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News18
41 minutes ago
- Politics
- News18
Who Is Arya Rajendran, India's Youngest Mayor, Cited By NYC's Mamdani In Now-Viral Post?
Last Updated: Mamdani's 2020 post about CPI(M) leader Arya Rajendran, who became India's youngest mayor at the time, became viral after he won the race for New York Mayor. Zohran Mamdani, 33, stunned political circles in the United States by defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as the Democratic establishment to win the party's primary for mayor – in what is being described as a political earthquake in the US. However, his victory put the spotlight on Kerala politician, Arya Rajendran. Mamdani, the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, is on course to become the first Muslim Mayor of New York. His campaign focused on everyday economic issues like housing, transportation, child care and food prices. Mamdani attracted the scorn of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) base over his socialist rhetoric and religion. US President Donald Trump slammed his victory, calling him a '100% Communist Rhetoric". Mamdani's views on Israel – whom he has accused of committing a 'genocide' in Gaza – did not sit well with Republicans and some Democrats. Who Is Arya Rajendran? However, attention has turned to Mamdani's 2020 post on CPI(M) leader Arya Rajendran, who at the time became the youngest Mayor in the country and took charge of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Rajendran is a prominent leader from Kerala's Nair community who created history by becoming the youngest mayor anywhere in the world in 2020 at the age of 21, breaking the records of Sabitha Beegum becoming Kollam mayor at 23 and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis becoming Nagpur mayor at 27. In the 2020 civic elections, Rajendran won from Mudavanmugal ward in the city, defeating her nearest Congress rival by a margin of 549 votes. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front bagged 51 seats, BJP 34, UDF ten seats and others five in the election. She is married to CPI(M) MLA Sachin Dev. In 2023, Rajendran made headlines after a photo of her working from her office with her one-month-old baby went viral. She was inducted into the CPI(M)'s Thiruvananthapuram District Committee in 2024. Why Is Mamdani's Post Going Viral? Mamdani had then retweeted a post from the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Puducherry committee congratulating Rajendran for her achievement, writing 'them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now? me:" them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now?me: — Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) December 27, 2020 This post showing his early political ambitions is being highlighted now to claim that Mamdani is a communist. 'Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think Arya Rajendran would be a matter of discussion in the New York mayoral election," a user wrote on X. Several right-wing politicians and influencers also branded him as a 'communist", claiming he will destroy New York with his liberal and progressive agenda. Mamdani has also been criticised for his views on India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. First Published: June 27, 2025, 08:18 IST
New York Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Why it's time to Make America Think Again
The numbers tell a stark story. According to a new report by the Economic Innovation Group, foreign-born workers who arrived on student visas out-earn their American peers by nearly $30,000 annually. They're twice as likely to work in research and development. But this isn't a zero-sum game where one group's success diminishes another's potential. Instead, it's a mirror reflecting what America could achieve if it stopped settling for mediocrity and started demanding excellence from its own educational system. Walk across any American university campus today, and the contrast becomes painfully clear. While international students pack engineering labs and computer science departments, too many American students have drifted toward paths of least resistance — degrees in Critical Race Studies, Queer Theory and Gender Analysis. Advertisement 6 America's higher education system is doing a masterful job of training future leaders. ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock One group is building the future; the other is deconstructing the past. These fields offer little beyond debt and limited career prospects. Yet they proliferate while hard sciences struggle for enrollment. The real revelation isn't that international students are outperforming Americans. It's that they're succeeding within systems America built, but has allowed them to decay. They're mastering curricula Americans designed, conducting research in labs Americans constructed, and launching careers from universities Americans funded. The infrastructure for greatness already exists. America has simply forgotten how to use it. Advertisement Consider the typical trajectory of today's international STEM student. They arrive focused, disciplined, and pragmatic. They pursue electrical engineering, computer science, and biotechnology. Not because these fields are fashionable, but because they understand something fundamental: Education is a tool for building the future, not just exploring feelings about the present. They treat university as a launching pad, not a four-year therapy session. There's an opportunity hidden within this crisis. America doesn't need to choose between welcoming global talent and developing domestic potential. The country can do both, and doing both is precisely what made it a superpower in the first place. 