung Assembly situation, AAP is ready to enter into a post-poll alliance to keep the incumbent Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) out of power in the state.   “If hung Assembly takes place in UP, we will go to the government and get all our guarantees fulfilled to keep BJP out. So don’t worry about the seats. Vote for AAP with great enthusiasm,” said Kejriwal while addressing a rally in Lucknow.  The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener began his two-day Uttar Pradesh tour yesterday to drum up support for…

PM Modi links Samajwadi Party’s cycle symbol with terrorists. Akhilesh Yadav responds: “Cycle is the aeroplane of the common people, it is the pride of rural India, to insult a cycle is to insult the entire nation.”   Yesterday at a BJP rally in Hardoi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted political rivals Samajwadi Party and Congress for being soft on terror. He linked SP’s election symbol– a cycle– with terrorists in the context of the 49 people convicted of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts on Friday.   “The attitude of Samajwadi Party and Congress leaders is most alarming. They address a terrorist…