RECENTLY the corporate media has been discussing the problem of increasing joblessness and lack of employment growth in the country. This was, probably, sparked off by the Quarterly Employment Survey conducted by the Labour Bureau of eight employment intensive industries – textiles, garments, jewellery, IT, leather, handlooms, metals and automobiles – which showed that employment generated in these eight sectors was only 1.35 lakh in 2015, compared to 4.9 lakh in 2014 and 12.5 lakh in 2009.

EVER since the BJP government was formed in Jharkhand, the state is being converted into a communal cauldron. In the 15-month period of the Raghubar Das government, religious processions and events are being utilised to create communal tensions and unleash violence. The latest incidents have occurred during the Ram Navami processions in Bokaro and Hazaribagh. In Bokaro, the procession entered in a Muslim locality to which it had no permission to go.

THE life and work of Dr B R Ambedkar is being commemorated all over the country on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary on April 14. Ambedkar – the anti-caste fighter, the emancipator of dalits, the social reformer, the architect of the Constitution and champion of women’s rights – are among the various facets being highlighted of this remarkable figure.  At the same time, Ambedkar’s legacy is being contested and sought to be appropriated by the communal-sectarian forces. 

THE imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand and the dismissal of the Harish Rawat government is a blatant attack on democracy, constitutional norms and states rights by the Modi government. Coming after the imposition of president’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh a few weeks earlier to facilitate a government with defectors from the Congress and the BJP, the Modi government has shown that it will utilise the draconian Article 356 of the constitution to topple non-BJP state governments, utilising any opportunity available.

THE leakage of heavy water in the unit one of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS-1) has once again raised fears about the safety and reliability of the nuclear power plants in the country. As per the sketchy reports emanating, there was a moderately large leakage of heavy water in Kakrapar on March 11, 2016. The power plant has been shut down and inspection is on by the scientists from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to assess the nature and seriousness of the accident and to ensure that the safety of the plant is assured.