THE inaugural session of the Tripura assembly for the current year commenced with the governor's speech on January 5 and extended until January 11, 2024. While some less critical matters were on the agenda, the primary focus was on the presentation and adoption of the governor's speech.

"We are prisoners while the accused are free," said Satinder Kumar, eldest brother of the Hathras victim, to CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali who travelled to their village on January 17, to inquire about their well-being.The Uttar Pradesh government has refused to appeal against the shocking judgement which exonerated three of the accused and found the fourth guilty only of “man slaughter” and not of gangrape and murder.The victim's family, under constant threat has been provided security but as a result they cannot move without it and so, as a result, both broth

THE corporate media in West Bengal is incessantly trying to convey to the people the message that the BJP and the Trinamool Congress are two poles, fighting against each other. But this is a false narrative. The Trinamool has favoured the BJP-RSS on various issues like CAA, NRC. In turn, the central agencies' role in investigating the corruption of Trinamool leaders speaks of deliberate dillydallying. Both these forces have to be defeated and the Left movement has to be rejuvenated. The renaissance of Bengal requires the resurgence of the Left. That fight is going on.

A protest rally, attended by thousands of mid-day meal workers from Haryana, took place on January 11 in Karnal. The rally was organised by the Mid Day Meal Workers Union Haryana (CITU).  The main demands were: increase in salaries, retirement benefits, and the assurance of permanent employment.The workers expressed anger at the government exploiting their hard work. Approximately 30,000 mid-day meal workers in the state are dedicated to preparing food for school children. However, they neither receive the recognition of workers nor the mandated minimum wages.

THE Indian History Congress is the largest body of professional historians of not only India, but the entire South Asia. Its list of membership runs into thousands and covers almost the entire subcontinent. This year too, our members from Bangladesh and even from Egypt and US attended the sessions.Founded in 1935-36 at Allahabad, with its first session at Pune, the Indian History Congress has always been regularly held, except for the years 1974 (Partition) and 1971 (Indo-Pak War).