REVOLUTIONARY Kannada writer,Siddalingaiah died on June 11, 2021 at the age of 67, after battling with Covid19 for over a month at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. He is widely known as a Kannada Dalit poet and a revolutionary writer. He, along with few others, pioneered a literary trend known as ‘Dalitha-Bandaaya” (Rebellion) in 1970-80s. He played a leading role in Left-progressive literary-cultural movement in Karnataka and has been an important cultural leader.

DURING the outbreak of the second wave of dreadful pandemic COVID-19, when the government of Himachal Pradesh imposed lockdown/curfew in the state and people were forced to live in their homes statewide, nothing was easy to access them, facing a lot of difficulties in their day to day life, in that eventuality it was a team of “red volunteers” of CPI(M) local committee that intervened and launched an awareness campaign and helping the needy and distressed.

THE All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) has demanded urgent intervention from the government to ensure the safety of anganwadi workers and ASHAs, the frontline workers who have been losing lives in combating Covid-19 in the country.Gearing up to organise a militant protest on July 10 along with other Central Trade Unions, the AIFAWH reminded that during the first wave of the pandemic in India, as many as six anganwadi workers died due to Covid-19 in Karnataka, and in the second wave, between the third week of April and the third week of May, 22 anganwadi workers d

DESPOTIC attacks on democratic rights and the right to protect individual lives and properties have been going on unabated in the BJP-ruled Tripura.* Leader of the Opposition Manik Sarkar, accompanied by party leaders, was prevented from a scheduled visit to Santirbazar on May 10.* A blood donation camp organised by Left youth at Khowai on May 12 was stopped.* Large scale ransacking and looting of at least 19 houses of CPI(M) leaders and workers at Badharghat under Agartala Municipal Corporation on May 29 and 30.* Even Jharna Das Baidya, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), was prevented by

THE Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) called out the government for dilly-dallying the process of fixation of minimum wages by constituting a new expert committee on wages, instead of acting upon the recommendations made by the old expert committee in 2019.The CITU, in a statement issued on June 4, has said that the purpose of constituting the new committee is to keep the much needed minimum wage revision hanging for the sake of  ‘ease of doing business’ rankings; and to provide berths to chosen persons in government committees for a long period of three years.The ministry of labour and