THE sixth All India Conference of LIC Agents’ Organisation of India (LICAOI-CITU) was held at Alluri Seetharamaraju Vignana Kendram in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh from May 22 to 23.A massive rally was held with thousands of agents, which culminated at the public grounds opposite the LIC Divisional Office on the first day of the conference. A public meeting was organised after the rally, and it was chaired by  L Manjunath, vice president of LICAOI.

(On May 26, 2023, Viduthalai, the Tamil daily edited by K Veeramani, president of the Dravida Kazhagam, reproduced an interesting and revealing essay in literary journalism published in the Tamil weekly, Dravida Nadu, on August 24, 1947. The subject was the significance of the presentation of the Sengol (‘Golden Sceptre’) by emissaries of the pontiff of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, a Saivite mutt in Tamil Nadu, to the incoming prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, at his home on August 14, 1947.

ON May 24, 2023, over 12,000 women from Palghar district led by the AIDWA Thane-Palghar district committee led a massive march and gherao of the Palghar district collectorate on the burning issues of ration, employment, water, and health. The administration and the police, who were caught totally unprepared, did not know what had hit them! Most of the women in the march were tribals, but there was also a fair share of non-tribal women from different walks of life.

THE ongoing struggle by women wrestlers which include international-awardees at Delhi against the sexual harassment and repression by certain officials in the Wrestlers’ Federation of India, as well as the arrogant inaction of the BJP government at the centre has drawn the attention of the entire country.

Despite the existence of various laws aimed at protecting the rights of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the country, their condition remains precarious. The oppression and atrocities inflicted upon them are on the rise without any respite.