THE death of an African student from Congo, Masonda Kitanda Olivier, after being brutally assaulted on May 21 in South Delhi has brought to the fore the deep-seated racism which exists in India. There are thousands of students from Africa studying in various educational institutions in the country. It is a shameful fact that these black students are often subject to racial discrimination and attacks.

THE Trinamool Congress won a decisive victory in West Bengal getting 72 per cent of the seats in the assembly. But obviously, this is not enough for Mamata Banerjee. For her, the CPI(M) and the Left Front have to be not only electorally defeated, they have also to be eliminated as a political force. That is why, she is fulfilling the threat she made during the election campaign that she would retaliate inch by inch after the election.

THE Modi government's sordid attempt to topple the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand and install a BJP government with the help of defectors has been thwarted by a vigilant judiciary. Harish Rawat has won the floor test in the Uttarakhand assembly in an unprecedented Court monitored vote by the legislators.

After widespread opposition from workers and employees and protests by all trade unions and even the NDA allies of the BJP, the finance minister was forced to withdraw the proposal even before discussions began in parliament. Following this, the government made steep cuts in interest rates on small savings schemes like the Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate and Post Office Savings.

THE Handwara incident in the Kashmir valley, once again, highlights the political and administrative failure in tackling the vexed problems in the troubled state of Jammu & Kashmir. The alleged harassment of a school girl by an army jawan led to protests outside the army bunker in the town. This was responded to by the heavy hand of the security forces.