6 Along with working to Make America Great Again, critics believe President Trump should strive to 'Make America Think Again.' REUTERS The solution begins with recognizing that excellence attracts excellence. The same rigorous programs that draw international students can inspire American ones — if we make them accessible and appealing. This means rebuilding pathways that connect high school students directly to high-impact fields, regardless of their background or ZIP code. Advertisement Imagine a system where every public university receiving federal funding must maintain world-class STEM programs with guaranteed spots for qualified American students. Picture apprenticeship programs that blend university research with practical training, giving students hands-on experience while they earn degrees, or partnerships between elite universities and community colleges that create seamless transitions from technical training to advanced research. 6 Higher education in the US must be retooled to make it both easier to access and more attractive to US students, who are falling far behind their global peers, according to critics. Wavebreak Media – 6 When classrooms contain students from around the world, all working at the highest level, everyone benefits from the elevated — and more, yes, diverse — standards. Getty Images Advertisement This isn't about lowering standards or creating separate tracks. It's about raising expectations across the board while removing the barriers that prevent talented Americans from reaching their potential. The farm kid in rural Iowa who builds robots in his garage should have access to the same opportunities as the international student with perfect test scores. The key is understanding that competition drives excellence. International students aren't just filling seats. They're setting benchmarks. Their success should inspire their American counterparts to rise up and meet them, not retreat into easier alternatives. When classrooms contain students from around the world, all working at the highest level, everyone benefits from the elevated — and more, yes, diverse — standards. 6 Students are mastering curricula Americans designed, conducting research in labs Americans constructed, and launching careers from universities Americans funded, according to reports. REUTERS America needs to rehabilitate the culture around education itself. Learning must be reframed as adventure, not obligation. Discovery should be celebrated more than comfort. The pursuit of knowledge needs to be understood as both personally fulfilling and nationally essential. This cultural shift requires leadership from academic institutions. Universities must stop marketing themselves as lifestyle brands and start functioning as intellectual boot camps. They should measure success not by graduation rates or student satisfaction surveys, but by the real-world impact of their graduates—the patents filed, the companies launched, the problems solved. President Trump's instinct to 'Make America Great Again' is correct, but greatness begins with thinking. To MAGA, we must MATA: Make America Think Again. 6 America doesn't need to choose between welcoming global talent and developing domestic potential, some believe. REUTERS Advertisement That doesn't mean closing the door to foreign talent. It means refusing to accept a future where American students are bystanders in their own country's labs and lecture halls. It means ensuring American students can stand shoulder to shoulder with foreign talent. Foreign students dominating scientific fields aren't the problem. They're the reminder of what happens when a system still believes in mastery and refuses to apologize for it. Now it's time to give American students that same shot. Not a head start, but a fair fight. Because if America intends to lead the world again, it'll need to outthink it first. Greatness isn't handed down. It's trained, tested, and taught.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Zohran Mamdani Isn't New York Mayor Yet But Already Faces MAGA's Heat
Ever since Zohran Mamdani clinched a surprising victory in the Democratic primary for New York's mayoral polls, he has found himself in the crosshairs of Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters. If elected in November, Mr Mamdani would become the first Muslim mayor in New York City's history. While many have opposed Zohran Mamdani's policies, such as supporting affordable housing, MAGA supporters are targeting him over his religious identity. Conservative social media personality Laura Loomer wrote, "New York City will be destroyed, Muslims will start committing jihad all over New York and that NYC is about to see 9/11 2.0." New York City just handed its Democrat mayoral primary to @ZohranKMamdani, a communist jihadi backed by New York's communist Attorney General Letitia James @TishJames and raised by a father who believes terrorism is justified as "anti-colonial resistance." Trevor Loudon… — Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) June 