Costas Simitis, former prime minister of Greece and the architect of the country's joining the common European currency, the euro, has died at age 88, state TV ERT reported. Simitis was taken to a hospital in the city of Corinth early Sunday morning from his holiday home west of Athens, unconscious and without a pulse, the hospital's director was quoted as saying by Greek media. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. Simitis, a co-founder of the Socialist PASOK party in 1974, eventually became the successor to the party's founding leader, Andreas Papandreou, with whom he had an often contentious relationship that shaped the party's nature. Simitis was a low-key pragmatist where Papandreou was a charismatic, fiery populist. He was also a committed pro-European, while Papandreou banked on strong opposition to Greece's joining what was then the European Economic Community in the 1970s, before changing tack once he became prime minister. When the profligate first
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the pleas challenging the 1976 amendment to the Constitution adding terms "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" to the Preamble. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had on November 22 reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, challenging the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution. The petitions do not require a detailed hearing, the CJI said. "The two expressions 'socialist' and 'secular' were made in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference... the retrospectivity arguments if accepted will apply to all amendments," noted the CJI.
The Supreme Court on Monday said secularism had always been held to be part and parcel of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar passed the remark while hearing a batch of petitions filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, who have challenged the inclusion of words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble of the Constitution. "This court has in a number of judgments held that secularism was always part of the basic structure of the Constitution. If one looks right to equality and the word 'fraternity' used in the Constitution, there is a clear indication that secularism has been held as the core feature of the Constitution," the bench said. The words "socialist' and "secular" were inserted into the Preamble of the Constitution under the 42nd Constitutional amendment moved by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976. The amendment changed the description of India in the
This should be a time of celebration for Britain's Labour Party, which opens its annual conference Sunday less than three months after winning power in a landslide after 14 years in opposition. But it's no victory lap for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His government is facing a reckoning with a battered economy and an electorate impatient for change. The mood among Labour members gathering in the northwest England city of Liverpool has been further dampened by a tempest over Starmer's acceptance of freebies at a time when the millions of people are struggling with the cost of living. Starmer insists he followed the rules when he took clothes and designer eyeglasses from Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and longtime Labour donor. But after days of negative headlines, the party now says Starmer won't accept any more free outfits. I get that people are angry, said Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who also accepted donations to pay for clothing. But donations for gifts and hospita
It has been 50 years since socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan gave the call for 'Sampoorna Kranti' on June 5, 1974 at the historic Gandhi Maidan here. Addressing a massive gathering on that day, he had thundered, "...it is a Total Revolution we want, nothing less". While five decades have passed on since that historic moment and much has changed in the capital city of Bihar, the legend of 'JP', as he was popularly known, lives on in political speeches, statues, and in names of bridges, boulevards, public buildings, institutions and some streets in the state. Under the firebrand 'JP', the agitation in Bihar took the shape of a 'Total Revolution' and the initial demand for resignation of the then Ghafoor ministry in the state ultimately turned into a larger demand for dismissal of the Indira Gandhi government. The 'Bihar Movement' during the turbulent 70s eventually led to the Emergency. On Wednesday, the Patna district administration paid floral tributes to the socialist leader a
Portugal's political future is hanging in the balance after a general election Sunday, with two moderate mainstream parties closely contesting the race and set to wait weeks for a decision on the winner after an unprecedented surge in support for a populist party that finished third. The center-right Social Democrat-led Democratic Alliance won 79 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly, Portugal's Parliament, after all votes cast in Portugal were counted. The center-left Socialist Party, in power the past eight years, got 77 seats. The deciding votes will come from voters abroad to distrubte the final four parliamentary seats after an election night full of suspense. That count could take more than two weeks. The hard-right Chega (Enough) party came in third with 48 seats, a milestone result that presented an unprecedented challenge to politics-as-usual, underscoring a drift to the right in the European Union. Smaller parties took the rest of the vote in an election that saw turno
A new book on the life and legacy of former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, commemorating the birth centenary of the political luminary, will hit the stands in May, Penguin Random House India has announced. Written by Santosh Singh and Aditya Anmol, "The Jannayak Karpoori Thakur: Voice of the Voiceless" focusses on his politics that introduced groundbreaking concepts such as "quota within quota, or equity within equity". Thakur had played a pivotal role in bifurcating reservation among OBC, EBC, EWS and women in 1978 -- a model that significantly influenced the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. "I am greatly elated and excited about Penguin bringing out our book on socialist legend and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur. And my happiness has just doubled with the announcement of Thakur getting the Bharat Ratna. Thakur's lasting legacy is not just pioneering the OBC quota but his inclusive and cohesive politics," author Singh said in a statement. Earlier this week, Presid
He was a former Bihar Chief Minister and was known for championing the cause of the backward classes
The two terms 'socialist' and 'secular' were inserted into the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976
Labour Day celebrations are associated with socialist political movements around the world that demand equity in the workplace
CPC Futures is a one-stop guide to understanding the changes in China's domestic and foreign policy directions and their immediate and long-term effects for the world
Poised for record third five-year term and perhaps for life, Chinese President Xi Jinping's high-voltage Marxist rhetoric on Sunday with a vow to make China a modern socialist country has raised hackles at home and abroad that the Communist giant, which for decades relegated the ideology to the background, could be taking the turn to the extreme left. "From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realise the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation," Xi said in his marathon speech at the key Congress of the party on Sunday. "Only by taking root in the rich historical and cultural soil of the country and the nation the truth of Marxism flourish here," he told the over 2,300 delegates of the week-long 20th Congress,
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the birthplace of Jayaprakash Narayanan, popularly known as JP, in Bihar's Saran district on Tuesday to attend the 120th birth anniversary celebrations of the socialist icon. Accompanied by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Shah will reach Sitab Diara via Varanasi. He will unveil a life-size statue of JP in Sitab Diara and address a public gathering. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the home minister's visit, officials said. This will be Shah's second visit to Bihar after the BJP was ousted from power in the state. Earlier, he visited Purnea and Kishanganj in the Seemanchal region on September 23.
According to the 2022 Work Trend Index Pulse Report conducted by Microsoft, 91 per cent of the employees want to go to the office on the prospect of socialising with their co-workers
People in the circle will see a green badge under Tweets sent to the group. These Tweets cannot be Retweeted.
Rishi Sunak accused Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, his two closest rivals, of "socialism" as he attacked their plans to cut taxes and borrow more
His attack came a day after CM Yogi accused him of "dumping" socialism and praised the his uncle Shivpal Yadav, crediting him for "keeping alive" ideals of towering socialist leader Rammanohar Lohia
Political free-riding happens everywhere because even though people don't actively espouse a cause, they don't disapprove of it enough either
The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has made it an identity mark of the party due to which even without taking its name, it can can be attacked.
Strong nationalism is always a defining feature of our ideological leaning, says BJP spokesperson