'Modi regime fascist, must be dethroned at any cost'
Kolkata, July 18: Terming the Narendra Modi regime at the centre as a "fascist power" that is destroying the country's economy and creating hatred among people by fueling communal unrest, a section of Bengal's civil society on Wednesday appealed to the people to make removal of the BJP and RSS from power as their topmost priority.
Famous Bengali singer, song-writer and social activist Kabir Suman attacked the BJP and RSS, saying they are "honest about hating and loathing" and urged people to defeat them in the next election "at any cost".
"It is not that communalism and differences were non-existent before the BJP came to power. But the BJP and RSS do not have an iota of compassion and honesty to work for the people. But I can say they are honest about hating people. At least they do not try to hide it," Suman said here at an event entitled 'Save Country'.
"We must defeat them at any cost. India will not bow down to theocracy. We have to keep all our misunderstandings aside to fight against these fascist forces," he said.
Criticising the Central government's economic policies, economist Dipankar Dey accused the central agencies of providing distorted data to give false indications about the government's achievements.
"We were doubtful that the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India and NITI Aayog are not providing correct picture regarding the country's economy. It has been found that several data provided by the RBI in the last few years are not matching," Dey said.
"The decision to hike the maximum support price (MSP) of Kharif crops, was also nothing but an eyewash to portray themselves as pro-farmer, because in reality it would only benefit 5-7 percent of the well to do farmers who can sell the crops directly to the government," he added.
Famous singer Pratul Mukherjee took a dig at the Prime Minister's "Acche Din" slogan, claiming that the nation has entered a horrid time people's wishes and rights are getting demolished in the name of religion.
He also said the BJP government's attempt to introduce the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017 and its its current pursuance of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam are serious attempts to violate the human rights.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