26, 2025 Islamophobic posts targeting Mamdani were shared by prominent MAGA faces such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, US representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district. She shared a post showing a digitally altered picture of the Statue of Liberty covered in a black burqa. This hits hard. — Marjorie Taylor Greene ???????? (@mtgreenee) June 25, 2025 Conservative activist Charlie Kirk also referred to the 9/11 attacks in a recent post. He wrote, "24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City." 24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11 Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 25, 2025 Sharing a picture of Zohran Mamdani from a social gathering, Republican Nancy Mace, a US Representative from South Carolina, wrote, "After 9/11 we said 'Never Forget.' I think we sadly have forgotten." After 9/11 we said "Never Forget." I think we sadly have forgotten. — Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) June 25, 2025 US President Donald Trump also launched a scathing attack on Mr Mamdani, calling him a 100 percent Communist Lunatic. He even criticized other progressive leaders who support Mr Mamdani, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Senator Chuck Schumer. Key policies proposed by Mamdani and why MAGA are backers opposing them? Zohran Mamdani is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and that alone makes him unpopular among MAGA supporters. Where Trump seeks tight border control, an anti-refugee stance and a Muslim ban, Mamdani fights for immigrant rights and pro-refugee policies. Housing for all: Zohran Mamdani supports rent control, the construction of affordable houses for particularly low or middle-income classes and protection of tenants from eviction. MAGA supporters generally favour free market housing policies and landlords' rights. Anti-war policy: One of the key reasons MAGA supporters oppose Mamdani is that he openly accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, which deeply angers the conservatives who are strongly pro-Israel. Taxes: While Mamdani has proposed a two percent tax on wealthy individuals to fund public services, MAGA bats for lower taxes and minimal government intervention. During a Democratic debate, Zohran Mamdani called himself Trump's worst nightmare, positioning himself as a progressive, Muslim immigrant who actively fights for social justice. He also criticised Trump's immigration policies, describing them as authoritarian.
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
How 'socialist' is Zohran Mamdani?
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party candidate and front-runner for mayoral elections of New York, calls himself a 'democratic socialist', something that has created a lot of concern among many in the United States. The US is synonymous with capitalism, an economic system where the means of production (land, labour, capital) are privately owned and incomes are distributed through the operations of markets. Socialism evolved in large part as a reaction to the capitalist system, and has meant different things at different times. In some cases it refers to the state (or the government) owning the means of production, while in other contexts it could mean the workers owning the means of production while competing in a market economy. Mamdani's detractors — including within the Democratic Party — believe his policy prescriptions could spell doom for the city that never sleeps, pushing out businesses while saddling the running of the city with excessive government controls and taxation. His supporters see his rise as a clear message that the Democratic Party must shift 'left' to counter the Donald Trump-led MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, which is pulling the US further towards the economic and social 'right'. In a recent interview, Mamdani was asked if he likes capitalism. He winced and said no, before describing himself as a 'democratic socialist'. And to define what it meant, Mamdani quoted American civil rights activist Martin Luther King: 'Call democracy or call it democratic socialism, there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.' Mamdani said he was focussed on the rising inequality in the US today, and wants to address the problem of affordability. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which explains democratic socialism as follows: 'Capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. We must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society…'. 'We want a democracy that creates space for us all to flourish, not just survive, and answers the fundamental questions of our lives with the input of all. We want to collectively own the key economic drivers that dominate our lives, such as energy production and transportation. We want the multiracial working class united in solidarity instead of divided by fear. We want to win 'radical' reforms like single-payer Medicare for All, defunding the police/refunding communities, the Green New Deal, and more as a transition to a freer, more just life.' According to the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) — an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank that focuses on the state of New York — New York may have already entered a period of stagflation (a deadly combination of low growth and high inflation). According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in 2022 New York city had a GDP of $1.2 trillion — roughly one-third the size of India's GDP — with a population of just 8.3 million. Prior to the pandemic, the city had experienced its strongest economic boom in decades. But the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the city's economy and employment, one that still has not recovered from. Land prices and thus home prices are exceptionally high with median household income in 2022 being $72,000 per annum while the median home price was $724,000. One of the main reasons why Mamdani has captured the imagination of the voters in the Democratic Party's internal elections is his laser focus on making the city more affordable for New Yorkers. During the mayoral debate among democratic contenders, Mamdani boldly unveiled his plan to achieve this goal. 'I will freeze the rent for millions of tenants, make buses fast and free and deliver universal childcare. And before you ask, I'll pay for it by taxing the rich — the same billionaire who put Donald Trump in the White House, the same ones who are now funding Andrew Cuomo's [a former NYC mayor and his main opponent during the Democratic primary] campaign.' Apart from freezing the rent — a policy choice that has attracted a lot of attention because nearly 70% households rent their homes — Mamdani has also promised to introduce government-owned grocery stores. He says that nearly 9 in 10 New Yorkers say the cost of groceries is rising faster than their income and as Mayor he will create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit. 'Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they [such shops] will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers. They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralise warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing,' Mamdani's manifesto states. Mamdani also wants to raise the minimum wages. 'In the world's richest city, making the minimum wage shouldn't mean living in poverty,' he says. As Mayor, Mamdani 'will champion a new local law bringing the NYC wage floor up to $30/hour by 2030. After that, the minimum wage will automatically increase based on the cost of living and productivity increases. When working people have more money in their pocket, the whole economy thrives,' according to his policy manifesto. There are three main concerns with Mamdani's proposals. One, the belief that governments can solve real issues by fixing prices (or wages) in the economy is viewed with suspicion among mainstream economists. At one level, if it only requires someone in government to fix prices in order to stem price rise, there would never be any inflation or crisis of affordability. There is a large body of research that shows that while freezing rents appear to help affordability in the short run and for current tenants, in the long-run such a move disincentives more houses being built and decreases affordability, especially for the future tenants. Higher prices are a signal of mismatch between demand and supply. The more substantive way to solve it is by boosting supply. To be sure, Mamdani recognises the need to build more houses, albeit he proposes to build just 200,000 while some of his opponents are promising to build a million (especially since they want the private sector to build them). Second, is a concern about the efficiency of government-run enterprises such as grocery stores. Again, there are many examples from the world over that, more often than not, shops or businesses run by the government are inefficient and often plagued with corruption. Third, is a concern about excessive taxation driving out businesses from NYC, thus robbing it of the economic dynamism that fuels the city's growth. One of the candidates that Mamdani defeated in the Democratic Primary race is Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager who also helped create Teach For America. During the debate earlier in June, Tilson pointed out that if Mamdani's taxation plan is implemented 'NYC businesses would be paying double the tax rate of New Jersey, triple that of Connecticut, and five-times that of Florida, which would lead to an exodus of businesses and jobs and crash our city.' Udit Misra is Deputy Associate Editor. Follow him on Twitter @ieuditmisra ... Read More
IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
BRICS: The key to a new World Order through expansion
At the 2023 BRICS Summit in South Africa, six more countries were accepted as members into BRICS. Image: GCIS THE annual BRICS Summit, to be attended by heads of state, takes place in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro in early July. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is expanding at the speed of light. At the 2023 BRICS Summit in South Africa, six more countries were accepted as members into BRICS. They were Ethiopia, Egypt, UAE, Iran, Qatar and Argentina. Argentina pulled out soon afterwards following an electoral victory by a pro-West Libertarian Party led by President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires. Yet as things stand, up to 40 countries are knocking on the door of BRICS. They are led by the great Asian regional powerhouse, Indonesia. I paint a picture of the role of BRICS in global affairs to illustrate its emergence as a power of great significance. The BRICS Summit in Brazil takes place at a time of extraordinary changes in geopolitics, underscored by the rapidly unfolding disintegration of Western hegemony that has held firm since the end of WWII in 1945. The US, the major glue that has led the West as a united front through formations such as Nato, among others, has unleashed tariffs on Europe in a move that has shaken the foundation of the Western alliance. Under President Donald Trump, Washington's main focus is to 'Make America Great Again', or 'America First' foreign policy that has left the globalists reeling. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The scramble to keep together the crumbling cookie is a spectacle to watch. Just this week at the Nato summit at The Hague, Trump had to be cornered into grudgingly endorsing Nato's Article 5, which refers to the principle of 'an attack on one is an attack on all'. In fact, so desperate was Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte to have Trump not mess up the meeting that he called Trump 'Daddy'. For far too long, Europe has been scavenging on the US. 'The European Union was born to screw the United States,' Trump lashed out in February this year. It is the EU to raise its budget spending on defence to at least 5% of its national budgets, Trumped insists, and the West has had to reluctantly agree for fear of being totally abandoned by Washington. In contrast, the rise of the Global South as a force to be reckoned with is intertwined with the impact in the growing importance of BRICS in geopolitics. Across the entire Majority World, the common message is of solidarity, togetherness, cooperation and mutual pursuit of common goals. For instance, Brazil will hold the BRICS Summit under the theme: 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'. As the Global South works hard to strengthen its collective rising power in the 21st century, the Global North is grappling with growing schism between member-states, particularly in the ranks of the EU, where Western Europe continues to subtly treat former Soviet Union Eastern European countries as inferior. Addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief) last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin put it bluntly, saying: 'The dominance of the West is over.' Similarly, the foreign policy of China has consistently been premised on the principles of 'shared future', characterised by cooperation that leaves no one behind, great or small. The concerted mobilisation efforts by BRICS countries, marked by a geographic and ideological sense of solidarity borne from the era of liberation wars against colonialism and imperialism, are an emotional magnetic force that drives BRICS. South Africa, another key component of the strategic geopolitical bloc that is BRICS, will play host to the G20 Leaders' Summit at the end of this year under a similar theme that advocates for greater cooperation across the Majority World, as International Relations scholars refer to the Global South nowadays. South Africa's presidency of the G20 will focus on the theme: 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability'. The theme so irked the US that the Trump administration's Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted the G20 meeting of foreign ministers in South Africa. There have been unabating fears that the US could boycott the end-of-year meeting in South Africa as bilateral ties ad been frosty for an extended period. However, word in diplomatic circles is that the US has had a change of heart and will see Trump attend the G20 meeting. Relations between intra-BRICS countries continue to grow stronger by the day. India emulated the rest of the Global South when it refused to support the Western economic sanctions against Russia. Instead, India has been reselling Russian oil and gas to Europe under the obvious guise that the products were 'made in India'. The BRICS Bank, also known as the New Development Bank, is quietly positioning itself to counter the lending dominance of the US-led IMF and World Bank. Trade by BRICS countries accounts for 40% of the global trade, according to statistics. Additionally, the combined population of BRICS countries account for nearly 50% of the world's population. There are ample opportunities for BRICS to rapidly morph into the most powerful global body, more powerful than the sectarian G7 and the crumbling UN system that continues to be undermined by US-led Western unilateralism. There are a number of strategically aligned Global South entities that, working together, can achieve a lot more, and faster. For example, at this week's Eurasian Economic Forum held in the capital of Belarus, Minsk, President Putin made some telling remarks when he revealed that 'BRICS is working on a digital investment platform'. Putin explained that such an initiative could also be rolled out across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Putin elaborated: 'We are developing this platform within BRICS, and these ideas could be implemented in the EAEU too.' The pursuit and formation of networks within and across the Majority World, nurturing of cooperative initiatives and unity of purpose are some of the major principles upon which BRICS can serve as a catalyst to the reformation of the Majority World into a true pole of power in international affairs.
